Delivering on Brand Promise


brand promise

Attendees participate in a session at the 2018 PCMA Annual Conference in Bangkok, Thailand. Ben Grossman says consumers are unforgiving when a brand does not live up to its promises, including at live experiences. (PCMA photo)

Author: Ben Grossman

We are in the experience era where consumer experience and brand experience are key drivers of brand success globally.

According to our Experience Brand Index, brands that back their words with action and experiences have a 200 percent increase in net promoter score and a 25 percent increase in customer loyalty compared to brands that are not delivering on brand promise.

brand promise

Ben Grossman

What this means is brands that deliver brand promise are twice as likely to be recommended by existing customers and also yield increased loyalty.

Brand experience will continue to be a key measurement for brand success. According to our index, amongst the different generations, millennials care most about how brands behave toward customers, employees, and their communities. So, experiences will be key in connecting with millennials and Gen Z in the future.

Additionally, different components of brand experience tend to have different potency across geographies and industries.

A couple of key findings included that events and experiences are the most potent proof point in China for consumer packaged goods (CPG) brands, while in-store experience wins CPG influence in the U.S. and U.K.

Meanwhile, for retail banks in China the most important proof point is social content, while employees are more influential in the category across the U.S. and U.K.

Consumers are unforgiving when a brand does not live up to the promises it makes. And that includes live experiences.

Event planners must be mindful of what the brand stands for and create experiences that deliver on the expectations the brand sets. Designing experiences that do not fall in line with the brand value and purpose will only create a disconnect with consumers.

Consumers are demanding brands have a meaningful impact in the world — and one that’s positive and purpose-driven tends to be the most potent and immediately appreciated. But brands can’t be seen as supporting random causes to opportunistically and inauthentically score quick points on the back of causes. The causes brands support should be proof of the promise they put out to the world.

Ben Grossman is SVP, group strategy director at Jack Morton Worldwide.

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