Member-only story
Embracing Realism in Brand Promises
From Non-Existent, to Utopian, to just being Real
For a long time, brand promises were either non-existent or completely detached from reality. Companies went from saying nothing about their purpose or social impact to making lofty claims about saving the world or being the best thing since sliced bread. These messages may have looked good on a billboard, but they often fell flat when you looked closer. As we move forward, marketing needs to find a middle ground where brand promises are believable, honest, and actually connected to what companies can deliver.
Evolution of Brand Promises: From Zero to Aspirational
Back in the day, brands didn’t bother with big promises. If you grew up like I did, in the 80’s, marketing was all about selling stuff, whether it were Lego sets or the latest Transformers / G.I. Joe action figure. There was no talk about sustainability or social impact. It was simpler, maybe too simple.
Fast forward to the last couple of decades, and brands started piling on the big talk about purpose and changing the world. They went gung-ho (am I saying that right?) on inspirational messaging, telling us they were here to make a difference. Whether that meant:
- saving the planet,
