Your most valuable asset is out of your direct control – your brand! A brand is the emotional connection between your business and your customers. Intangible yet incredibly powerful. Your brand is everything. Think of it as the gut feeling a customer has about you.
However, you can take action to change your brand indirectly. In fact, almost everything you do inside your business can affect your brand in some way — both negatively and positively.
Strategy answers ‘why’ and ‘what’; a plan answers ‘how’. The brand strategy addresses how an organisation or brand owner creates long-term value from their brand.
Your brand core consists of your purpose, vision and values.
Quick Tip
A purpose is a core statement that drives and aligns the whole business – from yesterday, through today and on to tomorrow. It’s focused internally. Positioning, on the other hand, connects that core with the customer and other stakeholders in a way that is relevant today. It is focused externally.
Craft your purpose statement!
What’s the greater good behind your work? Here we’re going to use the Golden Circle concept, developed by Simon Sinek, the author of the bestselling book “Start with WHY”.
Golden Circle In Action:
Apple
Why: In everything we do, we believe in challenging the status quo. We believe in thinking differently.
How: The way we challenge the status quo is by making our products beautifully designed, simple to use, and user-friendly.
What: We just happen to make great computers.
The Wright Brothers
Why: If we can figure out this flying machine, it will change the course of the world.
How: We shed blood, sweat, and tears every day, testing new ways to fly and learning from our mistakes and failures.
What: We’re building man-powered flight.
Humble Bee
Why: We build what’s needed. We only work collaboratively with brands. What’s needed is not always what is expected.
How: We use design and technology to rapidly solve problems and change businesses.
What: We create digital products, tools, and services.
Examples of causes:
- End extreme poverty in all forms by 2030
- End hunger, achieve food security and improve nutrition.
- Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being.
- Ensure inclusive and quality education for all.
- Achieve gender equality and empower women.
- Ensure availability of water and sanitation.
- Ensure access to affordable and sustainable energy.
- Promote economic growth and productive employment.
- Build infrastructure and promote industrialisation.
- Reduce inequality within and among countries.
- Make cities and communities sustainable and safe.
- Ensure responsible consumption and reproduction patterns.
- Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts.
- Conserve oceans and seas for sustainable development.
- Promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems.
- Promote peace, justice, and inclusive institutions.
- Promote global partnership for sustainable development.
Examples of purpose statements:
Tesla: To accelerate the world’s transition to sustainable energy, so that together we can save our planet.
Alzheimer’s Association: A world without Alzheimer’s disease.
Harley-Davidson: We fulfil dreams of personal freedom – it’s our purpose and we take it seriously. And while freedom means different things to different people, it’s a bond that brings Harley-Davidson customers, employees, dealers, suppliers and enthusiasts together.
General Mills: We serve the world by making food people love.
Jump Associates: To transform lives through learning and growth.
Southwest Airlines: To connect people to what’s important in their lives through friendly, reliable, and low-cost air travel.
Exercise
Complete the following questions: (refer to Golden Circle In Action examples for support)
What do I/we offer (in terms of products and services)?
How will we do it (your value proposition of how you differ when providing the products or services)?
Why do we do it (what cause do we link to – see above examples of causes)?
Contribution and impact
What is the specific contribution you make to the lives of others? How does it affect their lives? What is the result of that contribution? The impact is what you allow others to do or to be. A good place to start is with some action verbs such as: define, illustrate, interpret, recognise, connect, devise, distil, conclude, problem-solve, devise, design, pivot, invent, formulate, build, improve etc. You can search for more action verbs to assist.
Now let’s write your Purpose Statement taking into account the excise you just completed.
Complete the following statement:
To (contribution goes here), so that (your impact goes here).
Final note to marketers, brand managers and owners
The product direction and marketing messages of too many companies are determined solely by customer input. If you think like that, you will never become a leader. Nail It Then Scale It, Stanford Professor Nathan Furr states in his book that “entrepreneurs innovate, customers validate”. Ask your customers about their pain points and come up with a solution yourself. Don’t ask them what to do. Execute, get feedback, listen and adjust.
Whatever project we do together, we aim to create magic. Enriching the lives of those we work with and those that they work with – open and transparent communication around all aspects of our partnership is of great importance. This is how we do business, and we are ready to do business with you!
Nucleus Vision Digital and Design Legends
A full-service Marketing and Design Agency
hero@nucleusv.com
www.nucleusvision.digital
USA
