People don’t buy WHAT you do, they buy WHY you do it. - Simon Sinek

If you don't understand what your brand stands for, no one will.

One way to identify the brand core is by finding its brand purpose.

The brand purpose goes hand in hand with the brand vision.

The brand vision is a conviction about the future.

The brand purpose is an idea of how the brand fits into that future.

Start With 'Why': Communicating from the Inside-Out

Take 18 minutes and watch this talk by Simon Sinek.

He breaks down how the world's most powerful brands and individuals communicate.

In short: They start with why.

Laddering: Why Bother?

As mentioned in the previous blog post we can apply the laddering technique to identify the brand purpose:

There are two ways of using the laddering technique:
* Laddering up: Ask why, why, why until you have the bird's eye view
* Laddering down: Ask how, how, how until you have the tactical steps

Ladder up to arrive at your brand's why.

Two examples can show how brand vision and brand purpose tie in together:

Stripe: Increase the GDP of the Internet

Stripe is a technology company that builds economic infrastructure for the internet.

This statement is directly from their about page.

• Brand Vision: The Internet economy will be the majority of the economy.
• Brand Purpose: Increase the GDP of the Internet

Brand vision outlines a world that could be. Brand purpose shows how the brand will assist in making this world a reality.

Tesla: Accelerate the World's Transition to Sustainable Energy

Tesla believes the faster the world stops relying on fossil fuels and moves towards a zero-emission future, the better.

This brand vision is directly taken from their about page.

• Brand Vision: A world run on sustainable energy
• Brand Purpose: Accelerate the world’s transition to sustainable energy

Vision = future. Purpose = why.

Bottomline: Understand Your Reason to Be

Understanding your brand purpose will help you to align all other aspects (mission statement; brand attributes; etc.) of your brand strategy.

Start with why.

🔑

This post is an excerpt from my online course Fundamentals of Brand Strategy where you learn how to build successful brands.

The self-paced online course contains 5 hours of video material and teaches you how to use the Brand Pyramid.

You can hit me up on twitter. DMs are open.

Further Reading

• Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action (Simon Sinek)

Short Excerpts from the Course

These posts are short snippets of the course curriculum 👇

• A Pragmatic Look at Branding: What Is a Brand?
• Touchpoints and Brand Strategy: How do We Build Associations?
• Positioning and Differentiation: How to Stand Out as a Brand?
• Brand Vision: What Is the World That Could Be?
• Brand Purpose: Why Bother?
• Brand Promise: How to Communicate in One Statement?
• Mission Statement: How Do You Do It?
• Brand Attributes: How Does the Brand Present Itself?
• Frame of Reference: Where Is the Brand Placed?
• Target Customer: Who Is Your Audience?
• Customer Need: What Is Their Real Job-to-be-Done?
• Value Proposition: What Are You Offering?
• Reasons-to-Believe: What Are Your Proof Points?