Trust me. A brand name is only as good as the promise behind it.
Over the past year, consumer trust in companies, consumer trust in every institution, has sunk just about as low as it can go. This crisis in confidence has been fueled by an unprecedented series of scandals and schemes and just plain lousy management by people making more money than should be legal. Ironically, over the past year, the number of new companies rolling out with brand names explicitly touting honesty, purity or trust has been on the rise. If the thought behind naming a brand, Pur, or Honest Tea, or – egad, Satyam which means “trust” in Sanskrit – is to get a head start on gaining peoples’ trust, I’d put my head down and concentrate on something else. Making sure you keep your brand’s promise. For every intent and purpose a brand is a promise that you’ll do, sell, or service exactly what you promise to. Break this promise in any way, shape or form and the only name that will matter is what your company is called by the millions of Internet users and YouTube viewers who blog in derision. Take a look at my article on Forbes.com and send me your thoughts. (Oh, and don’t forget to include your name.)
February 3rd, 2009 at 3:29 pm
Allen
Great post on Forbes.com. You’re right in that trust is the foundation of all brands. Without trust, a company’s product or service is unable to distinguish itself from a mass of competitors.
I’ve always believed that brand storytelling is a great way of making an emotional connection between a brand and the consumer. If we trust a brand in that it never (or rarely) fails to give us a positive experience, then we’ll buy that brand again and again due to its ability to deliver on its promise.
Brands rarely get a second chance to connect with an audience, and companies who are able to build and maintain that sense of trust will be the real winners in the new economy.
Karen Hegmann