How Coherent Is Your Brand?

I was checking-in at the airport yesterday when I noticed this huge sign on an LCD screen along Row 7.

It's good advice, no doubt about that (I once almost missed my flight because my name was misspelt on my boarding pass). However, in doing passengers a service, a ground crew member did Singapore Airlines a disservice by amplifying an ironic, shoddy announcement to everyone and his blind father in 96-point type.

Consumers consider all contacts with a brand when forming their image of it ... whether it's a million-dollar TV commercial, customer event, online banner ad, or a visit by a sales rep. Whenever you touch a coherent brand -- as a customer, shareholder, employee, supplier, business partner, or just someone who's noticed the brand before -- it should feel the same. Otherwise the mythology, the brand story breaks. And when that happens, the magic spell is broken. You're going to have to work that much harder to earn back that trust, to win back respect.

Thankfully, SIA did just about enough on the flight down under to do precisely that.

Short post today -- I'm on vacation!