How recognizable is your brand? What crosses the mind of your customers when they see your product or service brand? Is that different than what a person who is in your target market, but has yet to purchase anything from you would think? It would seem logical that someone who was currently a customer – who had purchased from you at least once before – would be more knowledgeable and more accurate regarding your brand than someone who was encountering it for the first time. The difference is in experience vs reputation.

So there can be two totally different views of your brand in the marketplace. One is based on a customer’s experience and the other is based on the reputation of the brand.

For instance, there is a new twist on an old game that is taking the world by storm right now. Pokemon Go is a mobile game played with a phone app. It combines Google Maps with a smart phone camera to capture digital images and score points. These Pokemon images are all over the place – in your living room, in the street, on the water tower – you name it, they are there. You can duel with other players. My children played with Pokemon cards and watched them in cartoons when they were young. They understand the point systems, the dueling, and everything else about this game. They are already customers, so to speak. On the other hand, I know the brand, but virtually nothing about Pokemon gaming. Now as young adults, my two sons are entertained for hours going on what amounts to a scavenger hunt, looking for these little virtual creatures to appear on their phones. To them, the brand stood for a game they enjoyed when they were younger and now they are enjoying it once again in an extremely interactive way. The brand means something to them based on their experience with it. To me, who has never played this game, I see the Pokemon brand as a kids game that I will never play. It does not interest me. I think it is a hazard because I see kids walking around my neighborhood oblivious to anything else that is happening around them. Did we really need to give teenagers another reason to stare at their phones for hours and hours? Kids are walking across my lawn trying to capture the elusive Blubalub (Blub-a-what?) I have no experience with the game, just the reputation of the gaming brand. And what do I think of Pokemon? At best, it is a game for children. At worst, it is a waste of time! In any case, something I want no part of personally.

So how do you manage your brand based on experience and reputation? First of all, in marketing, the goal is to get everyone in your target market to try the product or service – to form an opinion of the brand based on an experience. Before that happens, you need to try to align the reputation of the brand as closely to the experience as possible. How do you do that? First, testimonials of customers who have an opinion based on experience go a long way. This is where you need to be savvy about what you are putting on your social media, your blogs, your web site, and other collateral materials where your current customers influence prospects. That means you have to work hard to make sure your current customers – if they are satisfied with their experience – are giving you feedback. You will have to ask them for it. Don’t assume they will give this to you on their own. Secondly, pick out the best attributes of your product or services and promote it to the hilt. This should be something that solves a problem and is easy to define. Lean your marketing towards this attribute. Make it easy to identify your brand with that solution. Do you know what Pokemon Go is using as a ploy to get people to try it? They say it helps kids get out of the house and get some exercise. That runs counter to most electronic gaming, where kids sit and stare at a screen. Now they are at least walking while they play. Yeah, walking into my flower beds!