Thank you for joining me on this monthly journey through the world of branding and illustration. What does purpose have to do with this?
Individually or as a part of an organization, we all contribute to a purpose. I love to work with people who want to contribute to the greater good. A purpose should be a positive force that motivates you to succeed. Diverse people have great ideas. And these great ideas can grow into big things with the help of branding.
At the same time, good, thorough branding needs a backbone. It’s more straightforward to create a narrative based on real values – not just generic stuff like peace and love – but values that the founders and teams of a business can stand behind. This can be a personal story, a calling you discovered at 63, or a topic you want to support.
These things, however, personal they seem to you, contribute to the strength of your brand’s narrative. What is your brand’s narrative? It’s the founding story, the motivation, and the “why” of your company. This is the elevator pitch that makes you memorable. Not your logo, not your colors, and definitely not your website. Those come later.
Your customers will be more likely to remember you, trust you, and choose you if your strong story and purpose are clearly there.
Your customers will be more likely to remember you, trust you, and choose you if your strong story and purpose are clearly there. Your customers are, after all, people, not just economical entities there to give you money. They react to and identify with your goals – after all, that’s why they chose you, not because you both like green and that’s in your logo.
Markets in general are oversaturated. There are many companies out there doing the same thing you do, maybe even better. Why are you their competition? Because you have a unique set of values and motivating factors – and your customers know them.
Without mapping out these values, it’s hard to communicate them clearly. The whole customer-facing part of your company (even if you are B2B) must carry this message.
When new and already established businesses come to me, I start by mapping out all these questions with them. I look at their values, mission, and vision before starting with the first sketches.
Their answers give me important keys to help organize their visuals. Their logo is a unique opportunity to communicate the most important of these values. The rest of the brand’s identity centers around its purpose. And by identity, I don’t just mean the visuals. It’s also how they speak to their customers (a.k.a tone of voice). How would you know how to say it if you don’t know what to say?
These questions can be overwhelming for a starting entrepreneur or a company going through a rebrand. But a firm purpose gives a brand enough backbone to get through these exciting yet challenging beginning steps.
