3 Ways A Brand Can Sell Its Worth
Billion Dollar Brands Are Built Different
Autopilot at your request to limit any muscle fatigue when traveling from point A to point B. 15 minutes to recharge. 0–60 mph in 2.3 seconds! 17 inch tablet on the dashboard. Am I the only one aroused right now?!
Probably, because no one cares about features and benefits. This is something you cover after you have generated some form of interest. Your purpose is your selling proposition.
Tesla doesn’t sell cars. They sell an idea, “to accelerate the world’s transition to sustainable energy” which is simply their mission statement. They’ve also expanded into complentary services like solar roofs and solar panels.
Branding is an idea which translates to a belief. Your audience either buys into or rejects that belief. And storytelling is what sells the belief. If your brand is unable to attract an audience, you first have to evaluate why that’s the case.
What is your brand belief?
Who is most likely attracted to this belief?
How can the story best be told?
What is your brand belief?
An attempt to brand with no purpose doesn’t serve as the best strategy. Many people are much more informed today and aware of their available options.
We sell better cars is just.. corny. A brand doesn’t create their own lane by being better. Better is subjective anyway.
For example, fried oysters are better than fried shrimp. Some people may disagree. And there are others who even cringe at the thought of seafood. I feel sorry for those people. But all in all, what’s better for me may not be better for you. It’s just different.
The issue is most brands struggle to identify what makes them different in order to establish a belief that’s unique to their industry. This is what influences your audience to price match.
“Hmm, they’re both the same so which is cheaper” is not how you want to run your brand. The goal is attract your worth.
In discovering your brand belief, consider these questions:
- Why do I even run a business in this industry?
- What sense of satisfaction does this offer provide my audience?
- How does my offer contribute to the world?
- What do I want to be known for?
Who is most likely attracted to this belief?
Your goal isn’t to attract everyone. You want to focus on a high value audience. Let’s go back to Tesla for a minute. Their best buyers would be those who understand their belief AND are in the market to buy a new vehicle. This sets the foundation for your ideal audience as you begin to dig into more demographics down the line.
The concept is similar to music. It produces a very transparent vibe dedicated to a particular audience yet everyone can enjoy. Brand must also adapt this universal language.
Rest assure, just because your ideal audience is who you want to buy into your belief doesn’t mean that other groups can’t benefit. The target is ideal but the market is everyone who wants to experience that belief.
How can the story best be told?
I remember anytime I wanted to go out to eat as a child, I would often tap into how such an event made me feel. “We have this at home” never worked on me because I wouldn’t place focus on the actual food I would order.
Well, I can’t say never. I learned from trial and error.
I was focused on the feelings drawn from that experience. It became clear that if we go out to eat, that’s guaranteed family time which is less likely to happen if we eat at home simply because everyone is usually doing their own thing.
I focused on events and creating memories which ultimately resulted in what I actually wanted, a brownie Sunday from T.G.I. Fridays! Funny enough, I had no idea what I was really doing at that age. All I knew was we never went to restaurants anytime I mentioned food that we could make at home. That’s what happens when you live with a chef.
The best way to tell a story is by painting a picture of an experience.
Experiences are priceless. It creates a moment in time which you can’t get back. Besides smooth talking my way to eat out most weekends, it’s also one of the reasons Disneyland is a billion dollar brand.
They aren’t selling you tickets to an amusement park. This is “the happiest place on Earth.” A place where employees may get fired for not smiling at guests. A place to create a moment in time.
And what’s even better is when your audience is the hero of that experience they feel accomplished that they made such an investment. There’s no better feeling than making a decision which results in a dope experience.
But you can’t lead with features and benefits. Brand with emotions then justify with logic once the emotional investment has been made.
So how does branding work?
It’s a law of attraction. The message you lead with is what will be received by your audience. If you focus on price, they’ll focus on price. If you focus on features and benefits, they’ll focus on features and benefits. And if you lead with purpose, they’ll buy your belief!
