This post is an excerpt of our Branding Rules eBook.
Branding means so many things to different people that it has become nebulous. It’s called the “secret sauce” of marketing, but what does that mean?
“Secret sauce” might mean sriracha to some, Tabasco to others, or the intangible and often unidentifiable ingredient that we all seek and/or covet.
To help clear the confusion, we gathered 14 well-known and respected authors and asked them a question: “If you could impart only one piece of advice about branding, what would it be?”
We compiled the results, added illustrations by Gapingvoid’s Hugh MacLeod, and created Vocus’ 2014 Branding Rules eBook to provide a resource filled with timeless advice to guide your business’s branding efforts.
Here is advice from Chris Brogan, the CEO and President of Human Business Works.
Chris says that branding is related to an upholding of principles, which for him consists of one rule:
“My number one piece of advice on branding is ‘make and keep commitments.’ It’s really the best brand advice for any human. Every time I run afoul of it, I fail.”
In context, Chris’ remarks highlight how brands succeed and fail based on their reputations for delivering on a promise. This promise could be based on product performance, delivery of goods, services, customer experience or care.
Good brands deliver, and in best-case scenarios, over-deliver – always putting the customer first. Bad ones share a promise, under-deliver and generally fail.
Want even more branding advice? Get your free copy of the Branding Rules eBook now!
