A brand is a promise. A good brand is a promise kept.
- Former Coca-Cola Chairman and CEO Muhtar Kent
Think about the very first time you had to buy laundry detergent... how did you choose which one to buy?
If money was scarce, you might have picked up the least expensive product available.
But if you really needed your clothes to be clean, a cheap detergent you couldn't trust to do the job wasn't going to do you any good, right?
Chances are good that when you had to make your laundry decision for the first time, you bought whatever your parents used.
Because you knew they trusted that particular brand, which would have given you the confidence to do the same.
That's not to say that you're still with that same brand; there's a good that some life event led you to try something new, and there's a chance you liked the new brand better.
But when you need to make a purchase decision, the presence of a strong and trusted brand makes things easier for you.
That means that if you're a company that relies on consumers choosing you over your competition, the money you spend on building and maintaining a great brand is an investment in your future success.
There are many good definitions of a "brand" out there, but Mr. Kent's is simple, powerful, and easy to understand.
- dp