What is Your Brand Reputation Worth?

Will your brand story withstand a poor customer experience? Does a strong, well-known brand story mean that you can provide less than expected service?

Writer, editor and technologist David Strom, posted about his experience with two well-known -- but very different -- restaurants.

The first, Morton's Steakhouse, is a near luxury brand and a favorite among foodies who enjoy a good steak and a bottle of wine. The second, Olive Garden, is a family restaurant chain that advertises exhaustively on television.

Guess which restaurant provided the superior customer service?

I'm not throwing support either way here -- in fact I have called out Olive Garden on being picky about customers in the past. However, David's story makes an excellent point:

A single experience can serve to reinforce or negate decades of brand storytelling.

What do you think?