Understanding Branding Marketing is the process of building a relationship with a consumer. And one of the core pieces of relationship building is solidifying trust. Just like in any other relationship, we build trust through communicating and connecting. Your brand is the story behind the product that you sell, and at the end of the day a consumer is buying the experience of using your product. Building a Brand and Developing a Story We start our brand's storytelling from a place of promise: brand promise. Take some time to define what your brand promise is about. FedEx's promise is that packages get there overnight, guaranteed. Nationwide Insurance promises that Nationwide is on your side. A brand promise can tap emotions or focus on experience, but should always be deliverable. There are three things to keep in mind when establishing a compelling brand promise: [checklist style="eg. green, yellow, purple, blue, red, black, grey"]

• It must be credible. This means it must come from a place of heart and authenticity.
• The brand promise must have value or benefit to the people you want to serve.
• Promises are only good if they're kept. Your organization's storytelling becomes powerful when the brand has a clearly defined and delivered promise.

[/checklist] No matter how old or new your business or personal brand is, it is healthy to go back and look at your brand promise to see if there is one. If one doesn't exist, an evident action needs to be taken to maintain the promise of your brand.