I have officially replaced the word ‘brand’ with the word ‘reputation’ in my vocabulary and it has made my marketing life much simpler:
– Brand building becomes reputation building.
– Brand equity becomes reputation equity.
– Brand strategy becomes reputation strategy.
Brand is a nebulous, overused word that we pay advertising agencies to fix. Reputation, however, is the name we make for ourselves by what we do day in and day out. It’s reliability and follow-through and taking care of customers long after lesser companies have gone home for the day. Focus on earning a reputation and you’ll never have to pay anyone to build your brand again.