Today I’m gonna talk to you about a brand purpose. Brand Purpose can basically is your brand why, and it can be this thing that we sort of get caught up in when we’re doing, especially if you’re doing a DIY brand. I can see that this is the. Obstacle that a lot of people find difficult in actually getting right and a lot of the time if you are ever researching online purpose or vision and mission statements, it can just get really confusing and everything sort of sounds the same or you don’t really understand how to write each statement because they also get a bit muddied and. When you look at some company’s examples, they all seem to be doing an element of each statement, and this is because people like to use them interchangeably, and if writing a purpose sort of hybrid mission statement works for them and you feel clear about it, then you don’t really need to have two separate statements.

However, if you are DIY in your brand and you are just unsure about how to go about everyth, Or maybe you have a brand purpose statement, but you’re not really sure if it’s that effective, then we need to be looking at these individually. And I’m gonna quickly go over what each means, and then we’re going to deep dive into just the brand purpose element and really understand what it’s all about, what it actually stands for, how it actually benefits you, and really how to.

Quick Definition between Purpose, Mission and Vision

Good one, an effective one. So each statement does require something a little bit different and has basically a different responsibility of being written. So the purpose is more focused on this emotional connection. Um, the emotional drive behind your business may be more necessarily. More personal to you, then the vision is this reality that you would hopefully like to live in one day and actually achieve.

And then we have the mission, which is kind of like this roadmap. It’s the um, It’s gonna include more actionable things to achieve your vision. So that’s just a quick rundown of what each statement actually should be, sort of handling and uh, answering. So we’re gonna now just move into the brand why, and it is a really important element.

I did do an episode a couple of weeks ago just saying, It doesn’t always have to be the starting place if it’s causing you re a lot of issues. I know that, Simon Sinek, if you’ve watched him, he talks a lot about the why on a TED Talk, it’s very popular. Would recommend to go and have a listen.

The order to answer this questions

But if it’s not something that is coming easy to you and you are actually having more problems starting at this point, then in this situation, I would always recommend just starting off with your vision and mission and getting those nailed down and then looking at your why, and it may come a lot clearer to you.

So in today’s episode, I will be discussing your brand purpose or more commonly known as why. So I will be using them interchanging me throughout this episode. I think I actually more use why, cuz it’s more to the point than I feel like purpose. So I’ll be discussing what this, why actually is what it should be including, and really what is the fuss about it, what’s the benefits of even having one and.

Really understanding how to write an effective one. So if you haven’t got one or you have one, but you’re not sure if you’ve written it, you know, great. Then definitely say to the end of this episode, cause I’ll be including some key tips and steps on actually how to write your own. So they’re definitely worth sticking around for when we talk about purpose.

You

Why Needing a Purpose

Really, it’s why behind your reason for existing Beyond? Beyond the money. Money, yes. Is the fuel to keep doing what you do because obviously we have to live, but it’s not the entire reason or the reason you actually matter or why your people will care about. And a brand why is explained best, and I’ve already slightly touched on this is through Simon Sinex Ted Talk.

He explains how people usually know pretty well from the get-go, what they do and how they do it, but rarely the why. By having a brand why, it gives you this more emotional connection and response with your people. So it’s definitely important to have because as Simon Sinek does, this explains this way better than probably how I’m going to.

But he talks about the makeup of our brain, including the limbic part and the neocortex. The limbic part of our brain is responsible for all that emotional decision making and behaviours. And the neuro-cortex part is more responsible to the rational thoughts and analytical thoughts and sort of like language basically.

So neither of these two actually communicate with each other, because one is processing emotions and the other one is spec is processing language. So it’s very hard to gain an emotional response when we are talking to someone with facts and figures and look at all these benefits. Really what we want to be doing is stimulating this emotional, sensory experience with our customers and actually inviting them into more of like a story like feeling, so that it pushes, it pulls more on their decision making and behaviours, which is far more effective than us talking to the more rational area of our brain.

And this is sometimes we get that inner gut feeling or that, we can’t really explain how we feel, but we just know how we feel sort of scenario. And this is exactly what the brand why should be sort of evoking within your people. So with all that said, that’s kind of one of the crucial beneficial points here with a purpose statement.

It highlights not what you do or how you do it. It is really highlighting, really focusing on why you do it, and it draws people in much more effectively than the what and the how and the vision and the mission. So a big benefit is being able to just connect with your audience on this emotional level and that.

Almost buy into your why. They feel a part of it. They feel like you’re providing more value, even whether or not you’re the cheapest or most expensive. They feel a part of your brand now. And especially now, they feel like they know you, they like you, and they are trusting you. So this really now brings me to my next point, and this is how you go about defining your.

How to really find you brand why

How do you really find it? I mean, it’s kind of like one of those needle in a haystack, but you’re not really sure where the haystack even is at this point. And when we usually go into a branding discovery call, This is one of the big areas is, is the discovery phase. It’s about being open and honest and your brand, why I feel like should be way less about your people and what they want to hear, and it should definitely be more authentic and honest to what.

Questions to ask

Really made you want to start? What was the passion behind it? What was the reason behind actually starting? , I think a lot of people get caught up early on trying to sound clever and trying to make it sound. Compelling, and that can come later. It is just about brainstorming all the different reasons to why you started and them really nailing it down to the one that you were like, oh yeah, no, that is definitely the one that pushed me further, or when times where getting really hard.

