Your audience not only expects great things from your organization, they expect what you bring to be aligned with your brand. When your offering doesn’t line up with your brand, bad things happen. Fireworks and a light shows may be critical for a classic rock concert, but are a little less aligned with the Vienna Philharmonic.
There are plenty of misalignments on offer from some of the biggest corporations in the world. Just Google “Brand Mess-ups”, and you will see plenty of big-budget mistakes. Sometimes they are advertising mistakes, and sometimes they are product mistakes. Despite massive marketing and years of trying, Coke was unable to make “New Coke” stick. Immediately after its 1985 introduction, Coke’s longest standing customers made known that the too-sweet drink had no place in their refrigerators. Coke executives may have seen the shift as a subtle, but positive change to the product, but its customers were far more tuned to Coke’s brand, and considered New Coke as blasphemy.
And did you ever hear of Harley Davidson’s perfume? Not many have, as the 1994 introduction was quickly recalled when the company came to its senses after rollout and determined that perfume was not well aligned with its strong, rugged, masculine brand.
On the flip side, when your music fits the customer’s needs better than they anticipated, you will engage your customers so no one else can touch them. Like when the first iPhone came out with a touch screen that actually worked, or when the first Teslas came out with performance, features and looks that actually made electric cars desirable. When you produce the right product that aligns with your brand, customers count on your company telling them what they really want and need. Apple and Tesla have enjoyed multiple product launches with absurdly long customer line-ups and pre-orders, as well as unpaid main stream media pre-talk about the potential new features.
When your organization spends time and resources to figure out what your clients need before they do, and you deliver the right product that is aligned with your brand promise, you can create an enviable position to be in. Your customers put high trust in you, and share their hard earned cash, and your employees understand why they are investing their career hopes and dreams with you.
