For clarification, how does one explain when a company reasonably carries out its brand message effectively – like WalMart and McDonalds) but doens’t necessarily convey that to their overall image.

It’s my guess that there are a lot of parents that may not like McDonalds as an establishment but will still take the kids there because it’s quick and inexpensive. And this, of course, creates a new generation of customers.

But image (or reputation) is the expression of the brand out there in the real world.

The concept of a brand, or the idea behind it (usually translated into the “message”) is usually what a brand’s CMO focuses on: For McDonald’s, it’s that combination of convenience, cheapness, but , cleanliness and familiarity.

Some companies do a great job of reconciling both the message and the image/reputation so that you get a consistent brand experience from the messaging to the regular use of the products that fall under their umbrella. (Macintosh, for example. Or Rudy Project. Or BMW.)

Others, however, don’t. In those cases, you get a clear separation between the message (wishful thinking/lip service) and the image or reputation (the sad reality).

Who can forget the fast food scene in “Falling Down” in which a completely insane Michael Douglas holds a fast food joint hostage while he rants about the difference between the way the restaurant’s burgers look on their menu and how they look in reality? The scene is a fiercely effective illustration of the divide that can exist between a brand’s message, and a less pristine reality.

Your brand is both the promise and the execution of that promise. It cannot be successful if these two are not perfectly aligned and balanced.

I continue to run into CMOs who only want to talk about branding in terms of messaging (the promise). It’s all Marketing communications, PR, creative, etc. They don’t understand that their brands are about what they do (the execution), not just what they say.

So while the person you mentioned may be taking his definition of a brand a little too far in the “reputation management” direction, he could teach a thing or two to old school marketers who still live in a command & control state of denial.

Great blog, BTW.

;)