Simon Sinek’s Golden Circle, Start with “WHY” — Framework for value proposition
What is Simon Sinek’s Golden Circle framework?
Every company has a vision and mission statement but what Simon Sinek’s model is bringing about is companies should keep “BELIEFS/PURPOSE/WHY” as the core of what they think, do, and communicate because people (employees and customers) can connect to our beliefs. He believes that people buy why you do and not what you do.
The model can provide purpose and motivation for employees, decide the features to build, communicate the value proposition, and crafting effective marketing campaigns and messaging
WHY: Purpose or belief, is why the organization exists. It is communicated in the mission and vision statement
HOW: Strategy, Process, Actions, and decisions that are taken to realize “WHY”. The principles, values, strengths, and unique value proposition or points of differentiation from the competition guide these actions or decisions. How do you do it differently from your competitors?
WHAT: Outcome or end result can be products or services.
Example of communicating value proposition using Simon’s Golden Circle
Below is the example of apple’s marketing message that starts with “WHY” instead of “WHAT” to create a compelling marketing message
“Everything we do, we believe in challenging the status quo. We believe in thinking differently. The way we challenge the status quo is by making our products beautifully designed, simple to use, and user-friendly. We just happen to make great computers. Want to buy one?” Totally different, right? You’re ready to buy a computer from me. I just reversed the order of the information. What it proves to us is that people don’t buy what you do; people buy why you do it.” — “Simon Sinek”
How I applied Simon’s Golden circle
As a product manager, I communicate the “WHY” with the engineering team before getting into the exact features or “WHAT”. The result is when there are any technical constraints in technical implementation the engineering team is able to come up with better solutions addressing the “WHY”.
I was developing a marketing message for an e-learning program for kids. Instead of explaining features such as simulations, games, create a mind map, learning through the use of storytelling, etc, I turned to “WHY” explaining the problem the product or service solves. The parents of the kid’s connected at a personal level with the messaging around “WHY” due to our shared beliefs and saw value for the product offering
Great ways to communicate a marketing message
We can create a marketing message by communicating
- the company’s beliefs and purpose
- what is in it for the customers? — “problem it solves”, “benefits/solutions”, “jobs to be done”, “what it makes of the customer or how it transforms customers” (aspirational, inspiring future state of the client)
- Apple’s “Think Different”: communicates with “WHY” or core belief in innovation
- Apple’s “You know what a computer is? Its like that but different.”, “Say hello to the future”: communicates product benefits
- Nike “ Just Do It”: Aspirational future state of the customer or how it transforms customers
- Harvard Business School marketing professor Theodore Levitt says, “People don’t want to buy a quarter-inch drill. They want a quarter-inch hole.” So we can message around what jobs the product gets done
When to communicate vision vs product
Do brands always communicate with vision or it depends on the context? Article numbers 2 and 3 in the reference below provide a different perspective.
Reference