Most people know what their organisation does. And some people know their organisation’s point of difference or unique selling proposition (USP), but many organisations don’t really know why they do what they do?
What makes people love one brand over another? Products can be almost identical, but there is something deeper that drives buyer behaviour. Beyond feature and benefits, great brands define their ‘why’ and use this to authentically connect with their customers.
These days, people make their buying decisions based on emotions, then they look at the features and benefits – does a product or service do what it needs to do. It’s the emotional cues surrounding a brand that create powerful stories to inspire people. Because people don’t buy ‘what’ you do, they buy ‘why’ you do it.
For years companies have marketed from the outside in; ‘We make computers, they’re easy to use and beautifully designed, want to buy one?
A fantastic TED talk by Simon Sinek explains this really well. Companies like Apple market themselves from the inside out; ‘Everything we do, we believe in thinking differently. The way we think means we make beautifully designed computers that are simple to use, want to buy one?’
Other adored brands such as Nike foster a culture of innovation, making products and services and experiences for today’s athletes, while solving problems for the next generation. Or Google who organises the world’s information, making it universally accessible and useful – sounds easy enough!
And then there’s Amazon, one of the fastest growing brands in recent years who strive to be the earth’s most customer-centric companies. Nearly 28 million people like this brand on facebook so they must be doing something right.
These big brands have their ‘why’ at the heart of everything they do and it’s obvious, but it doesn’t matter whether your organisation is big or small, your purpose needs to be abundantly clear to your customers.
A clearly defined ‘why’ not only offers your customers an authentic story, it also ensures you have a purpose-driven organisation internally, offering a reference point for decision making to ensure you are building an authentic brand from the inside out.
Purpose is what drives humans today, but organisations need to listen to their customers carefully to ensure their purpose connects on a deeper level with customers and is relevant and meaningful – the customer experience sweet spot.
As marketers, we crave data about our customers. It enables us to deliver a more personalised experience to them. But remember, people need to find out more about you first.
If you don’t truly understand why you do what you do, then how will your customers understand it? How will you persuade or influence them?
If done well, your brand can orientate your customers and help to foster trust – the modern bedrock of branding. And ultimately for an authentic brand, your business strategy needs to be aligned with your brand. It’s where the logic meets with the magic.
We help organisations find their ‘why’ and then, we build an engaging story that’s relevant to your customers.
If you need help to find your ‘why’, give us a call, we’d love to help.
