How meaningful is your business? We’re all attracted to people, places and businesses that offer us deeper meaning. For a business, meaning comes from what you do, how you position and present your brands, the passion with which your staff interact your customers, your products, premises and your promotional style.
Meaning flows from a solid definition of what the business actually does – its purpose. A great business has a great purpose, something bigger than just revenues and profits. To be a great business you have to improve your customers’ lives in some way - provide something that’s better than what was there before. People sometimes use the term mission or mission statement, however I prefer to use the term purpose. This is more specific and focused on what your business does.
Does your business pass the two step meaning test? Do you have a strong purpose, something motivational and inspiring? Can you deliver this in a form that exceeds what's currently being offered? If you pass the test, you'll get meaning – and growth.
Go on a Crusade to deliver a Purpose What really bugs you about your industry? That's the question Dick Brunton (Colmar Brunton) asked a group of managers he was working with to help uncover their core purpose. The “what bugs you” test helps you find the most annoying issues in your industry – the pain points for your customer.
It could be that your industry is too complex, and makes it too hard for customers to really understand the options. Or it could be that the industry is too expensive, or it’s too slow on service delivery, etc. The important thing is thinking about what you can do in response; what bugs you becomes what you can do about it. It becomes your crusade. From here you can develop a strong emotional purpose.
ExamplesSo what does a crusade look like? Recently we worked with Sarah Trotman & Associates, the company behind the highly successful Small Business Expos, on a brand foundation exercise. As well as the expos, the company also brings together service providers for small business. Here's what bugged them:
“We believe business support organisations aren’t making a significant difference to SMEs because there’s no one stop shop and the services are fragmented.”
This crusade gives them something to rally around, a problem to solve for their customers. The next step for Sarah and the team was to determine what their purpose was as an organisation. They arrived at:
“To connect business owners with business support that inspires great things.”
Another example of a great purpose comes from recent work with Stephenson & Turner, one of New Zealand’s leading architecture practices. In a large group session with 30 people we defined their purpose as:
“To create environments that enrich and inspire.”
A great purpose will give you direction but it’s not too specific. It will be expansive and allow exploration in terms of how to deliver. Most importantly it should engage and resonate with your team and inspire them to come up with new initiatives that deliver growth.
What else?However a great purpose alone doesn’t guarantee consistent results. You have to manage the overall brand framework. This includes your values, your vision and your brand personality or character.
Why go to all this trouble? Two words: it works. Several years ago advertising agency Young & Rubicam investigated the impact of consistent character on the market value of businesses. Using their BrandAsset Valuer database they looked at a set of 50 well-known brands from 1993 to 1999. They found brands with a tightly defined character trait rose in value (MVA - Market Value Added) 97% more than brands with a confused character.
What is meant by character? Think about archetypal characters such as the hero, the jester, the lover, the caregiver, the explorer. There is a raft of these characters. Pick one that fits with your crusade and your purpose and then stay true to character.
To develop your brand and provide greater meaning, figure out what bugs you first, determine your purpose and then work consistently on character.
If you would like some help to uncover the meaning in your business, refer to our
brand development programme. This is a system specifically designed to help you develop a clear strong brand framework.
InsideOut:
Strategy, Management and Marketing Consultants