How to identify and articulate your company's unique brand purpose. Through asking themselves and their customers a series of questions, a business owner can develop a brand purpose and values system that acts as a filter for decision making, an insurance policy, a shared belief system, and a guide for team behavior.
In this presentation, I reference and pull from the many places where I have learned about the importance of brand and how to get to the real "why":
Listen Ventures, for their "Brand Purpose" framework of "What We Believe" and "Why We Exist."
Nick Sarillo, for his powerful work with brand values and building an authentic, explicit culture.
Simon Sinek, for his TEDTalk "Start with Why"
The books, "Made to Stick", by Chip and Dan Heath for cultivating empathy and understanding what your business looks like from the outside without all of the context that we as founders have.
The beautiful quote by Wally Olins, from the book "Brand Thinking and other Noble Pursuits" by Debbie Millan
And likely 10,000 other sources which have unwittingly shaped and built my passion and understanding for brand and its power in building emotionally resonant, authentic, proactive companies.
3. • Your only real, immutable competitive advantage!
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• Your connection to your customers: “your tribe”!
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• Your “true north” for all decision making!
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• Your insurance policy in tough times!
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• Your best team management tool!
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• Your roadmap for adapting to the future
4. “Branding is a profound manifestation of the
human condition. It is about belonging:
belonging to a tribe, to a religion, to a family.
Branding demonstrates that sense of belonging.
It has this function for both the people who are
part of the same group and also for the people
who don’t yet belong.” !
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- Wally Ollins!
5. Your brand is NOT a logo!
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(Or your website, flashy business cards, sexy
office…or even your product.)
8. Getting to your brand!
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What is the real problem
you’re trying to solve?!
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This has nothing to do with your product. !
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There are a million ways to solve a problem, and
your product is just one way…so what IS the
problem you’re trying to solve?
9. Getting to your brand!
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Who is your customer?!
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How are they currently solving this problem?!
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How do they sound, what do they care about, etc?!
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“There are no such things as groups, only
collections of individual human beings. Who are
you talking to?” - Brad Boyer!
10. Getting to your brand!
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What do you believe?!
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Why is this problem critical to solve?!
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Why are you the best business to solve it?!
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Why is now the right time to solve it?!
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Why do you care?!
11. Getting to your brand!
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Why do you exist?!
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What is your purpose? !
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This is not WHAT you DO, but WHY you do it. !
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What changes in the world if you’re successful?
13. Think about your website. !
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Now imagine that you know !
NOTHING about your business!
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Would you understand your “WHY”?
14. Your customers don’t know all the context,
backstory and passion that’s locked in
your mind. The “why” might seem obvious
to you, but it must be explicit.!
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You have to MAKE them care.
20. Your internal values
Your customer service
Your product
Your improvement process
Your communication
Your visual identity
Your return policy
Your internal policies
Your future product developments
Your blog and articles
And on and on and on…
21. Your brand is what you are
when you think no one is looking.
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You decide your purpose, but your
customers determine your brand.
23. Building an authentic identity!
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If you want a sticky, emotionally resonant
brand…you need to be specific. You can’t
please everyone, so focus on talking
directly to YOUR customer.!
24. Personality: Who is your brand? !
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Tone: How does your brand sound?!
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Identity: How does your brand look?!
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