Lord Ember Stone's Quest

Big promise?? Whether is good for our self or other people??

Driving home the other day I noticed an approaching billboard with a striking statement… “BELIEVE IN Something BETTER.” The letters were all caps except for the word “something” which was underscored for added emphasis. Intrigued, I couldn’t wait to move forward to discover what, or who, was behind the message. Was it The Church of Latter Day Saints? The Boys and Girls Club? A new “Say no to drugs” campaign?

No… it was a cell phone company. U.S. Cellular to be exact. You know when a brand promises too much when you feel that let down in your stomach that goes “Really? It’s all that?” I had a similar experience viewing a TV ad a couple of years back. It lured me in by saying that one thing, and one thing only, truly defined who and what we are. I had to know what could be that monumental that it could sum up our very essence. The answer?

A watch.

It’s not to say that companies can’t align themselves with strong attributes. In fact, that’s a great strategy for the positioning of a brand. But in the execution of that strategy, it’s important to ask if the promise is a realistic one. Verizon, for example, makes a more believable claim that “It’s the network.” Wal-mart played it fairly safe with “Always the low price. Always.” But of late, it shifted to “Save money. Live Better.” Is it realistic to think you are living the high life thanks to Wal-mart? I’ll let that be your call.

Dodge came out with a TV ad entitled “My name is Ram” in which images of Muhammad Ali and Albert Einstein were displayed, while they touted their vehicle as “All brawn. All brain.” It further states that it’s “built by passion… and stopped by nothing.” And “a technological marvel,” with a picture of a major suspension bridge being built in the background. The only thing missing was a shot of a shuttle launch. Pretty heady stuff for a truck.

With all the decentralization of media, the consumer has the power now to pick and choose what he or she wants to see and hear. So if our brand message rings hollow, they will tune out. In fact, if our message is not authentic, it will create just the opposite effect… one of distrust. In business, as in life, it’s always best to underpromise and overdeliver. So choose your words wisely. Make sure your brand message is aspirational, believable and achievable.

Dad has never taken care well with the mailbox at the gate for months I guess, it is in terrible position. Dad used to be proud of it when at the first time he had it until I went to the city for an interview. It was the first model among other mailboxes at that time. It was also the most protruding item the house monotonous iron fence surrounding our big yard; nothing interesting on the fence only the mailbox. It had got painted several times by my father.

My wife also thought the same thing as I did about mailbox when we both visited him last weekend. She thinks that the mailbox is unique – different from other recent mailboxes — but now it looks like just a piece of junk standing on a porous wooden pole. There were several rotten and new envelops and one or two of them were from me. I was not surprised because after sending the letter I then called him on the phone. Dad knew I sent him a letter but he was apparently in bad condition to get the letter from a 20-meter mailbox from the house door. And he has never taken my letter until now!

Now, my wife and I are inside a mailbox shop. We both decided to get one new mailbox for the house, the one which is easily reached by my Dad. I consider on a wall mount mailbox that would be stuck on the outer wooden wall. I am sure this will be working. Yet seeing a lot of mail boxes available on the shop, my idea gets fading. There are a lot of interesting models and designs that could be best fit to the house. I apparently agree with a mailbox chosen by my wife and we don’t want to hesitate again on taking that one. We both are certain the mailbox would look nice at the house wall, and the most important thing is that my Dad does not have to be lazy to take any mails and letters for him out of the box.