If they are about to get really hard, then what is the, what is the one reason that’s gonna keep you going, keep you pushing through and trying to get the wins every day? And like I said, you can, it can be tricky starting with the white. I think some people. Know it from the get-go. They just are very nailed down, very focused.

Some people start or fall into starting a business. Maybe you started it during lockdown and it wasn’t supposed to be a long-term thing, but now it’s become a your income and you are really happy about it, but you are still unsure. Why then this is when we have to really pinpoint, we have to get all the different whys out there, really look at them, and then try and pick and evaluate and pinpoint which one was the most effective, the most compelling to you, not to your people, just to you.

Brand why writing tips

I think the why needs to be way more personal than people think it needs to be. I think written for other people, it can dilute it a lot and it doesn’t really feel, uh, fuel you as much anymore because it’s made for them, not for you. So the other statements, like the vision and mission, yes. They need to be a lot more connected to your audience, but your why statement I feel like should stay just a lot more personal, a lot more authentic and honest to you.

Now we’re gonna move on to a few quick tips into how writing your why statement and a few tips when writing your why statement. The first one being make sure it’s short and easy to read. A mumley jumble is difficult for people to connect with when you have lots and lots of sentences. People are gonna get lost in it, so it needs to be sure.

I guess, three sentences. I’d say that’s still pretty long, so maybe two at the best. , and then definitely easy to be remembered. Like people don’t wanna riddle when it’s your brand. Why? They just wanna just understand what was the reasons, what was the motivation behind your business?

So always trying to make it memorable and easy to comprehend. Always, always remember to include the impact within your why statement. An impact is a really big thing for your, customers to see. So, your contribution is more of your why, and then the impact is the outcome of this. Why. So I think, as I already mentioned, it’s really important to just stay true to what your reasons are, don’t try and what’s the word? Make up something for the sake of it. I know it’s tempting, but it’s really important to just be honest with your people and you can tell when something’s been written for somebody else. It just doesn’t feel as powerful and you’re not really gonna care about it in the long run, and people are gonna be able to see that.

So make sure that deep. It sits right with you and it feels right with you. And the way that you’ve also written, it feels very personal to the way that you would’ve written, like the way that you would write it. So don’t try and make it sound super fancy and adding those of crazy words in there. Don’t try and reinvent the wheel, around why shouldn’t hold you back.

It should be kept loosely enough, so it’s not, it shouldn’t really. Tying you down to a specific product or service. It should be a lot broader than that because then that’s going to really cut you off at some point. So make sure that it is broader. It’s not specifically looking at one service or, one product.

It should definitely be encompassing something much bigger. All the services and products and possible launches in the future that you may include will fit nicely into your why statement. I think that’s why a lot of people get scared of branding, that it’s going to put this in in them into this little box, and then they’re never gonna be able to get out of it.

Or people aren’t gonna understand why they offer different surfaces down the line. But if you are really clear now with some of the things that you might wanna offer in the future, Then by all means, don’t tie your why. Into selling something, just one thing. It should be encompassing all the things that you want to offer.

So again, I will be for referring back to Simon Sinek. So he actually has already created a pretty good why statement formula for you. So within this, it is, My purpose is to blank. And that blank should be including your contribution. And that could be something starting with support, to inspire, whatever your reason was for starting.

How to w

Brand why sentence formula

That’s kind of where it sits. So, and then it goes onto the next part. So my purpose is to contribution so that. Blank. And the second blank is impact. This is sort of the the outcome of what you want your contribution to be. Why? This why is important for you and other people? Why should other people care?

It sort of opens it up. It makes it a little bit more connective to your people, so it’s really important to have those two sections within it. Obviously you don’t need to write it as clean cut as that you, but that’s a really good, especially if you’re d n Y or band, such a good starting point to writing your Y statement, getting it into a really clear format and then making it sound more like you.

So I think I’ve chewed your ear off enough now, I will apologise the start of this recording as I have just got a recently purchased a Boone mic and one of those, pop, pop covers. I definitely wasn’t close enough to the mic at. The start of this. So apologies, I sound a little bit far away in the room.

I will get better at it. , I am no podcasting expert over here. I am a brand strategist and designer. If you don’t know, my name is Olivia and I am the designer behind Onslow Studio. I just wanna run you through a few takeaways now. So the why is the emotional response to your business and it helps you effectively draw people.

It will help you provide your people a reason to why they should care and choose you. It helps you develop customer loyalty, even if there are other alternative, cheaper options out there to find your why. Include a phase of discovery. And identify what your passion is, what your value is, and really looking into why you started.

The reasons for starting. It must be to the point and include. The impact as well is actually being something you authentically care and has driven you. Don’t allow it to tie you down into one specific service or product. Allow it for the opportunity for growth and new income streams in the future.

Because as we all know, we don’t know where we’re gonna be taken in three to five years in our own businesses, and I would really don’t want you to obviously cut yourself short. And lastly, use the Simon Sinek Why Purpose Statement. It’s so clean and concise. It really helps you get precise about what your why is and how to sort of communicate this with.

It may not sound like you, so you can always mould it to be more personal to the way that you speak and talk, or how your brand should be talking to your people.