December 20, 2004
purpose-belief
For the benefit of one of my clients:
Take a look at these- Simple, easy-to-embrace beliefs, followed by companies who act on them:
"Air travel should be easy, exciting, stylish and affordable." -Virgin Airways.We may argue with my exact word-choice or the exact semantics of each thought, but basically the ideas are in the ballpark."Coffee should be properly brewed and somewhat romantic to drink." -Starbucks.
"There is no experience as amazing as taking to the open road." -Harley Davidson.
"Good ice cream totally rocks." -Ben & Jerry's.
OK, so what do these ideas all have in common?
Any guesses?
What these ideas have in common is: All the ideas can exist quite happily without their host companies.
If Ben & Jerry's had never existed, "good ice cream totally rocks" would still be a valid point.
If Harley Davidson never existed, "There is no experience as amazing as taking to the open road" would also be a valid point.
We like good ice cream. We like the open road. These ideas transcend the companies. Their truths exist whether or not Harely or Ben & Jerry's is there to put them into practice.
The ideas are... universal.
To understand your brand properly is to understand it beyond its own borders.
Earlier I talked about the purpose-idea of the company:
What's your company for?Before you can have a "purpose-idea" you need what I call the "purpose-belief".What higher belief is it expressing? Does it actually have one to express? Serious question.
A strong, concise belief about the world that, like the earlier examples given, your company doesn't own, but acts upon.
Purpose-Belief. Exactly.
Any thoughts?
Posted by hugh macleod at December 20, 2004 3:29 PM | TrackBackInteresting that the first thought I had was that any of those ideas could also be applied to other companies.
When I read the 'air travel' line I first thought of Jet Blue.
Maybe the notion of a purpose-belief is shared - we all believe that air travel should be easy, exciting, stylish and affordable (don't we?). But only a few companies (Virgin, Jet Blue) have figured out that it's important to SHARE that idea-belief and even fewer companies can translate that into an idea - like 'hey, let's MAKE air travel easy, exciting, etc...'
Just rambling...
Posted by: david at December 20, 2004 6:59 PMHeh. "Just rambling..."? Actually, I thought yours was a pretty good take on it, David ;-)
Posted by: hugh macleod at December 20, 2004 7:12 PMyou should hear me after a few cups of coffee....
Posted by: david at December 20, 2004 8:05 PM"Your computer should be a pleasurable experience in and of itself, as well as a powerful tool." -- Apple
Though although I'm a Mac user I'm not actually a cultist. They're kind of the fountain pen of the computer world, aren't they?
Posted by: James at December 21, 2004 3:01 AMVery excellent post!
Posted by: troy worman at December 21, 2004 4:29 AMYeah, fancy fountain pens are equally annoying ;-)
Posted by: hugh macleod at December 21, 2004 8:57 AM"Your fingers should be covered in expensive ink droppings..." Mountblanc
sorry, couldn't resist.
So, you're walking into Plato's Cave with your client. There's the fire. There is you and him/her/it/client. There's the shadow projected on the wall. Most client's tend to look at the shadow, the projection, and start doing all sorts of shape-shifting and making hand shadows. Meanwhile, what you are really asking them to do is get them staring right into the fire, at the source of the heat.
Hugh, why is this so hard to do with clients?
Posted by: brian moffatt at December 21, 2004 2:17 PMAnother fine Gaping Void University marketing class.
Thanks.
My company acts upon the purpose-belief that:
"Extravagance in love is priceless."
Hmmm.
Will continue to cogitate.
Posted by: Watson at December 21, 2004 5:23 PMWorking on branding my standup comedy show as a lovemark.
"Basil White's comedy ridicules commonly-held false beliefs to empower his audience with truth to destroy their enemies."
In progress.
Posted by: Basil White at December 22, 2004 4:30 PMThis will take a good lot of thought but it's getting there: http://instantdocumentary.com
"...because a great party knows no bounds."
Apropot of another post: Have always preferred the Enlightenment to Hobbes, but the older I get the more ruthlessness appeals.
The thing is, there are lovely ways in which to be ruthless. That is the challenge.
Posted by: Watson at December 23, 2004 3:58 PM