a brand is the reflection of an organization’s purpose.

it is a true, authentic expression of who you are and “why” you exist.

It’s more than your name and your logo.

It’s more than your website.

It’s more than the products and services you offer.

A brand is how it all comes together from your name to the buying experience.

It is the story you tell about who you are as an organization and why anyone should care.

It’s how you connect with your audience, get them to listen, and more importantly, get them to act and trust you.

A brand is the reputation, the image you evoke because of everything you say and do.

Your brand is your most valuable asset – do you know where you stand with it?

You have amazing products but if the experience of getting them is fraught with frustration you will lose.

Why? Because it’s not just about your products, it’s about the experience. If you want people to engage you need to invest in more than your products. You need to invest in all the processes that form their experience.

Let me give you an example.

I recently tried to purchase tickets online to several events at a festival. I first became frustrated when a subscription price was promoted but I had to search to find out how to become a subscriber.  Then, after some effort trying to put various tickets into my shopping cart, I realized that each individual event had a different vendor. Since I planned to go to 4 events, I would need to create 4 different accounts, manage 4 shopping carts and would receive 4 different tickets, each with their own unique policies.

The process was so arduous and time consuming I just stopped buying. I had gone from loyal advocate to lost customer.

It isn’t that the company didn’t care. They cared enough to create an amazing product. The issue is that they stopped there.

Of course you should always strive for a quality product but a quality product isn’t enough. To engage customers, create (and retain) advocates and build your brand you must invest in the quality of the whole experience; companies that don’t ultimately risk diminishing the value of their products and alienating their customers.