What is a brand philosophy and how do you express it?
AS PUBLISHED ON THE STUFF WEBSITE
When prospective clients assess your business, they are trying to work out whether you are a good fit for them. And not in purely functional terms. They rely on their ‘gut feel’ or an emotional connection before deciding to email or call. Even if it’s subconscious.
Feelings can be triggered by the ideas, values and attributes you communicate through your copy, brand identity and sales calls.
While two competing firms might offer the same technical credentials, if one brand creates a deeper emotional resonance, they will make more impact. It can come down to the communication skills of the consultant, of course. But for most buyers, websites create the first impression.
Like brand purpose, brand philosophy adds a values-based dimension to your brand story – something personal and human that creates a much larger and richer dimension than functional attributes can on their own.
How do you define your business philosophy?
A philosophy is driven by a person or a group’s set of values and beliefs. For companies, these can often be found in the story of the founders – the ideas and approach that created and defined the first products and services.
Values can also adapt and evolve over time, as new generations join the business and take the lead, and as new paradigms demand a new way. Just look at the impact of climate change on company values across the globe.
Core values affect how a business delivers its products and services. Who it employs. How it makes decisions. They define a company culture.
Philosophy first
Creating a brand philosophy makes you stand out from your competitors – a point of difference that speaks directly to your market. Which makes it extraordinary that so many businesses fail to prioritise it, or even to create one at all.
Seth Godin describes a brand’s value as ‘the set of expectations, memories, stories and relationships that, taken together, account for a consumer’s decision to choose one product or service over another’.
Before even that happens, it’s a philosophy that will attract a dedicated team and drive your marketing messages. It will guide your work and translate into positive experiences for clients.
Simplicity and consistency
It’s important not to overthink it. You know why you launched your business, you know your special sauce, and you have a natural ‘position’ in the market.
At the heart of each of these motivations should be powerful, simple truths – so keep your philosophy simple, too. After all, your marketing channels have to communicate it quickly and effectively to your audience.
Famous examples
A philosophy is at its most powerful when it is succinct and generated by a powerful idea.
Aesop has a philosophy of ‘unselling’, telling their story through experience – their skincare products and retail interiors – over traditional advertising.
Oppenheim Architecture believe that ‘buildings and their environment should be deeply symbiotic, where projects “belong” to their site and form follows feeling’.
Sir Ove Arup believed work was valuable only when it had something higher to strive for. He spoke about Total Architecture, and an organisation that is ‘human and friendly in spite of being large and efficient.’
Allbirds, whose clothing range features natural and recycled materials, states simply, ‘Nature made us do it,’ a mantra that goes right across their marketing.
When you develop a powerful philosophy – and express it with passion and purpose – you’ll attract more of your ideal clients, and opportunities aligned with what truly drives you and your team.