09 Jun What it takes to keep a promise
One of the least explored and often overlooked elements of my brand formula is promises.
The keeping of a promise is in the making. But even knowing that, it’s easy to be cavalier about making promises, I know I’m guilty of it from time-to-time.
Take the seemingly simple promise of “I’ll meet you at 9.00am for a coffee in the city” – which, judging by the number of times people are late for appointments, is not so simple at all.
And that’s because to keep it I’ve got to make sure I have time on my plate to take the appointment. What trade am I making by using my time for the meeting? Then I need to make sure I get up to leave in time, set my alarm, think about the place we’re meeting — will it be better to drive or catch public transportation? I need to consider delayed trains or lousy traffic on the way, check I’ve got the person’s phone number with me and if I need to allow time to get petrol. And dozens of other things.
So if keeping my 9.00am appointment promise has such a litany of considerations, imagine what it will take to keep the more significant promises organisations make.
So let’s imagine.
Taking one of my favourite examples, let’s look at Patagonia’s promise to “do as little harm as possible”, which is part of their mission statement.
Starting with the promise itself. They take pains to note that harm is inevitable in what they do (make outdoor apparel). So by saying “as little harm as possible” their promise is practical and acknowledges the environment they are in from the outset.
Too many times hype or desire overcomes good sense and the promise is unkeepable (which would be the case if Patagonia had said “do no harm”).
They manufacture goods and transport them. Both activities that inevitably cause harm. Careful selection and monitoring of both location and conditions of manufacturing is another consideration in keeping the promise. The Footprint Chronicles is one way they work to be transparent about how they’re doing and where and how their products are made and why they make the decisions they do.
Just because the delivery of your promise is complex and involves third parties and/or distance doesn’t let you off the hook for keeping it. Take these things into consideration when you’re making the promise in the first place.
Reusing, recycling and repairing are principles that the company embraces in more than their products. It’s another way they ‘do as little harm as possible’. And taking it a step further, the locations of their stores are (mostly) in refurbished older buildings.
The bigger the promise, the more aspects of your operations it will need to be woven into in order to keep it.
As a product company, one of the key ways they will keep their promise or not is in what they choose to make. And in the spirit of ‘do as little harm as possible’ Patagonia specifically only makes products for man-powered outdoor endeavours. Surfing, climbing, paddling, skiing, running… you get the idea.
The most powerful way a company keeps their promises is found in their products or services. What they are, how they work, how they are used. It’s where the promise rubber meets the road. What you don’t do can be as important to keeping your promise as what you do.
Plenty of promises get made (and broken) in marketing. Patagonia goes to some lengths to demonstrate that they stand behind their promise. A recent example being their Worn Wear campaign which highlights people who have owned and used their Patagonia apparel – for sometimes decades.
You’ll have a better chance of keeping your promise if your marketing supports it rather than being the one making it. Work from the inside out when thinking about your promises. What can you do. What do you want to do. Not just what do others want you to do.
Patagonia is a robust illustration of how to think about your promises, and still, I’ve barely scratched the surface of all the things it looks at and considers as part of the promise to “cause no unnecessary harm”. Weaving together the necessary fabric to keep your promises is a complex, conscious and deliberate act.
All organisations that make promises they keep, take time to think through the myriad of considerations before making them. Join their ranks and make yours deliberately and consciously. Think about them fully. The resulting brand will be one that people care about and come back to over and over again.
Thanks for reading.