In the common parlance, Quality and Brand value are freely interchangable words. But for those in the know, they are quite different. An unknown player, can deliver quality from day one. But it takes years of hard work in delivering quality, to build up the brand value. Large media budgets help buy brand recognition rather quickly, but building trust in the brand takes time. As a busy player in innovation and indigenous solutions, we deal with these ambiguities everyday.
While the purists may have their text book definitions of quality and brand value, we in our small team debated and defined quality as
‘Systematic and consistent delivery on implied and explicit promises’
Every word here matters. Some everyday examples help explain this definition.
Darshini restaurants in Bengaluru are know for quick delivery, warm, tasty food, and for being fairly cheap. That is the ‘implied’ promise that goes with the chain. If an outlet can deliver on that promise consistently, he has excellent quality. That, he does not give you a seat or a table cloth on a table, is a matter of service model and brand positioning. Air Deccan had an excellent quality if they could manage to stick to their schedules. That they did not serve free meals is a matter of brand positioning. Reaching on time was an implied promise.