Measuring Brand Promises in the Age of AI

How do you measure your firm's brand promise and position in the market?

The answer often lands at either end of a spectrum. At one end, we have dedicated research projects. They're complex and expensive, typically happening every few years. At the other end, the measurement is purely subjective, based on the feelings that Partners and BD teams get when talking to the market.

Is there some middle ground? A view of brand promise and positioning that is evidence-based but also timely.

Keeping Your Brand Promise Relevant

Timeliness is crucial because client perceptions and expectations keep evolving. When a trusted advisor evolves their offer, the same mirror gets held up to everyone else. If you're not careful, 'market-leading' services can become table stakes, and a stand-out brand can lose its distinctiveness.

Interestingly, the opposite can also be true. Parts of your firm may be delivering services in ways that clients value more than they realize.

This is why firms undertake rebrands. Their promises to the market need to be authentic to the firm's current strategy and culture. They also need to reflect evolving client expectations.

The current debate around using GenAI to support client work is a good example. Some firms are leaning in, helping their teams discover how best to use the technology and figuring out how this shift will benefit clients.

Other firms are taking a different approach, perhaps due to risk aversion or implementation challenges. Or because they believe in their expertise and personal touch.

Neither position is right. The important thing is that firms are taking a position, choosing where they stand in the evolving market, and making their brand promise distinctive from competitors.

Can Brand Promises Be Tracked Rather Than Researched?

GenAI has moved fast in the last 12 months. Many of these positioning decisions were likely based on informal discussions, risk appetite, and budget priorities rather than extensive research.

So, how can your firm make agile yet evidence-based brand decisions?

This is where always-on listening platforms shine a light in the darkness. They gather 'signals' from a wide range of sources. Complaints, testimonials, reviews, and informal conversations fill the gaps left by surveys and interviews.

By unifying the client voice, you can maintain an up-to-date picture of how clients talk about your brand promise. Add in the views of prospects, referrers, and staff, and you complete the brand jigsaw.

Of course, all this data is only valuable if you can make sense of it. So always-on listening uses bespoke AI algorithms to replace tags and highlighter pens. The analysis is consistent, faster, and scalable.

With always-on client listening, you can track and manage your brand promises in real-time.

Monitor Market Perception

What do your clients say about your firm when you're not in the room? Perhaps more importantly, what don't they say?

A good place to start is by analysing what's in the public domain. Directory summaries, online reviews, and testimonials are visible to prospects and shape perceptions. So does the copy on your website and social media profiles.

What do they say? Do they paint a picture of a clear and distinctive brand promise? Or do they focus on experiences that clients now consider table stakes? Can you really trade on your expertise when everyone else's testimonials also talk about expertise?

It can be more valuable to focus on the 'sound of silence'—the things clients aren't saying. If your firm is positioning around innovation, do your clients mention it too?

To learn more about the ‘sound of silence’, click here to read ‘Client feedback - what are you missing?’

Compare Brand Promises to Client Reality

Clients are increasingly focusing on brand accountability. They're challenging firms to keep their brand promises and show how they are doing it.

Did the range of experts showcased at the pitch really come to the table? Was the firm's approach genuinely innovative? Or was fresh thinking communicated in a letter addressed to "Dear Sirs"?

Does your firm walk the talk?

This delivery gap is easy to measure.

First, collect feedback after a pitch or at the beginning of a matter. Ask what their expectations are. Ask what good enough and great experiences look like.

Then, during and after a matter, ask how well you're meeting their expectations. Check if you're delivering on your brand's promises.

The key is to ask while their experiences are still fresh in their minds. Asking once the bill's been paid is too late. Memories have faded, and it's too late for you to address any gaps.

Discover Ways to Strengthen Your Brand Promise

In the age of greater brand scrutiny, it's tempting to play it safe and make vague promises. But vague brand promises are about as distinctive as magnolia walls in a new house. They're safe, boring, and instantly forgettable.

Instead, make your brand promises more explicit. Talk your clients' language. Use the words your clients use to describe your brand. Showcase testimonials that highlight your brand's distinctiveness.

Measure the Success of a Rebrand

A lot of research and soul-searching goes into a rebrand. Clients, prospects, partners, and staff all get consulted. It's an intense process that brings the firm together. But what happens after the brand is launched? The research budget is gone. Internal energy transfers to the next project.

Even if it was a 'refresh' rather than a 'rebrand', you want the market to notice something different. That means you need to measure what they're noticing. Have pitch debriefs, client feedback, or testimonials changed? Do they emphasise the new promises or wording? Do they suggest a greater distinctiveness in the market?

All these signals can be picked up by adopting an always-on approach when listening to clients, prospects, and the wider market.

The Easier Way to Measure Brand Promises

These days, brand monitoring includes asking open questions and analysing unprompted comments. Ratings are helpful but limited. They rarely explain why numbers have gone up or down. Without the why, you can't make evidence-based decisions.

Always-on client listening gives you the best of both worlds. Ask for ratings and open questions. Gather solicited, unsolicited, and public perceptions. Benchmark insights across practice areas. Discover which value drivers clients are raving about right now. See which ones they're pushing back on and which ones they don't notice at all.

Stream Your Brand Story

Measuring brand promises in the age of AI is exciting. Measurement used to be like looking at a series of photographs—snapshots of a moment in time.

With always-on client listening, you can now stream your brand story as it happens.