A few days ago I participated in a fantastic branding workshop done for a number of arts groups on the University of Chicago campus. It reminded me of the relationship between promise and proof.
We have talked about this before, but as a reminder, a brand is essentially a promise that you are making between your organization and the consumer.
If you make an attractive promise and consistently deliver on that promise then you will have a strong brand.
It's that simple and that complex.
What the branding workshop reminded me was the importance of being able to prove your promise.
If you are promising your patrons high quality art, then what proof do have of that quality?
So what if you're a new (or emerging) arts organization that doesn't have the sort of objective proof of quality (reviews, awards) that other arts orgs do?
Then don't promise quality.
Maybe you can promise cutting edge work.
Maybe you can promise an interactive night of entertainment.
My point is, don't promise things you can't prove.
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