Are You Delivering on Your Brand Promise?

I’m not a regular Publix shopper. But last week, I needed to pick up a birthday cake and Publix was the closest option. Not to mention, they have an excellent bakery.

The friend we were celebrating likes strawberry cake with strawberry icing. But since I was short on time, I was just going to grab the best option available.

After a quick scan of the bakery section, I realized there were no strawberry cakes.

However, a bakery employee named Dioni asked if she could help. I asked about a strawberry cake, expecting to get nowhere.

But to my surprise, she checked her inventory and said she could have a strawberry cake iced with custom lettering within 15 minutes.

I left for my meeting and told her I would be back to get the cake in an hour.

A short while later, Dioni called to ask if I would like fresh strawberries added to the cake. She thought that might be a nice touch. I agreed.

When I picked up the cake, the cashier was extremely nice and the bag boy even offered to take the cake to my car.

The entire experience was incredibly positive and downright delightful. And that’s exactly why so many people rave about Publix.

Publix is an excellent example of a company that lives up to their brand promise — “where shopping is a pleasure.”

Align Brand Messaging with Delivery

Marketers can come up with the best taglines and messaging, but that is utterly meaningless if a company doesn’t deliver on that promise.

In the case of Publix, shoppers get exactly what they’ve promised — an enjoyable shopping experience.

The staff is friendly and helpful. The store is impeccably clean. The aisles are wide and inviting. The products are of high quality.

Yes, shoppers pay a little more at Publix. But the people who go there do so for a pleasant shopping experience.

The Power of Brand Promises

Why is this so important?

When a brand makes a promise, customers choose you based on that. It’s something that resonates with the customer. It shows what you believe as a company and it makes a promise to the people you serve.

But, more importantly, people rave about brands that deliver on that promise to create an unforgettable experience.

Being “good” is not good enough in today’s digitally competitive marketplace. You must offer something compelling and then, more importantly, be able to deliver on it.

That’s the stuff that gets talked about, which is especially important in a world where everyone has a digital megaphone.

Otherwise, your brand will get ignored. Or worse, unhappy customers will smear your good name online.

How to Deliver Your Brand Promise

So, how can your brand develop and deliver a brand promise? Here are a few tips based on how Publix has done it:

• Stay true to your mission. The mission at Publix is to be “the premier quality food retailer in the world.” That’s a bold statement. But, it’s clear that everything they do aligns with this mission and what they stand for as a company.What does your company stand for? Make sure your brand promise is consistent with that. 
• Understand your customer. The reason why Publix so artfully mastered their brand promise is that they understand their customers’ pain points and practically abolished them by fixing everything that people hate about grocery shopping.What are your customers frustrated about? What needs are not being met? Take the time to understand customer preferences to determine how you can make promises they can count on.

• Offer a compelling promise.
   In addition to promising an enjoyable shopping experience, Publix also has a compelling guarantee — “We will never knowingly disappoint you. If for any reason your purchase does not give you complete satisfaction, the full purchase price will be cheerfully refunded immediately upon request.” How many grocery stores can say that?Think about what you can offer that no one else does. What can you offer that is so compelling that people can’t resist checking you out? 
• Communicate and deliver. For Publix to stand behind their bold messaging and guarantee, their entire workforce must be committed to it. That means, this brand promise must be communicated to your team from the moment people are hired. And, it must be continually reinforced to encourage buy-in and consistent delivery.

Delivering on a powerful brand promise can be what helps your company rise above your competition. After all, that’s exactly what’s happened with Publix.

What do you promise your customers?
 

What other companies do a great job of delivering on their brand promise?