Looking Up - A Cautionary Tale

In this article, J Walker Smith uses the fortunes of The Washington Post to caution against brands breaking their promises and in doing so, destroy themselves.

Looking Up – A Cautionary Tale

J.Walker SmithYankelovich MONITOR®

When you get right down to it, a brand is a promise about an exchange – a promise about the benefits that will be delivered for the price paid. This promise is the essence of what a brand represents in the marketplace. It is a brand's equity. Breaking that promise destroys a brand. The brand and the promise are one and the same. When the promise is betrayed, there is nothing left of the brand that consumers can believe.

A brand's promise can be all too easy to break in...

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