Raise your hand if you’ve ever been let down by a brand 🙋‍♀️

The ad says “customer-first.”

The website says “innovative.”

The customer service experience says “good luck out there.”

That misalignment between what they say and what they do is a sign of a weak (or nonexistent) brand promise. Or one that’s just an empty marketing slogan. (You can probably think of a few brands guilty of this right now.)

Now before we get into what a brand promise is, let’s clear up what it isn’t.

It isn’t a tagline.

A tagline is external. It’s designed to be catchy, memorable, repeatable.

Nike’s “Just Do It”? Brilliant. Motivating. Iconic. But still just a tagline.

A true brand promise runs deeper. It’s not what you say to the outside world; it’s the operating system that drives how your company actually works.

A brand promise is the core idea that informs your company's mission, your products and services, how you treat your customers, and even how you hire. A strong brand promise creates a clear expectation in the minds of every person in the company. In other words, it goes way beyond marketing.

Think of it like an internal compass. The thing that keeps everyone in the company pointed in the same direction.

Take Patagonia. Their promise —“We’re in business to save our home planet” — likely shapes everything they do—what materials they choose, how they manage their supply chain, even how they design employee volunteer programs. It’s woven into the fabric of the company.

It also has a strong point of view. Notice they chose the word “save” versus “protect,” “restore,” or “take care of.” There’s a real hero at the center of that word. And that one word carries weight. It sets expectations for employees, customers, even critics.

That’s what separates a tagline from a promise. One lives in marketing. The other lives in every decision you make.

3 Steps to Discovering (and Owning) Your Brand Promise

Understanding the far-reaching power of a brand promise is one thing. But how do you actually craft one that’s true to your company?

At Motive3, we have a thing for 3’s. And when it comes to crafting a brand promise, we’re a little old school. We believe a brand promise drives everything, so it has to be rock solid. It has to be believable.

Aristotle nailed the formula for belief thousands of years ago (and it still stands today). And guess what…his framework came down to three drivers: Logos, Pathos, and Ethos.

• Logos (Logic): Your promise must be rooted in logic - a real problem your customer needs solved.
• Pathos (Emotion): It has to connect with how people feel based on their values, because logic alone won’t move them.
• Ethos (Credibility): And it has to be backed by proof, so people trust you’ll actually deliver.

Together, these are the foundation of a promise people actually believe.

Let’s dig in and see how they shape a brand promise that lasts.

➊ Root It in Evidence (Logos)

Every believable brand promise needs a rational backbone, the clear problem you solve and the evidence that supports it.

Think of it as answering: What’s the problem we fix, and what proof do we have to back it up?

Here’s how to get there:

• Start with the problem. Define the rational pain point (what the customer really needs solved). Not what you want to sell, but the issue that creates urgency for them.
• Ground it in reality. Show the practical mechanism that makes solving it possible (the rules, systems, structures that keep it logical and not just wishful thinking).
• Bring your “hard proof.” Demonstrate the evidence that proves you’re not making it up (certifications, measurable results, regulations, etc.).

Think of it as: Problem → Mechanism → Proof.

Logic gives your promise weight, and makes everything else you say easier to believe. It’s about solving a real, rational problem customers face and backing it with proof that can’t be argued away.

➋ Infuse It with Emotion (Pathos)

Logic alone won’t create belief. People need to feel it.

This is where emotion comes in. It’s the part that shows you understand their frustrations, fears, hopes, and aspirations.

Ask yourself: What does this problem feel like to them in real life? What’s the emotional payoff if we solve it?

What to pay attention to:

• How they describe the pain. Do they say they’re frustrated with delays, anxious about risk, or tired of wasting time? Those feelings point to what really matters.
• The outcome they crave. Relief, control, confidence, pride — these are the feelings they want on the other side of the problem.
• The identity they want reinforced. People choose brands that make them feel smart, responsible, innovative, or safe…not just “problem-free.”

Emotion is the spark. It turns a rational promise into something people rally behind (and repeat to others).

➌ Back It with Credibility (Ethos)

Logic explains why your promise makes sense. Emotion makes people care. But credibility is what makes them believe you.

Credibility is about trust. It’s about showing that your brand has the authority, track record, and integrity to back up what you say.

Ask:

• Why should people trust us over someone else?
• What signals prove we’ll actually follow through?
• How do our actions reinforce (not contradict) our words?

