When you’re looking for a soul — or crafting the mission statement — of a brand, keep a few things top of mind: there are things that you can’t say — and there are some things that are simply expected.
My old creative director Paul Bennett used to say: “You can’t say you’re sexy… you just have to be sexy”. What he meant by this is that some things have to be shown — and saying them is not only weird but kind of invalidates them.
I’ll take it one step further: Some things are just — as Kevin Roberts says in the Persuaders — “table stakes”: minimum bets to even be in the game. As production techniques and standards have evolved, we’ve figured out how to put it together in both the literal and figurative sense. Some things are just so expected that if you have to say them, people wonder if you are, were or ever will be ___ (sexy, etc.).
Imagine you just boarded an airplane and settled in. You’re on the runway. You just put the seat in its full-and-upright position. The pilot’s voice comes over the loudspeaker and says: “Yeah, I’m going to try to get you to Chicago without crashing this plane.” Now you're thinking: "Umm… that’s what you’re supposed to do (and by saying that, I’m a bit freaked out now)". Your waiter says: “Oh, and I guarantee, I won’t spit in your food.”. Your housekeeper says: “I’m never going to steal the diamond necklace you keep in the top drawer.” Yikes. You expect your pilot to get you there safely, the waiter to keep fluids at bay, and your housekeeper to not be a kleptomaniac.
Brands have the same kind of expectations, and a few terms are verboten:
High quality: Because if I weren't paying attention, you would sell me something crappy?
Innovative: Because you otherwise would not be smart?
Genuine: Because otherwise, you’d fake me out?
Safe: Because otherwise, you’d kill me?
Accurate: Because you’d otherwise be wrong?
Clean: … (you get the idea)
When you’re looking for attributes to carry forward, look to distinct, differentiating factors that would not otherwise be expected and are unique to that brand.
You’d not expect a cosmetics brand to champion women’s wellness — you’d expect them to make high-quality cosmetics, though. Avon does both.
You’d not expect a car company to be able to unleash the inner Honey Badger in the mildest mannered driver — but you would expect it to make safe cars, right? BMW figured out how to do both.
You’d expect a watch make dependable, accurate watches — but to have them put you in control of your time is a far more unique way to look at it. Could Timex claim that?
When looking for that deeper purpose, dig deeper. Look further. And remember, these connections are more emotional... and a little bullshitty. But that what a large part of advertising and branding is: bullshit. But it's bullshit that people line up for, pay a premium for... and we hand over "loyalty beyond reason.” And, that can be okay — we’re all human.
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