BRAND PROMISE
Keep Your Brand Alive
- Promise The Clouds,
Deliver Heaven!
By Joseph Kimotho
T
he FIFA World Cup is definitely
a massive global brand laden with
many promises of excitement,
great football, fair competition, bridging
of religious/racial divides and of course
moments of national pride. What makes it
the single most successful global sporting
event is the fact that it delivers on its
brand promises every time.
The recently concluded FIFA World
Cup 2018 in Russia was no exception.
We experienced great football and
really exciting moments. As football
commentator Oliver Carrol of the
Independent Newspaper summarized it:
“The football was good, with teams much
closer to one another than previously
thought, it was a tournament of drama,
incongruity and the triumph of the
supposed underdog… the five opening
goals against Saudi Arabia; the superstar
Cristiano Ronaldo turning up in provincial
Saransk; the crazed and colorful Iranian,
Peruvian, Colombian supporters; the
Senegalese warm-up dance; the Japanese
fans picking up their litter; the German
machine breaking down; the Argentine
despair amid Brazilian smugness; the
Brazilian despair amid Argentine
smugness; the sublime Belgian football;
Pickford’s saves; England’s unexpected
progress; and Gareth Southgate’s
waistcoat… and, of course, for the hosts:
that victory over Spain.”
There were plenty of moments to celebrate
and make it worth our time to watch the
event across the countries – and next time
they are having a World Cup, we will back
on our screens to watch if not the terraces
of Qatar’s stadiums.
When a brand fails to honor its promise the
expected outcome is that customers feel cheat-
ed, resent themselves for being gullible, and
get confused about their ability to make sound
judgments. This of course is with varying levels
of intensity depending on factors such as the
level of investment involved, functionality of
the product or service, psychological make-up
of the consumer among others.
60 MAL25/18 ISSUE
As I reflected on the success of the just
concluded World Cup, my mind was drawn
to contrast it to another global sporting
event that took place some time back in
mid - 2015. The Boxing Match between
Mayweather and Pacquio on May 2nd
2015. I remember attending a Marketing
Society of Kenya dinner event a few days
after the match and sharing a table with
my friend and marketing comrade; the
CEO of Marketing Africa - Mr. William
Kalombo.
As he was chomping away at his steak, the
clinker of his cutlery could tell that there
was a lot on the man’s mind. Before I could
ask what it was, it came bursting out ‘what
was all this fuss about? What was the hype
all about? Joseph, did you watch that lame
fight? Why did we stay up all night to
watch it? These guys over-marketed and
over-promised that bout, they are making
marketing look bad.
Of course a very animated discussion ensued
at the table with opinions flowing freely
and it got me thinking. The disappointment
at the table was not because any of the guys
was an ardent boxing fan. Actually none
of these guys cared about Mayweather
or Pacquiao before that last fight. The
problem was that a marketer somewhere
promised them a thrilling experience, they
bought the promise but the product did
not live up to it.
The Sports Illustrated magazine commented