Brand Promise

As soon as I saw the most recent Noel Leeming ad starring Erin Brokovich talking about the 'buzzards' circling for that sale, I knew they had made a mistake. They essentially are promising something they most likely cannot deliver - a totally transformed customer experience. I.e., leaving the customer alone to browse instead of asking them if they needed help.

Already their brand promise is failing. This from the NZ Herald last weekend:

"Lesley writes: Apparently Erin Brockovich feels the same way I do about annoying sales staff hanging around while you're trying to browse. I spent some time in Noel Leemings over the weekend, just having a look around while my husband bought an electric shaver. I couldn't help overhearing one of the new Noel Leemings endorsements by Brockovich as it played on a store TV. In it she stated (and I paraphrase) how much she hated the buzzards that come swarming around when she is trying to browse in a store and how she likes to be given space to shop. I'd like to note that, in the 15 minutes I was in the store, I was approached by no less than five separate staff all asking if I needed help. Either I appeared to be in a perpetual state of confusion and in dire need of expert guidance, or Noel Leemings staff should listen to their new spokesperson and back off a bit."

If your brand promises something to the consumer, you must deliver or the results are far worse than if you'd never made the promise in the first place. "Noels", as they're now calling themselves, has surely earned this week's 'Brand Stupidity" award from me.