Ways to show it:

• Reputation. Awards, recognition, or long-standing partnerships that vouch for you.
• Consistency. Proving the same promise holds up everywhere, and keeps holding up over time.
• Proof from others. Testimonials, case studies, referrals. Credibility often comes best from someone else’s mouth, not yours.

Credibility is the glue. It’s what turns a promise from words on a page into something people are willing to stake their trust—and often their reputation—on.

Putting It All Together

Let’s look at how these three drivers come together in practice.

For years we worked with a wealth management company who had a unique take on advising high net worth clients. They focused less on performance, and more on guidance. In fact, “performance chasers” were the type of clients they actively avoided. After conducting a bunch of customer interviews, a few themes started to surface.

1. Clients had a deeply personal relationship with their wealth advisor. The advisors knew their client’s hopes and dreams, but also their fears and frustrations. And clients leaned on their advisors for virtually every financial decision: lease or rent a new car? Sell the business, or acquire another one? Tap into the 401k now or wait another few years. You name it.
2. The reason clients felt so comfortable including their wealth advisor was because they were all certified fiduciaries, which means they were legally obligated to work on their client’s best interests, even if it conflicted with their own.
3. And finally, they liked both the sticking power and the independence of the privately held firm that has weathered the storm of countless financial cycles over 70+ years.

If you look closely, we landed on logical, emotional, and credible reasons to believe.

• Logical = fiduciaries must work in the client’s best interest
• Emotional = clients want someone who really knows them, and that they have the confidence to be vulnerable with
• Credible = clients feel more comfortable with a company who has sticking power

We used these elements to craft a brand promise that was uniquely theirs: a personal fiduciary for all seasons.

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Your Brand Promise Homework

Your brand promise is all about creating an operating system or North Star for your company and the people and partners you work with. It’s also entirely rooted in your customer’s needs.

Here’s a simple exercise you can use to uncover your own brand promise:

→ Logos (Logic)

Remember, real customer pain points are the foundation of a strong promise.

List the top 3-5  pain points your product/service solves.

→ Pathos (Emotion)

How do you solve those customer pain points in a way no competitor does? What's your unique advantage?

List 3-5 words that describe the feeling your customers have after interacting with your brand. Bonus points if these come from real customer interactions or reviews.

→ Ethos (Credibility)

How do your company’s actions back up the logical and emotional reasons your customers’ choose the way your company uniquely delivers value?

Answer this question: What gives you the authority to say you deserve your customers’ business? Why should you be trusted?

Putting it all together

Now, draft your brand promise as a single, concise sentence for later refinement.

Bonus GPT Prompt:

Use this to sharpen your draft brand promise so it’s clear, believable, and memorable.

Prompt:

Act as a brand strategist.

I’ve drafted a brand promise based on the following:

• Evidence (Logic): [Insert top 3–5 customer pain points you solve + hard proof]
• Emotion (Pathos): [Insert 3–5 words that describe how customers want to feel after you solve their problem]
• Credibility (Ethos): [Insert the signals that prove you’ll actually deliver-recognition, case studies, consistency over time]
• Draft Brand Promise: [Insert your one-sentence draft promise here]

Please challenge it by answering:

1. Clarity: Where does this feel vague, generic, or like “marketing copy”?
2. Logic: Does the promise directly solve the customer’s core problem, or is it off-target?
3. Emotion: Does the emotional layer feel human and motivating, or surface-level?
4. Credibility: Do the proof points actually reinforce the promise, or are they weak?
5. Balance: Is one driver (logic, emotion, credibility) overpowering the others?
6. Believability test: Would a skeptical customer believe this promise, or push back? Why?
7. Bonus: What’s one change (sharper focus, stronger proof, or bolder word choice) that would make this promise more convincing?

Your Tiny Challenge:

Take your last 5 customer interactions — emails, calls, service tickets, whatever they were — and hold them up against your brand promise.

• Did you solve the problem the way your promise says you will?
• Did you use the tone or approach your promise commits to?
• Did the outcome match the expectation you set?

If you want, share your promise with me. I’ll tell you if it sounds like the real deal, or just marketing fluff. 😉

💡 P.S. A brand promise only works if it’s rooted in the right audience. If you haven’t nailed down your category, competitors, and buyer segments yet, start there first. I broke that down in a previous newsletter; you can read it here.

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