60 days startup lesson - 55 - A Brand Isn’t What You Say — It’s What Customers Remember

  60 days startup lesson - 55

 

A Brand Isn’t What You Say — It’s What Customers Remember

The common misconception in business is that a brand is a carefully crafted set of messages, logos, and slogans that a company projects to the world. This leads many to believe that with enough marketing budget and repetition, they can control their brand's perception. However, this view is fundamentally flawed. In reality, a brand is not defined by the company's output but by the customer's input. It exists not in the boardroom, but in the collective memory of its audience. A brand is, ultimately, the gut feeling and the collection of experiences a customer recalls when they hear your name.

1. The Fallacy of Control

Companies spend millions on advertising campaigns telling people who they are "We are innovative," "We are luxurious," "We are reliable." But these claims are meaningless if they are not validated by customer experience. If a company claims to be "customer-obsessed" but has poor support and difficult return policies, that disconnect is what the customer will remember. The brand becomes "that company that talks a big game but is frustrating to deal with."

2. The Architecture of Memory

What customers remember is rarely a perfect replay of your tagline. Instead, it's a collage of sensory experiences, emotional reactions, and shared stories. It’s the smell of a Starbucks store, the unboxing of an Apple product, the relief of a seamless Amazon delivery, or the frustration of a hidden fee. These moments, both significant and subtle, are the bricks and mortar from which a brand is built in the customer's mind.

3. The Sum of All Interactions

A brand is therefore not built solely through advertising. It is forged at every single touchpoint:

• Product Experience: Does it work as promised? Is it a pleasure to use?

• Customer Service: Was the interaction helpful and respectful?

• Word-of-Mouth: What do friends, family, and online reviews say?

• Cultural Presence: What values does the company embody through its actions?

 

What is a brand? Is it a logo? A color palette? A mission statement etched in marble? These are merely its artifacts the empty vessels waiting to be filled with meaning. The true essence of a brand is far more elusive and powerful; it is a reputation, a story, a collective agreement held in the minds of your customers. It is the residual feeling that remains long after the advertisement has ended and the purchase is complete. This introduces a humbling yet liberating truth: a brand is not a monologue you broadcast, but a memory you earn.

Conclusion

Ultimately, relinquishing the idea that you can tell people what your brand is represents a fundamental shift in power from the corporation to the consumer. The role of marketing and communication is not to dictate meaning but to curate experiences that are so consistent, valuable, and positive that they leave the right kind of memory. A company's true task is to act with such intention that what it does aligns perfectly with what it says, ensuring that what customers remember is exactly what you hoped they would.

❓If you stopped all advertising today, what would your customers remember about your brand tomorrow? What single word or feeling would they use to describe you to a friend?

💡Map your customer's journey. Identify every single point where a customer interacts with your company (website, sales call, product, invoice, support, etc.). For each point, ask: "What memory are we creating here? Is it on brand?" Work to make every touchpoint intentional.

"Your brand is what people say about you when you're not in the room."
— Jeff Bezos, Founder of Amazon

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