[{"@context":"http:\/\/schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2019\/11\/14\/what-is-brand-promise\/#Article","articleBody":"Between\u00a0consulting,\u00a0workshopping, and\u00a0keynote speaking, customer experience is a concept I introduce to somebody new almost every day.\nAs I begin working with new organizations, oftentimes the first step is one of the simplest, but most critical \u2013 helping to define the terms that are critical to customer experience:\nWhat do we mean when we say \u201cbrand promise\u201d?\nHow about when we talk about \u201ccustomer experience mission\u201d?\nLet\u2019s peek behind the curtain when it comes to defining those terms.\nI encourage you to share these definitions with your team to get everybody on the same page and even spark a larger conversation about how you set and fulfill your customers\u2019 expectations.\nLet\u2019s start where customer experience really begins: with the brand promise.\nYour brand promise, defined\nYour brand promise, simply put, is\u00a0what customers can expect from your brand.\nIt\u2019s typically written for the customer from the company perspective.\nYour brand promise can be very specific and literal:\n\u201cThe company is a leading content, commerce and technology company that provides customers easy and convenient access to books, magazines, newspapers and other content across its multi-channel distribution platform.\u201d\u00a0\u2013 Barnes & Noble\nOr it can speak more to the overall essence of the brand:\n\u201cNationwide is on your side.\u201d \u2013 Nationwide\nRegardless, your brand promise is all about your organization and what you can and will do for each customer. You want to earn brand trust by keeping your promises.\nTo talk about your customer experience mission, we\u2019ll flip our perspective around to the customer.\n \nHow to measure customer brand experience\n   Discover best practices for measuring brand experience and how technology can help marketers better track the customer brand perception.  \nYour customer experience mission, defined\nYour customer experience mission is all about your customer.\nA successful customer experience mission statement relates to how you want your customers to experience the brand. Perhaps more importantly, it also speaks to how you want them to\u00a0feel.\nThe customer is the star of your customer experience mission:\nThe Ritz-Carlton experience enlivens the senses, instills well-being, and fulfills even the unexpressed wishes and needs of our guests. \u2013 Ritz-Carlton\nWhy is it important to consider both brand promise and customer experience mission?\nWithout a brand promise, you\u2019re selling a commodity. (For example: your dry cleaner probably doesn\u2019t have a unique brand promise.)\nWithout a customer experience mission, you\u2019re selling an idea (your brand promise) with no backbone to support it.\nSee how critical each of these items are and how they support one another?\nDigging deeper\nLet\u2019s take a look back Nationwide\u2019s promise:\u00a0Nationwide is on your side.\nWhat if you are a Nationwide insurance policy holder and your claim is rejected? Does that feel like they are on your side?\nWell, it\u2019s easy to figure out that customers who\u2019ve had this experience do not feel like Nationwide is\u00a0on their side.\nAs an industry, when we\u2019re challenging business school students and entrepreneurs to write business plans, we urge them to consider the marketing angles of a brand promise:\nHow can you summarize your essence?\nWhat makes you special?\nBut, too rarely, do we ask them to consider what their customer experience mission is:\nHow should your customers FEEL after dealing with your company?\nWhat processes will you put in place to ensure this happens?\nHow can you reinforce this experience at every step along the way?\nPut simply, organizations that don\u2019t to ask these questions are missing an opportunity to create better experiences for their customers\u2026and leaving money on the table.\nBrand promises are important, but too often they only go as far as driving the latest marketing campaigns.\nIf it\u2019s truly a promise, then push it to become a customer experience mission.\nKick-a$$ commerce. \ud83d\udcf2 Innovation.\ud83d\udcf2 \ud83c\udf43Sustainability.\ud83c\udf43 \u23f1 Service + support.\u23f1 Customers expect a lot from brands. Hear the best in the biz talk how to deliver. \nThis article was first featured on\u00a0ExperienceInvestigtors.com,\u00a0and is syndicated here with permission.","author":{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2019\/11\/14\/what-is-brand-promise\/#Article_Person","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2019\/11\/14\/what-is-brand-promise\/#Article_Person_ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/23x6xj3o92m9361dbu2ij362-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Jeannie_Walters-150x150.jpg"},"name":"Jeannie Walters","sameAs":["https:\/\/twitter.com\/jeanniecw","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/jeanniewalters\/"],"url":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/contributor\/jeannie-walters\/"},"dateModified":"2021-12-29T04:22:33+00:00","datePublished":"2019-11-14T09:00:00+00:00","description":"Without a brand promise, you're selling a commodity. Without a customer experience mission, you're selling an idea with no backbone to support it.","headline":"How do you define your brand promise and customer experience mission?","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2019\/11\/14\/what-is-brand-promise\/#Article_ImageObject","height":"630","url":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/thumbnail-2765071bea0b98e6022e27e3e74d1d9b-1200x630.jpeg","width":"1200"},"mainEntityOfPage":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2019\/11\/14\/what-is-brand-promise\/","name":"How do you define your brand promise and customer experience mission?","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/","additionalType":"https:\/\/www.wikidata.org\/wiki\/Q1193236","description":"Relevant, timely information & analysis on commerce trends, both consumer-facing and B2B.","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/23x6xj3o92m9361dbu2ij362-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com\/wp-content\/themes\/hybris_foc\/assets\/images\/layout\/logo-new-2x.png?_=1","height":"96","url":"https:\/\/23x6xj3o92m9361dbu2ij362-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com\/wp-content\/themes\/hybris_foc\/assets\/images\/layout\/logo-new-2x.png?_=1","width":"500"},"name":"The Future of Customer Engagement and Experience","sameAs":["https:\/\/podcasts.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/a-call-for-a-better-experience\/id1479742201","https:\/\/twitter.com\/FutureOfCEC","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/groups\/4844282","https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/feed\/"],"url":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/"},"url":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2019\/11\/14\/what-is-brand-promise\/#Article"},{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"2019","item":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2019\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"11","item":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2019\/\/11\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"14","item":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2019\/\/11\/\/14\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"name":"How do you define your brand promise and customer experience mission?","item":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2019\/11\/14\/what-is-brand-promise\/#breadcrumbitem"}]}]