Using Pain and Anger to Find Your Brand’s Purpose
We’ve rounded up the main questions we ask clients whenever they seem a bit lost as to the purpose of their brand. Here’s something to save you precious time as you build your brand’s most essential core — its purpose.
What about this world pisses you off?
If you don’t know what is it you love most, or what you are passionate about, then ask what is it you hate doing most, and what pisses you off.
Pretty sure you have a list of things that spark the flames but think really deeply about this one. What are the consistent triggers of your frustrations?
Does it piss you off when you see a person shoo away a stray dog? Does it piss you off when you see people waste water? Does it piss you off when you see big corporations use advertising to manipulate millions of people?
Find the triggers that summon extreme negative emotion inside you such as sadness, pity, and fear, that should ring a bell of the ones you should move towards.
Find the ones that you know not only affects you, but others as well. Surely, there are some things you are going through that you know for sure others have a lot worse going for them.
List them all down.
What about this world angers, makes you sad, or frustrates you so much that you wish you could fix it yourself?
We all have a list of things that piss us off easily, but which are the ones you wish you can fix? Which ones would you actually be open to taking action on? If those world-problems were a group of thugs, which of them would you batter down to the ground first?
Of these problems, which can your product solve/affect/minimize?
Now, going back to your brand and its products, of these anger triggers you have, which can your product affect? Can your company solve or minimze the damage? Can your product alleviate the inconvenience the problem causes on others?
If you can somehow find a way to link your company’s solutions to a problem in the world that really pisses you off, then you can easily construct a a brand with solid foundations.
Does it make you cry?
Think about that world-problem that triggers anger and sadness — the idea of it not being achieved needs to frustrate and hit a nerve.
The picture of you on your deathbed thinking about you failing to solve this world-problem, it should make you cringe with regret. Not only that, the idea of it being solved should send shivers down your spine and flush joyful tears from your eyes. It should make you cry.
If it doesn't hurt, it’s not personal enough.
These emotions won’t be there if you aren't passionate enough about something. And only when you’re passionate enough about something will you be able to find a purpose that is genuine and true.
This doesn't only apply to you, but should also apply to others. Do you think this problem, if unresolved will also piss others off? Will it affect them negatively?
A powerful purpose, if achieved, should be a massive victory, and if unachieved, should be a catastrophic defeat. When you start settling for a purpose that is safe, predictable, and without the presence of uncertainty, you will find it more difficult to find other people who will have a fiery passion for whatever it is you want them to believe in.
No other way around it. It needs to be personal enough.
Imagine pushing through with your brand having this purpose, will the journey be a story worth telling to your grandchildren?
Narrate your purpose out loud. Imagine that it is 5 or 10 years after your brand was launched. Your company has grown tenfold, and you are asked to make a speech in front of your 3000 employees.
Tell them a story about your why the company was launched in the first place, and how you you realized your purpose. In order to verify if your purpose is genuine, ask yourself, is that story worth telling?
Strong brands have the best stories because a singular goal is able to gather groups of individuals on an uncertain quest on achieving a purpose that’s bigger than any of them individually.
Don’t Fool Yourself
During the part where you have to link your product’s solution to the world-problem, you may find yourself rationalizing.
This usually happens when you have already created a product and now find yourself unable to find a way for that product to solve one of the problems you have listed.
It may tempt you to go for the easy out by making up a story about you being passionate about a certain problem when in fact you are actually not, or by rationalizing how your product solves a problem you are passionate about when in fact it does not.
All I can say is, it may work. You may actually fool yourself, and everyone else along the way. But I assure you, you will run out of gas.
When stormy days come, your passion may not be able to hold. When you will need to convince people to join you on your quest, it may not sound as convincing. It may work, it may actually get you a good brand — but not a great one.
It is a difficult process, yes. That’s exactly why the rewards are greater. This is why the value of brands with a powerful purpose are higher. This is why they draw more people to their tribe.
So be patient. If you want your brand to be as great as Rome, then don’t build it in a day.
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Partizan Media is a social media + branding agency that works with purpose-driven brands, non-profits, and social enterprises. We believe that profit should not only be the standard of success but also their impact on society.
