I have seen throughout my marketing career many common misconceptions of what a brand is. I’ve met those that believe it is just a logo, image or slogan, which misses the most important part of what a company brand is. A brand should accurately reflect who or what the company or product is, how it is sold and communicated to the market and well defined target audience(s). I really liked how Jane redefined the value proposition to be a promise to the customer. This is a simple, yet powerful insight.

Consistency and discipline are very important once a brand strategy has been determined. I’ve seen numerous times how companies spend the time creating their brand and marketing strategies, but then lack the discipline to insure consistency in all contacts they have with the market and their customers. Every employee in the company should understand what the brand strategy is and live it. It should be woven into the corporate culture.

It is critical that companies be consistent in how they communicate with customers, consistent in the messages they present and that they do not stray from their primary and defined target audience(s). It is easy to be tempted to stray from the brand strategy for a small sale here and there, but this can derail and possibly destroy a company’s brand efforts, which impacts the bottom line.