The Brand Value Engine

Your business is either building brand value or eroding it.

The Brand Value Engine helps you make sure you’re building.

The Three Drivers of Brand Value

  • Visibility

  • Promise

  • Delivery

Most organizations treat these as separate problems. They’re not.

Just like air, spark and fuel in a car engine…visibility, promise and delivery can act as multipliers for each other, or as erasers. Getting them to work together powers the engine that creates long-term brand value.

It's why Apple is far and away the most valuable computer and personal electronics manufacturer despite rarely being first to market, and why Disney theme parks have ruled their category since the opening of Disneyland in 1955.

They have:

  • Unmatched visibility

  • Promises that are meaningful, memorable and credible

  • Consistent delivery on their promises

And when one of the three fails, the engine stops working.

It can make powerhouse brands like Kodak and Blockbuster become irrelevant. When their promises stopped mattering to their customers, they couldn’t create any sparks despite being almost universally recognized brands.

  • When digital imaging replaced traditional film, the best film, paper and chemicals weren’t so important anymore.

  • When streaming replaced VHS and DVDs, going down the street to rent a movie all of a sudden became inconvenient.

And when Southwest Airlines struggled to keep planes flying on time during the pandemic, their struggles had an outsized impact on their brand. Flight cancellations and delays betrayed their promise of friendly, reliable air travel. Their visibility only magnified the problem, because there was nowhere to hide.

The Brand Value Engine helps organizations strategically align visibility, promise and delivery and keep them working together to build long-term value.

Who does this help?

The short answer is any organization looking to gain more traction from their brand. Large organizations with high visibility already have reach. The question is whether their promise matters to their audiences, and whether their delivery actually lives up to their promises. When visibility is high and promise or delivery falls short, the damage scales with the reach.

Emerging brands face similar challenges. Resources for building visibility are limited, and every dollar spent on it should be working as hard as possible. Many focus on making a splash with memorable messaging. The problem is that memorable isn't enough if the promise doesn't matter or delivery doesn't back it up.

Musings on the Brand Value Engine

The Brand Value Engine isn't just an abstract theory or a template to impose on an organization. You can see it at play everywhere, from household brands you already know to one of the top pizza restaurants in the world. Here are some examples of Visibility, Promise, and Delivery in action (and what happens when they fall out of alignment):

  • Promises, promises… — on the brilliance of Hyundai's 10-year, 100k mile warranty to elevate their brand

  • I've converted… — on what happens when the leading wireless carrier in the U.S. loses track of its promises and stops delivering on them

  • The wine tower and purple cows — on a Miami pizzeria showing us that memorable, meaningful, credible and delivered is the recipe for building brand value

Click here to read more Musings.

Does this spark your interest?

Curious to learn more about the Brand Value Engine and how it can help your organization?

Let’s talk.