brands are not bullet proof
Strong brands can have a lot of leeway. A strong brand positions you in the minds of your target audience with a strong positive image. It builds a solid reputation for your company which inevitably translates into increased market share and profits.
Some brands, the really strong ones, can go even further. They are positioned not only in the heads of your customers, but in their hearts as well. They create loyalists, customers, that are not only users but convert others to your brand.
These loyalists, are people who have bought into your brand, they believe in you and what you stand for. They share similar views and values. Loyalists, in moments of crisis, will give you the benefit of the doubt. But when if you lie to them, then its over as even strong brands can’t sustain deceit and wrong doing. The Livestrong brand is a great example of that.
Part of what makes some brands so strong is that we want to have heroes, people we look up to, people that inspire us. We want to believe that we too can achieve our dreams. These heroes are examples of what we can become.
These brands connect with our beliefs, our dreams and aspirations. They make us believe that we can shape ourselves, our lives and create a better future. We all want heroes to cheer, values to stand for and ideals to strive towards.
We don’t want to see our heroes, our beliefs, fail. In the case of Livestrong, many of us hoped, despite the mounting of evidence, that somehow Lance Armstrong did not lie to us, that he was the man, the athlete we thought he was.
Brands, to sustain the test of time, must be authentic. You can make mistakes. In fact, when you make a mistake or a problem occurs, if you handle it well your brand may even come out stronger. Mistakes can be a great opportunity to really show your true colours and to prove you stand by your values and are prepared to act and live by them. But deceit is different.
And no brand, no matter how strong, can deceit their audience and not pay a steep price.
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