January 1, 2018
In a world that is progressively chaotic, fragmented, individualistic and complex, building strong brand purpose and identities that break out of the clutter is increasingly difficult. Technology has made it easy for people to copy features, functional benefits, design and all of the traditional ways in which we believed that we would differentiate our offer. Competition reacts fast and any differentiation is quickly overcome.
The only way we can stand out now and in the future is to ensure that we have a clear and compelling brand purpose; that emotional territory that lies at the heart of our brand and defines the reason why we exist.
In traditional positioning, this element of value was often relegated as a subscript to our functionality and attributes, but today we must elevate it to the very forefront of our existence as a brand.
A clear brand purpose has major advantages including; uniting our teams behind an emotionally inspiring and common objective, engaging with people who share the same values and beliefs and rising above the crowd for these individuals, as well as, focusing our activities and communication to deliver a clear, emotional benefit backed up by the features and reason to believe in our products and services.
The future will be populated by brands that have meaning. If we continue to engage on a purely functional platform, we will be destined to be generic suppliers fighting on price or promotion and ultimately will be destined to disappear.
