DOES YOUR BRAND HAVE A 6TH GEAR?

In Ganesh’s latest book 22 Till I Die!, he refers to a realisation he had a few years ago. From observing and talking to several entrepreneurs and business leaders, and from his experience, he discovered that if you want to push your business into overdrive and to happily, sustainably keep it there, you need to give your brand its 6th gear: a driving belief.

Even until the time he hit upon the driving belief of his person brand (Brand Ganesh), he was no doubt doing a good job. But when he evolved and articulated this belief to himself, it was like pressing a magic button that gave his business added purpose and velocity, brought his clients’ needs into sharp focus and helped him bond much deeper with his work. 

His driving belief is this: Self-expression is a visceral urge for people across the world. All of us want to express ourselves in some way or another to the world, be it through our life stories, our knowledge, our work, our achievements, our experiences and so on. So his purpose is to enable this for them, as a person branding coach, writer, book coach and editor, scriptwriter for films and voiceover artiste. All his work stems from this belief.

I’ve had a similar experience. My big belief is that the best results occur when the right strategy rides on authentic relationships. I, therefore, am a big champion of the human element in business. I put my years of marketing and content strategy experience to use in helping businesses achieve consistent and sustainable growth on the strength of genuine, trusting relationships. It’s why my consulting practice is called ‘Humanizing Business’!

Talk to people, and you will realise that what sets apart many brands is the fact that they have a strong belief underlying their work. This belief gives them hyper-clarity about their work, and a deeper purpose. It helps them cut out the frills and zone in on their customers, serving them much better than they would otherwise have.

It unleashes the power of intuition, understanding and imagination, thereby helping them bring out the best offerings for their target audience. Most importantly, it brings an unbelievable amount of passion and joy into business, day after day.

Nike is a famous example of the power of a brand belief. Ever since its genesis, Nike has been powered by the belief that every human being is an athlete. The brand believes that you don’t need a chiselled body or have to participate in the Olympics to be an athlete. If you have a body, you are an athlete. Simple. Counter-intuitive yet obvious if you think about it, this belief has been a powerful direction-setter for the brand for decades.

Look at the superb products the brand has created over the years for different segments of the market and the insightful, emotive, empowering communication it puts out with unerring consistency. It is Nike’s driving belief that makes it dig deep into its reserves and serve its customers so well. No wonder the brand has a legion of fans across the world and is the market leader in its core categories by a mile. No wonder the brand’s customers swear by it. No wonder the brand is a cult.

Apple is another global brand with a strong belief pumping at the heart of its being. As is Decathlon, which lives by the belief that sports and activity are not meant for just a privileged few; they are for everyone. Its baseline - Sport for all, all for sport - says it beautifully.

So, if your brand doesn’t have a driving belief yet, find it.

Find a belief, a point of view, that will resonate strongly with your target consumers. Then own it and tie it back into your work. Put it up everywhere in your offices, so that everyone can see it. Talk about it, explain it, celebrate it, make it the fountainhead of your brand's culture and voice.

Remember, a business must generate profits. But for that, a brand must touch people emotionally. And for that, putting your driving belief at the core is the thing to do.

If you need help in framing your brand’s driving belief, hit us up.

We’ll be back next week with another interesting dimension of brands. So long!

Joy & Ganesh

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