on that fight as follows : After five years of negotiations , of stops and starts , of back and forth and more expletive-laced insults than a Tarantino movie , we finally had it : Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao , the fight of the century , the ( latest ) fight to save boxing . What a disappointment !
The Guardian Newspaper quoted fellow boxer Oscar De La Hoya taunting Floyd Mayweather : “ Another reason boxing is better off without you : You were afraid . Afraid of taking chances . Afraid of risk ,” he wrote . ‘ A perfect example is your greatest ‘ triumph ,’ the long-awaited record-breaking fight between you and Manny Pacquiao . Nearly 4.5m buys ! More than $ 400 million in revenue ! Headlines worldwide ! How can that be bad for boxing ? Because you lied . You promised action and entertainment and a battle for the ages , and you delivered none of the above .’
For sure , no other sports agency has attempted to sell us a thrilling boxing match since then , they know we won ’ t buy it ! Let ’ s use this case to explore the importance of honoring brand promises and the consequences of failing to do so .
How far is too far when it comes to making brand promises ? Is there a term like overmarketing ? At what point does marketing zeal and communication ethics intersect ? What is the effect of broken promises on the future of marketing ?
We need to first analyze what exactly happened in the run-up to the Mayweather / Pacman bout that had the entire globe on a spin . There was need creation . Since the days of yore when Mohammed Ali , Mike Tyson , Evander Holyfield and George Foreman ruled , the world has been in earnest expectation for a return to glory of the boxing sport . This fight was marketed as exactly that . It became a bigger brand than the individual boxers ’ brands and the customers were sold out on the expectations but they did not deliver .
The result of this is that it will be extremely difficult for the boxing industry to obtain such a hold on the entire world with a similar promise . The number of boxing ‘ sceptics ’ and ‘ indifferents ’ with regard to the boxing industry has grown considerably and boxing marketers will have a more uphill task hyping future matches to the same level . This is a clear indication that
When the customer trusts that a brand will meet their expectations , not only are they more likely to become repeat purchasers , but they ’ re also more likely to talk about the brand . They become brand loyalists and vocal brand advocates who provide the brand with word-ofmouth marketing that no marketing budget can ever achieve for you .
inflated promises are self-defeating and contribute greatly to numbing customers to marketing communications . It ’ s a disservice to the marketing profession .
When a brand fails to honor its promise the expected outcome is that customers feel cheated , resent themselves for being gullible , and get confused about their ability to make sound judgments . This of course is with varying levels of intensity depending on factors such as the level of investment involved , functionality of the product / service , psychological make-up of the consumer among others .
The brand then becomes a cognitive symbol of all those negative emotions and is henceforth repulsive . This is at the core of normal human behavior . When expectations aren ’ t met , you attach symbolism to the object of dissatisfaction / disappointment and try to avoid it by seeking alternatives .
That should logically explain without justifying , the many married couples with a myriad of ‘ side dishes ’ or ‘ mpango wa kandos ’ in our society . They are naturally responding to brand promises that were marketed to them during dating and courtship only to be broken spectacularly before the words ‘ I do ’ could leave their lips .
Understanding A Brand Promise
A brand promise represents what a company stands for , or does not stand for . It is the unique statement of the company ’ s offer , what distinguishes it from its rivals and what makes it worthy of customers ' attention . A recent Gallup poll among US companies showed that the brand promise matters a lot to customers and have a profound impact on business outcomes .
The highest-performing companies in Gallup ' s database deliver on their brand promise 75 % of the time , according to their customers . These companies have greater levels of customer engagement , which enables them to surpass their competitors in terms of share of wallet , profitability , and revenue .
Susan Gunelius the author of ‘ Building Brand Value the Playboy Way ’ states that ‘ a brand is not a logo , symbol or a catchy tagline , it is all about a promise . A brand that consistently keeps its promise in every aspect of its business - from the advertising to their employee relations and everything in between - can be very powerful ’
Therefore when the customer trusts that a brand will meet their expectations , not only are they more likely to become repeat purchasers , but they ’ re also more likely to talk about the brand . They become brand loyalists and vocal brand advocates who provide the brand with word-of-mouth marketing that no marketing budget can ever achieve for you .
This is more real today as the brand buzz travels across the social web via blogs , Twitter , Facebook , and so on . In other words , keeping your brand promise leads to brand loyalty , repeat purchases from your brand loyalists , increased brand awareness among a wider audience , and new customers .
What Leads To Unkept Brand Promises ?
Research has shown that only a fraction
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