Brand Integrity - Priceless!

Recently, 6pm.com, the sister site of Zappos.com, a popular online shoe and clothing shop, experienced a technical problem that resulted in everything on the site being priced at $49.95 or less for several hours on a Sunday morning. This included items that normally cost thousands of dollars.

As soon as Zappos.com became aware of the mistake, they shut down the site and ultimately restored their original pricing. The people who bought the products at the mistaken prices were surprised and pleased to learn the company was honoring those mistaken prices.

Aaron Magness, Director of Brand Marketing and Business Development for Zappos.com, indicated that the company took a loss of over $1.6 million - but admitted that it was their mistake and apologized to customers for any confusion or frustration.

Here's a great example of a company that maintained its brand integrity by honoring its brand promise to deliver an extraordinary customer experience - even when the cost was high.

Let's face it. Creating a company's brand promise certainly isn't easy, especially if it is truly distinctive and deliverable. But keeping your brand promise - sometimes that's just plain hard, as was the case for Zappos.com.

Think about the American automobile industry or Tiger Woods; not only didn't they deliver on their brand promises, but they also weren't honest about their mistakes when they happened - and it harmed their credibility, reputations and brands.

On the other hand, Zappos.com turned a costly mistake into an opportunity to boost its brand image. The positive publicity that this incident has generated has reinforced Zappos.com's reputation for unsurpassed service and has greatly increased the reach of 6pm.com across the web.

Delivering on your brand promise is always important - but especially when your company has made a mistake. By admitting your mistake and keeping your brand promise, you can gain customer credibility and trust - and truly stand apart from your competition.