Find Your Focus

By: Amy Soper

Many of us were marketing leaders at 5-years-old. We just didn’t know it yet.

If you’ve recently spent time around a persistent child asking an endless string of “why” questions, or remember your own curiosity at that age, you’re already familiar with a core marketing principle. To build a strong brand message, you need to first start with your “why.”

Your answer helps your customers—whether they’re 5 or 85—understand what you do and why you do it. If it’s a strong message, it drives staunch brand loyalty and robust sales. You might also refer to it as your unique value proposition, but no matter what you call it, it’s the one thing your business does better or differently than any other business in your industry.

Answer your “why”

• Speak to hearts and minds. People are driven by both, something the strongest brands tap in to.
• Make it relevant. Your message needs to be applicable to your customers’ lives. What does your brand offer that’s something they want and need?
• Keep it simple. Once you have a few messages in mind, test them out. Ask yourself if people can understand, remember, and repeat them with ease. If not, they’re too complicated. If so, you may have found your brand’s answer.

If you’re still not sure how to answer your why, Apple’s “Think different” campaign may inspire you. It’s a brand message that implies a promise to create products based on seeing the world a little different and to inspire customers to do the same. It’s a balance between heart and mind, it’s relevant, and it’s simple.