Said another way, who are you? What do you want to say? What is your unique point of view? Many brands struggle with these questions. I get it; they are challenging. We can barely answer these questions for ourselves. What makes us think we can get together with a team and answer them? Understanding your brand’s positioning is equally important as understanding your brand’s vision.
What is your unique point of view? This is the question I stress with any brand I work with, pushing them to refine their answer and be as specific as possible. Price, materials, being a first-market mover, or jumping on a trend — these points of view can work in the short term, but I am interested in long-lasting brands. Brands that can build staying power in people’s minds. Brands that can construct temples in people’s minds. Apple, Nike, and Disney are all temple builders. As a business, you might want to be a monopoly. As a brand, you aim to be a temple in your customers’ minds.
When building a brand, these are the stakes we are working with. You cannot build a temple on price, materials, or a trend; you need deeper roots. These roots grow from who you are and what your unique point of view is. Ask yourself the hard question, and demand a unique answer that has the strength to build a temple in the minds of your potential customers.
Happy building,
— Joe