“Start With Why” Branding Assignment
In our branding lecture, we watched the shortened video of Simon Sinek’s TED talk on “Start With Why” where he explained the concept of the golden circle:
The key takeaway from this talk is that most companies do their marketing backwards, meaning that they start with “what” and then move onto “how”, often not even explaining the “why” for their organization in their marketing and branding messaging.
Simon argues that great companies don’t move from the outside in: What → How → Why. Instead, they move from the inside out: Why → How → What.
To explain the difference in this concept of inside out versus outside in, Sinek uses Apple as an example. He says that if Apple used the outside in approach (What → How → Why), their marketing message might look this:
We make great computers. They’re user friendly, beautifully designed, and easy to use. Want to buy one?
Instead, he argues that Apple’s success and industry leadership is derived from the fact that they actually brand themselves from the inside out (Why → How → What) and their message more closely resembles this:
With everything we do, we aim to challenge the status quo. We aim to think differently. Our products are user friendly, beautifully designed, and easy to use. We just happen to make great computers. Want to buy one?
The fundamental premise is that Apple succeeds because their branding and marketing message attracts customers who share their fundamental beliefs because they start with “why” when defining their company. Remember that:
People don’t buy what you do. They buy why you do it.
Assignment
For your submitted assignment on Collab this week, you are tasked with stepping back and using “Why” to think about your own organization (or any organization of your choice).
To guide you through this exercise, please try to address the following questions:
- What is your organization’s “why”? (not making a profit). This should be what the “why” for your organization should look like (even if it’s not how the organization currently presents itself ).
- Is your company’s core purpose or “why” aligned with how you currently market your products or services?
- Can any of your marketing messaging — think ad copy, email marketing, social media posts, blog posts, landing pages, etc., be optimized to incorporate your organization’s why so that your target audience can connect with your shared values?
- Are there areas where your target audience, as defined by buyer personas, can be improved to identify customers by values that may be shared between the customer and your organization?
Resources:
Full Simon Sinek Talk on “Start With Why”
