A brand is a promise.
I was driving home along the motorway last night and passed a lorry bearing the tag line "a brand is a promise" - it got me thinking.
A brand is a promise
It's like a line from an inspirational speaker at a dodgy weekend, residential seminar but it does have a very valid point.
Blogging is a strange beast, there is no contract between the blogger and the consumer but by setting out your stall and publishing a feed there is an implied promise that your brand will maintain a certain quality. That is why people subscribe to RSS feeds - they like what they have seen so far and sign up to receive more of the same; they are investing their trust in the author to deliver.
Blogs that fail to keep that promise will lose their subscribers as they move on to a more 'reliable' source and seek to control the amount of information they consume in these data saturated times.
Your brand
With this in mind, what makes up your brand?
- Have you identified your voice?
- What is your writing style?
- What makes you tick and what are you passionate about?
If you can't answer these questions your brand will be incoherent and your readers will not want to subscribe as there will be no consistent message.
As for me, my voice is that nagging doubt that questions what we do and why we do it. My style is to step back and examine things from as objective a standpoint as possible and not be a 'yes man'. I aim to get people talking.The rebrand has allowed me to focus on my interests and explore them with a passion that was previously lacking.
Your turn
So, I ask you, what does your brand promise and do you live up to it?
Image by Eva.
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I promise to be a Broadcasting brain. So far, so good.
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[...] A brand is a promise. :: Colin Walker - an interesting post about what is involved with having a brand and what you owe yourself and your readers as a result. [...]
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"Brand is a promise" whatever your product represents. I do think that the attributes a brand promises can no longer be constants for a long time like in pre-social media age. Brands will have to evolve at the same time and a quicker pace to get attention, in order to stay in the lead.
This is an awesome blog. Could not agree more with this statement: "That is why people subscribe to RSS feeds - they like what they have seen so far and sign up to receive more of the same; they are investing their trust in the author to deliver." Consistent blogs are what maintain the loyalty from the reader to the blogger. This consistency should create great brand resonance for the author of the blog.
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[...] A brand is a promise - What’s yours? [...]
I would like to think that my personal brand is a promise to everyone i meet. I have found that blogging is a great way to figure out and expand upon your brand. There is so much content out there, so depending on what you like you can comment on certain things with the same consistent stand or writing style. Not only will you figure out what your brand is, but you will also establish one online with everyone that reads your posts of comments. At www.Brand-Yourself.com we aim to establish a student’s personal brand early so they can get the job of their dreams and love what they do, so both the organizational brand and their personal brand coincide. Every company should have a process for ideation, you cant force someone to be entrepreneurial. For more actionable tips to strengthen your personal brand on the web please go to our blog at http://blog.brand-yourself.com.
This is a good article and something that bloggers need to be of mindful of. Since the explosion of web 2.0, people have jumped in full blast without knowing the consequences. Sure a brand is a promise if you are going the social blogging route. Iconic companies depend on their loyal customers and bloggers need to be mindful that they are doing just that but on a smaller scale. And, let's go beyond the blogosphere into other web 2.0 apps... Facebook, Myspace, etc. Do we need to say more on the reputations that have been ruined due to embarrassing pictures? If people want to sustain a business using their name as their brand, they have to guard it carefully.
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