By: Kirby G Mack (Vice President of Digital Media)
Recently, New Era put out an ad at the start of the Baseball season that I can’t get out of my head. The ad starts by asking one question, “What gives meaning to a symbol?” Certain symbols immediately evoke a feeling or bring back a memory. Sometimes when you see a certain brand, you just know. But that perception didn’t happen overnight, and neither will your brand. It takes performance, consistency, and time. Performance, consistency, and time. Performance, consistency, and time.
Let’s look at what they mean and why.
Performance: the execution of an action.
From the start to the end, how you perform is crucial. Every touchpoint, every interaction, and every task completed needs to be considered and delivered. Delivering that positive experience and value to your customers fosters loyalty and encourages them to return. When customers know they can rely on a brand to meet their needs and expectations, they are more likely to remain loyal, more likely to continue doing business with that brand, and more likely to tell a friend or family member about you and their experience.
Brands that prioritize performance are better equipped to weather challenges and navigate unexpected times like the previous lockdowns. By focusing on delivering value and meeting customer needs, brands can build their resiliency and sustainability and be better equipped in the face of uncertainty and adversity.
Like an athlete, you have to perform to the best of your ability every time for your brand, yourself, and your client. It all starts with performance.
Consistency: agreement or harmony of parts or features to one another or a whole
Consistently delivering that high performance helps to build your brand’s trust and credibility. When a brand consistently meets or exceeds expectations, it establishes a reputation for itself as reliable and high quality, which can lead to brand loyalty and positive word-of-mouth referrals. And nothing is better than an unprompted referral.
But it’s not just your performance that needs to be consistent. It’s also your branding. Ensuring consistency in your branding, messaging, and customer experience helps to reinforce your brand’s identity and image. When a brand maintains a consistent look, feel, and voice across all touchpoints, it becomes more recognizable and memorable to consumers, which strengthens that brand’s awareness and equity. From your website, social media, office, and emails, you want your branding to have one voice.
Look at Nike. They don’t even have to advertise. Literally, they just put a swoosh on a page with three little words, “Just Do It.” Immediately, you think of great athletes like Michael Jordan, Wayne Gretzky, Bo Jackson, and Tiger Woods. And you also think, to perform as well as them, I need to get myself a pair of Nikes.
Time: the measured or measurable period during which an action, process, or condition exists or continues.
Sure you’re performance is on par consistently. So why isn’t your brand blowing up? Well, the fact is, it just takes time. They say Rome wasn’t built in a day. As a matter a fact it took 1,229 years for Rome to become the empire it did. And the same goes for a trusted brand. You have to be patient, you have to be consistent, and you have to work hard at it. Heinz Ketchup is over 148 years old. When Heinz first started, no one knew of it. Now Heinz is as synonymous with ketchup as Kleenex is with tissues. Heinz has an ad campaign that says “Even when it isn’t Heinz, it has to be Heinz.” And it took them 148 years to become that iconic a brand that they can make that claim and can show an image like this and everyone understands. So stay the course. Keep walking the trail, I promise you the end is worth it.
Remember it’s not just time that builds your brand. Of course, Rome wasn’t built in a day, but it certainly could have been destroyed in one. And so can your brand. It takes the coupling of your performance, consistency, and time. Those three words are the most important elements you need to consider when building your brand and your image. They are essential for building a strong successful brand that resonates with customers, differentiates itself from competitors, and drives long-term growth and success. This is why I keep repeating them. So when you are down and out, you can hear them echoing in your head. And then you realize it will all be ok.
Performance. Consistency. Time.
Performance. Consistency. Time.
Performance. Consistency. Time.
