The big change in branding today is that people finally realize that if you position a company and have a brand promise, then you have to deliver on it. The experience has to match the expectations. You have to train the organization to behave in a manner that reinforces and aligns with the brand promise. That's the biggest change in the last five, eight years. People like Steve Jobs, who runs Apple Computers, have vision. They inculcate that vision in the company. People come to work there because they believe in the vision, and they behave in a manner that reinforces that vision. Howard Schultz, the chairman of Starbucks, has great vision, and he executes it magnificently. Any time you deal with Starbucks, there is a consistency of brand experience. The people who work there are trained to deliver on the Starbuck's brand promise. For the vast majority of companies, that's not true. They make representations in advertising and communications that they don't deliver on.
– Alan Siegel
