This is perhaps one of the most powerful areas of marketing and a bit of a massive elephant in the room. Talking to people who believe what you believe is to put the onus on brands to find their purpose, articulate it so that it inspires, and then go out, and internally, to show that. Most brands do problem/solution attempts at persuasion, and miss the entire point about why we buy. They ignore the thinking that says the bit of the brain that makes our buying decisions – is the ancient limbic brain, the primitive brain, which is a place where the emotions and not language reside.
Language in the more modern brain evolved later. Neuroscience suggests we buy and decide on emotion, then post-rationalise with analysis and language. For brands and marketers it seems to say, ‘are you soulfully in tune with your emotions, the heart of your brand’s higher purpose, and the gut feelings of the culture you’re trying to influence?’ Demographic segmentation and stats we’re used to as marketers, seem to be suddenly and obviously blunt and pretty useless, and we begin to realise why Steve Jobs didn’t like, more like hated, focus groups, and why brands like Nike, of whom Dan Wieden said, ‘you Nike guys, you just do it’, are so good at leading and step change success, while traditional marketing minded organisations by comparison seem to only iterate averagely forward.
Simon Sinek uses Martin Luther King’s speech to 250,000 people in Washington as an example of leading by inspiring people with what you believe. He reminds us King’s speech wasn’t, the ‘I have a 12 point plan’ speech, it was the ‘I believe’ speech.
Brands need agencies that have processes and a passion for articulating their beliefs that can help them find their voice for their cause. They need creative, and strategic, and account people to help them drive past the rational to the higher purpose. That isn’t easy in most agency cultures where data obsession tends to squash any Tom Hanks in Big-ness.
For Apple, the purpose is implicit in their product obsession. For those who believe in what they believe, again as Sinek says, the products are proofs of what they believe, talismans and evidence of their values. For brands that do not get a strong sense of their purpose turn up in their products, things could tend very quickly to drift rapidly towards feeling a little hollow. This is as true for professional service firms, agencies, departmental teams, as much as it is for whole companies.
This is a powerful model, one of those things that is doing the rounds and very simple to get – like most great insights it’s the familiar seen in a provocative often confronting way, but it’s something that makes complete sense and provokes great possibilities. This could be the model that starts a mass reappraisal in brands of themselves and a long overdue attention to what’s really at their heart, and what really matters to them.
With over 10 years experience in marketing communications, Amer is a key member of Deepend's management team. He holds a degree in Computer Science and an MBA in Marketing and has been engaged by numerous organisations to deliver guest lectures and facilitate workshops on business and marketing strategy. Combining an ongoing passion for digital innovation with strategic consumer insights, Amer has led teams that have attracted several highly regarded industry awards and accolades. Get in touch with Amer on LinkedIn.
This is perhaps one of the most powerful areas of marketing and a bit of a massive elephant in the room. Talking to people who believe what you believe is to put the onus on brands to find their purpose, articulate it so that it inspires, and then go out, and internally, to show that. Most brands do problem/solution attempts at persuasion, and miss the entire point about why we buy. They ignore the thinking that says the bit of the brain that makes our buying decisions – is the ancient limbic brain, the primitive brain, which is a place where the emotions and not language reside.
Language in the more modern brain evolved later. Neuroscience suggests we buy and decide on emotion, then post-rationalise with analysis and language. For brands and marketers it seems to say, ‘are you soulfully in tune with your emotions, the heart of your brand’s higher purpose, and the gut feelings of the culture you’re trying to influence?’ Demographic segmentation and stats we’re used to as marketers, seem to be suddenly and obviously blunt and pretty useless, and we begin to realise why Steve Jobs didn’t like, more like hated, focus groups, and why brands like Nike, of whom Dan Wieden said, ‘you Nike guys, you just do it’, are so good at leading and step change success, while traditional marketing minded organisations by comparison seem to only iterate averagely forward.
Simon Sinek uses Martin Luther King’s speech to 250,000 people in Washington as an example of leading by inspiring people with what you believe. He reminds us King’s speech wasn’t, the ‘I have a 12 point plan’ speech, it was the ‘I believe’ speech.
Brands need agencies that have processes and a passion for articulating their beliefs that can help them find their voice for their cause. They need creative, and strategic, and account people to help them drive past the rational to the higher purpose. That isn’t easy in most agency cultures where data obsession tends to squash any Tom Hanks in Big-ness.
For Apple, the purpose is implicit in their product obsession. For those who believe in what they believe, again as Sinek says, the products are proofs of what they believe, talismans and evidence of their values. For brands that do not get a strong sense of their purpose turn up in their products, things could tend very quickly to drift rapidly towards feeling a little hollow. This is as true for professional service firms, agencies, departmental teams, as much as it is for whole companies.
This is a powerful model, one of those things that is doing the rounds and very simple to get – like most great insights it’s the familiar seen in a provocative often confronting way, but it’s something that makes complete sense and provokes great possibilities. This could be the model that starts a mass reappraisal in brands of themselves and a long overdue attention to what’s really at their heart, and what really matters to them.