What Is A Brand Promise And Why Is It Important?

Throughout every aspect of our lives, we rely on our relationships with others. Be that in our personal or professional lives, relationships are key to success, and the magic formula for building strong relationships is trust. So when it comes to your business, you shouldn’t treat the relationships you have with your customers (or clients) any differently.

After all, people are most inclined to buy from businesses they trust. And while you may think you have the best product or service in the world, it won’t increase your sales or encourage return customers if people don’t trust what you do. Establishing trust with your client base will get your business the recognition you know it deserves.

Think about it this way — you’ve spent a lot of time agonising over elements like your slogan or logo to draw people’s attention to your business. But how do you cultivate those relationships once they’ve become customers? By establishing a brand promise, which lays out your motivations and gives you a pledge to which your clients can hold you accountable.

A brand promise demonstrates the experience a customer can expect whenever they engage with you. It’s an intangible aspect to your business that gives your business its own sense of emotion and personality. Your brand promise should tell the world what your business stands for, and how it will achieve that. This can be either literal, through your products and services, or more symbolic, by outlining your organisation’s goals. To spread your brand promise message through video, contact us today, and to learn more about why having a brand promise is critical to the success of your business.

Let’s be clear — a brand promise is not your vision or mission statement. When we talk about the aims of a brand promise, what we mean is what your customers can expect from their experience with your business. Your slogan may be memorable, but your brand promise is meaningful.

Communicating the best of your brand is key to success, and your brand promise needs to touch upon every aspect of what you do. No matter how complex your work is, your brand promise needs to simplify it so that it’s accessible for everyone.

Using video animation is a particularly useful way to demonstrate what you can do for your customers, using music, narration, and graphics to bring your brand promise to life. This approach will help you communicate all aspects of your brand promise to your client base in one easy-to-follow format. For a great example of a brand promise in action, check out the work we did for Wax/On.

“You can dream, design, create and build the most wonderful place in the world… but it takes people to make that dream a reality” – Walt Disney.

An essential component of delivering a brand promise is creating a direct connection with your target audience. People who will become customers for life won’t just be fans of your product, but believers in what you represent. However, if you don’t lay this out in black and white (or, indeed, fully-animated colour video), you’ll miss out on a chance to bring new people into the world of your brand.

Connecting with your customers on a deeper level may seem a daunting task, but the truth is, you’ve most likely been doing it already, simply by talking with them in person on the phone. This connection ultimately helps you to develop an understanding of what’s important to your customers, why those things matter to them, and how your business meets their needs.

Once you understand this, you can start to apply that knowledge to the way you communicate with them. Not only will you then find that your current customers’ beliefs align with yours, but you’ll start attracting more like-minded people, cementing their trust and extending your brand’s reach.

Microsoft has achieved this spectacularly, helped in no small part by an animated video we created for them. Our brief was to explain, directly and clearly, why they have set up their new service, who it’s for, and what makes it different from competitors. This in itself is their brand promise for new and existing customers alike.

A brand promise is personal and unique to your company. It doesn’t matter how many businesses operate in your industry — they’re all different, and will communicate differently.

Think about it like this: what have McDonald’s and Burger King got in common? Or how about Coca Cola and Pepsi? Or Adidas and Nike? They are in direct competition, their products are similar, yet they are all very distinct in their brand promises. This is because each one has focused on a different value.

Take a look at the top 3 businesses in your industry and you’ll start to notice what their values and promises are. But you’ll also notice that each one is different in some way. Use this research to determine what beliefs you align with, and then start applying it to your own communication strategies.

Remember, your brand promise should be unique to you and your customers, and will need to resonate with and reflect your customers’ thoughts and feelings. This will help your business stand out, and offer your unique selling proposition that they will not find anywhere else.

Compare the video we designed for The Body Shop’s range of blueberry health and beauty products with Molton Brown’s Christmas Juniper and Jazz range. Can you see that, although very similar product types, they are attracting different audiences?

Your brand promise is one of the most important factors for attracting and keeping your client base. By aligning your business with your customers’ beliefs and values, you can stand out from your competitors. It will need to be communicated in every aspect of your business, and be simple, direct and engaging enough to continue attracting like-minded people.

If you take on board what your customers think and feel about your business, products, or services, you’ll quickly establish a foundation for your brand promise.