Passion is good. Purpose is better. Part IV

We have spent an entire month talking about the foundation of your Brand: Purpose.

Today, in Part IV, I want to show you how a strong company Purpose infuses life into every nook and cranny of your marketing. Just a heads up– if you are only looking to increase sales, this article is not for you. I am speaking today to a different tribe. I am speaking directly today to those that want to sustain business for the entire marathon.

First, this may come as a shocker. I hope you are sitting down. When I was a teen, I use to give snarky lip service to my parents. Can you believe it? I am certain I am the only one who ever used all the right words but with precisely the wrong attitude. My Mom would respond,  “How you say it is just as important as what you say.”

Many small businesses pay snarky lip service to their branding as well. Somehow, they convince themselves that they can avoid all the hard work and they do not have to experience the pain of defining and expressing their Purpose. In reality, they avoid nothing. They find the pain later when they discover they have failed to provide the very reason the customer should buy from them in the first place. Placing priority on sales, businesses express themselves with the wrong attitude. Whenever your Purpose is not expressed and understood, your business is reflecting a ‘tude. And like a resistant teen, the world is missing out on what you have to offer. You could be so much more.

But let’s say you have done the hard work. After you have defined your company purpose, how do you give voice to your raison d’etre? Your Visual Voice should be designed to match the identity and character and personality that you have carefully and purposefully chosen. Whenever a company is not getting the desired return on their marketing dollar, you can almost guarantee their purpose is not getting through. Style is hugely important in delivering the Purpose and identity of any brand. Maybe you have a great message, but you are not delivering it in a way that is becoming to your identity. If your business has a fun-loving personality, but all your marketing materials are straight-laced, and your colors are navy blue and burgundy, you can guarantee the right perception is not received. Or perhaps your style is inconsistent–changing with every new campaign–and so your message is, for all practical purposes, starting over with every touch point. Whatever the reason for the marketing fail, with inconsistent or inappropriate visual branding, your marketing must work ten times harder to produce the same results. Who has money or time for that?

Your company logo is a great place to start. Does your logo give expression to what you are all about? The definition of the word “Logo” as “word” is interesting. But that definition reaches all the way to communication–that of speaking or giving expression to something, and in an understandable way. The ancient Stoics went so far as to define it as the divine animating principle that gave expression to the entire Universe. Philosophers derive the word logic from it. You have to agree the “word” carries some weight. Is your logo logical? Does it express the animating principle of the life of your entire business?

Did you know that the strength of your company is evident in your Visual Branding? Your marketing materials express the state of your universe. Your marketing materials will never be more effective than your plan. You say your plan is non-existent? Telling. With Inbound Marketing, perceptions are the new cold call. If your company is lacking the gravity of Purpose, and if your Purpose is not understood, you cannot expect your customer to perceive what you are all about or be attracted to your Brand. 

Think you are too small to dig into your marketing like this? The small business is best suited for it. Small business can swim circles around the big boys. But any size business can lose sight of the goal. And any business can benefit from returning over and over to their founding Purpose.  Where is your focus? A business that churns out product with no profit is a business without a head. A business with great systems, and a great product, but has lost sight of the big picture goal is a business without a soul. But a business that is focused on making sales, and has forgotten their Purpose to make at least someone’s world a better place, is a business without a heart.

Your Visual Brand should reflect your Purpose, your Vision, your Core Identity, and the very structure of your company. And how you say it is just as important as what you say. Take a fresh look at Purpose and infuse life into every nook and cranny of your Brand.

That is taking care of business. By Design.

That is this week’s Imagination Hat!

Be sure to read the prior posts:

Part 1- Purpose defines your Vision.

Part II- Purpose defines your core Identity.

Part III-Purpose provides the very structure your business needs to grow.