Branding betrayal
What does a guarantee signal to the world?
Recently I read some commentary about what a guarantee signals to folks. The basics of it were:
In the 80s, American cars were shit. Chrysler offered a crazy 10-year/100,000-mile warranty to make up for it. People were still sus. The point being made was that guarantees can signal a shitty product or service:
"Careful. Guarantees can telegraph that YOU aren't confident in your work."
But I don't think it's a matter of guarantees. It's a matter of brand.
Chrysler was shit and people knew it. Some might have even experienced it first-hand. Chrysler burned them. That's essentially betrayal—a trigger for some of the most powerful negative emotions a human can experience.
So yeah, no one believes your stupid crazy guarantee. You could almost say the Chrysler brand was so bad that the word "guarantee" became tainted (at least to some).
Then Dan Gerlach hit me with this Tommy Boy reference
Obviously, they're talking about guarantees (at least a guarantee "on the box") but really, it's about brand.
"He sneaks into your house once, that's all it takes."
BOOM. Chrysler violated trust. Once is all it takes. The brand becomes garbage. The guarantee is an attempt to remedy that.
But a brand is hard to change.
It takes much more work than a guarantee. So the guarantee ends up being a signal for a "guaranteed piece of shit."
✌️Rvw
P.S. Shoutout to Dan for reminding me how good Tommy Boy is.
Like this post? Sign up below to get stuff like this sent to you inbox. I write weekly-ish about the do’s and don’ts of branding to help badass businesses stand out with style.
