Brandbite #13 Great brands admit when they've screwed up. Unfortunately bad stuff happens to great brands every day. An act of fate somewhere messes up communication, a sleepy employee misses an important detail, or your distributor drops the ball. All of these activities can turn a brand experience on its head and leave a yucky taste in the buyer's mouth. Welcome to life. Smart brand stewards think through and plan ahead for these missteps. A sincere apology is worth millions in the mind of a customer, especially since most businesses forget this simple concept. Identify your top four most likely brand breakdowns: a bad service experience, a less than quality product, or even a third-party disaster that involves your brand. Have correspondence and an action plan ready to respond quickly. A follow up to the above won't hurt either. Most buyers are forgiving. If you can turn around a bad situation, true and lasting brand loyalty often transpires. Many brands fail to take advantage of this. Brand On!

Karen Post helps organizations and professionals prosper with a powerful brand. She is a 20-year branding enthusiast, professional speaker, and author of Brain Tattoos, Creating Unique Brands that Stick to Customers' Minds. If you’d like to learn more about branding, read her monthly column at Fastcompany.com and visit www.brandingdiva.com.