By Keith Stevens, Managing Director, Added Value

There is no doubt that great advertising works. It cuts through and it sells. But it also sends a message and sets a standard. It sets an expectation of what the brand experience is going to feel like. And brands must deliver.

Imagine this scenario. You’ve got a hot product. Let’s say it’s a high tech widget. Your agency has the makings of a great ad. It’s all coming together. The big idea is creating buzz with your team and the test groups. You’ve got incredible tie-ins for POS and other below-the-line activation and your agency knows the launch campaign has got Loerie written all over it.

The campaign breaks. People rush out to buy your widget. The basic product is sound. The media loves your ad. Sales rocket. Ad execs pat each other on the back, as they hang their Creative Circle awards. Your stakeholders start rubbing their hands together and planning product extensions.

But consumers are people. The questions start. Or, god forbid, the complaints. They want to integrate the widget with its newly launched accessories. They want to be sure of the instructions. They want to return faulty units. They’re considering upgrading to the next level and they want to call your help line and chat to your store staff. You get the idea.

And so the brand relationship begins. This is where long term brand equity is built. Product and communication are crucial, but what they do is build an expectation in the minds of consumers of what they can expect to feel when they buy your widget. In this case, your product specs, packaging, advertising all say: “If you buy this widget, you’re going to feel connected, confident and clever.”

Every single touchpoint of your brand needs to support this statement.

If your sales and post-sales delivery makes them feel any different (out of touch, a bit thick, unsure) you’re creating that dreaded disconnect. That may not affect you now, but it opens a gap for a hungrier competitor to deliver their promise better. Your communications might be making its way into popular culture and your product might be really cutting edge, but that’s all about today.

If you want to be remembered for longer than your 30 second ad, you have to follow through. This is especially important if you’re selling a service and instead of a widget. In that case, your staff are the brand experience. Your staff, your call centre, the instruction manual, your distribution, your pricing; every element in your mix needs to uphold your communications message.

This is what great brands do. They set an expectation of how you’re going to feel when you engage with them and they deliver.

The ubiquitous example: Coke says you’ll feel refreshed. The product and the communications aside, in every café and corner shop in practically every country you can find a Coke branded fridge offering you that ice-cold refreshment. A way for distribution to deliver on the brand experience.

But more often than not, it goes wrong. Telecoms companies offer simple communications, and then make you struggle through complicated call centre systems. Banks offer to look after your money and then clobber you with small-print bank charges.

The point is, as consumers we’re becoming more and more demanding. And as marketers, we know this. Most of us are repertoire users, engaging with a basketful of brands, depending on our mood, life stage, aspirations and financial capacity. There isn’t a lot of genuine loyalty out there. But we are creatures of habit. If we want to feel a certain way, we’ll choose a brand that we think will give us that feeling. Great ads can help you cut through; get people’s attention. But if your brand doesn’t deliver on the desired feeling (what that great ad is promising) people just might find another brand that does.