A brand promise is the commitment a company makes to its customers, employees, partners, and investors about the kind of company it will be. It is not a tagline or a marketing claim. It is the foundational story that guides every decision the organization makes, especially when those decisions are difficult. Johnson and Johnson’s Credo, written in 1943, is one of the most studied examples of a codified brand promise. When seven people died from cyanide-laced Tylenol in 1982, the Credo gave leadership a clear answer to an impossible question: they recalled 31 million bottles, worked with the FDA to develop tamper-proof packaging, and ran ads explaining how customers could exchange their products. Within five months, Tylenol sales had recovered to 96 percent of pre-crisis levels. A brand promise does not just protect a company’s reputation. It is the infrastructure that makes doing the right thing the obvious decision, even when it costs more than $100 million to follow through on it.
Learn how the StoryKernel builds a foundational brand promise your organization can act from.
