YOUR BRAND NEEDS A POINT OF VIEW

I love brand strategy.

But I don't love words that begin with the letter 'P' that float within brand strategy.

Brand Positioning

Brand Promise

Brand Proposition

Brand Personality

Brand Platform

Brand Purpose

You've heard them all before, I'm sure.

They all mean slightly different things, and yet each person's interpretation of each one is slightly different. It's not that any of them are wrong, they all have a role. It's that none of them are good quite enough.

Why? Because they are passive, and people are indifferent. Our number one objective in building a brand shouldn't be to seduce, persuade, or convince. It should be to overcome indifference. It sounds way less sexy, but it's more realistic. And when our objectives are grounded in reality, our strategy has the focus it needs to succeed.

Indifference is a surprisingly powerful force. People have a lot of stuff going on in their lives, and for them to care about a brand, let alone take notice, is no small task. So we need to fight fire with fire. Brands should be looking to fight passivity and indifference with an active point of view. Did I just add another 'P' word to the already confusing cocktail of brand words? 

Yes, and I'm sorry.

But I maintain, that to overcome indifference, your brand needs a point of view.

The idea of 'brand purpose' gets mostly shat on these days. And it is mostly fair enough. The idea of a brand aiming to achieve a higher purpose beyond the product that it sells was well-intended but ultimately got lost in the heights of its own ambitions. 

After all, marketers need to find a way to make themselves feel less guilty about making a living by selling shit to people that in most cases they probably don't need. In defense of 'brand purpose', people do buy into missions, ideas and stories, they just need to not be about self-actualization, ending racism, or making the world a better place through selling terrible coffee. Even my normie, non-marketing friends have at times audibly cringed at certain brand's attempts to venture far beyond their wheelhouse, making the rookie error of forgetting what lane they're in.

And that’s where a Brand POV comes in.

A brand's POV says "We think this is the way things should be in the category".

It's the reality they are attempting to create with their product, which is why they are different from their competitors.

It gives a company a 'purpose' or 'mission' to work towards that they can actually achieve.

It gives a brand something to say while limiting them to focus on only what they do best.

It stays out of people’s lives and focuses on the product and category.

It doesn't matter if you make dish soap, designer handbags, software, or cars. Every brand needs a point of view on the category in which they exist that sets them apart and hopefully gets people to take notice of what they are doing.

For a concrete example, let's take a look at the lower end of the car market. A sea of predictable, dry brands that attach themselves to forgettable positionings around innovation, ambition, feeling, whatever... However, in this sternly serious, somehow simultaneously vague and proof point-plagued category, Suzuki puts a stake in the ground and says: "Driving a car should be fun".  Their brand gives a POV on how they believe things should be in the category. It also implicity says how they will deliver on this POV (by making cars that are fun to drive), and it has a clear benefit to the customer. Simple. Bold. Effective.

Watch this global ad for the Suzuki Jimny.

Boooooring.

Now watch this piece from Suzuki Australia.

Is it any wonder that the Jimny is sold out nationwide and thousands of people are on waitlists for a strange, little 4x4 from a value car manufacturer?

And no, not everyone is going to agree with your brand's POV. For example, not everyone wants fun from their car. But strategy is sacrifice and no POV is going to appeal to everyone. But a well-crafted POV will appeal powerfully to those customers that you need to attract in order to grow, assuming you've done your homework.

It's human nature to be drawn to opinions and a strong POV.

To be clear, people do not want to be told how to live their lives by a brand. But they will gravitate towards the ones that are on a mission. They know full well the real mission is just to make more money, but if they offer a different take about the way things should be in their category, then that’s good enough.

Having a POV works for a brand because it positions them as a default authority, whether they are a leader or a challenger, because they are doing things the way they think things should be done, not following what everyone else does. It works because it shifts the brand's presence from being a passive player in the category that just makes shit and sells it, to an active voice that is actually doing something. It works because it depositions your competitors. If you say 'This is the way things should be' as it relates to your category, and you say it well, people will begin to believe you.

And most of all it works because again, people are in a sedated state of indifference, and need an injection of interest and excitement to wake them up and take notice.

At first, a brand POV may seem like a synonym for purpose, promise, or positioning. It’s important to understand that it comes before the other P words. There's an important layer of nuance that needs to be clarified. To delineate, let's look at some brands that are experts at expressing their POV loud and proud.

• Air BnB says "To truly experience a destination, you need to live there". And yet, all they do is provide a platform that connects homeowners with travelers.

• B&Q says "Homes (and lives) are not bought, they are built". And yet, they are literally a hardware store that sells hammers and planks of wood.

• Hinge says "dating apps should be made for finding love, not hooking up". And yet, at their core, they offer the same service as Tinder and Bumble.

• The New York Times says "in journalism, the truth is the most important thing". And yet they write articles and sell subscriptions like everyone else.

• KFC says "Everyone deserves to give in to their food desires". And yet, they sell unhealthy fatty fast food like countless other chains.

• EVEN CHEETOS SAYS "You deserve to say no to the pressures of life and treat yourself to something frivolous". And yet, they literally sell Cheetos...

Your POV doesn't have to try to save the world. It doesn’t have to help someone climb Maslow’s hierarchy or some such nonsense. But it should tell your potential buyers your POV about the way things should be, as it relates to what you sell.

Don't be shy. Opinionated people are annoying. Opinionated brands are magnets.

Realistically, most companies already have a point of view. It’s usually the reason they were created in the first place (hint, this is the best place to start looking for your brand's POV). But just because you kinda, sorta have one internally, doesn't mean anyone knows about it. 

Ask yourself, if your brand was a person, and they were invited to give a Ted Talk on their product or category, what would the headline be?

When finding your brand’s POV, ensure you check off this list:

It is true to your brand

If you're the budget player, don't have a POV about quality.

People aren't dumb and no one will believe you.

It depositions or undermines your competitors

Ideally, your POV says more about your competitors than it does about you.

When Apple iPhone made this ad, it said more about Android than it does them.

It is active, not passive

This could easily sound like fluff, but it's not.

Under Amour's positioning is based on underdog triumph (passive).

Nike's POV is that "if you have a body, you're an athlete" (active).

It is something you can actually deliver on

This is no time for empty promises and lofty ambitions. Reality is where “brand purpose” went astray. No Starbucks, you will not "inspire and nurture the human spirit" by selling iced frappucinos.

It has a motivating benefit to the customer

This one sounds obvious. But hey, just because you can do it, and it’s different from your competitors, doesn't mean anyone gives a fuck.

Finally, I will concede that you could take many brand's positionings and make them into a POV. But that's the point. If you need to do that then the POV isn't being unearthed and expressed enough. 

So take your brand’s promise, purpose or positioning, or whatever P-word you use and evolve it into a point of view on your category and the products that you sell.

And maybe then, you will spur people into action and get them up off their indifferent asses.