Your brand establishes expectations that form the reasons why people choose to buy from you versus someone else. Those expectations aren’t just things you promise and deliver on. Nor is it limited to what your brand looks like, or how it’s packaged.

Your brand defines how people feel about you.

A good brand reminds people why they choose you again and again. Emotional connection is a hard thing to measure or to pinpoint why it does what it does. Just as important, a strong brand creates a powerful bond. There’s a risk in there for anyone hoping to engage in disruption tactics involving their brand.

It can easly backfire.

Coke found that out when they switched the colours on their iconic product to silver and white as part of a well-meaning campaign. Consumers got angry and the company abruptly ended their limited run months ahead of schedule.

Much of the blame was that it created confusion between their regular and diet products, but there’s more to it than that. The brand’s colour–Coca-Cola red–is more than just a fundamental part of the product’s design.

It turns out that it’s deeply rooted in how people feel when they buy that product. Take that away from your consumer and they’re missing part of what makes your brand what it is.