Your brand is more than a logo, colors, graphics, images, etc. Your brand identity is “who” you are and the transformation you deliver.
Buyers aren’t interested in the “how” or the “what” so much as the “why” – the “so-what factor” as I like to call it. And even then, it isn’t about your why. It is about their why – what their pain points are and the transformation you bring to solve their problems and reduce the pain.
Even in B2B (business-to-business) purchases, buyers are human. Humans come with emotions. There is an emotional factor in every purchase, even in business. I once worked with a pharmacist whose CFO (Chief Financial Officer) stopped by his desk and demanded to know why drug costs at their health plan was up in the double digits. He needed an answer to validate why drug spend was up. His pain point was not having access to data that could help him do his job. He needed access to technology so he could monitor drug costs and trends and provide a logical answer. Better yet – so he could get ahead of the trends to lower the cost as much as possible while delivering a sound drug benefit to their members.
His reason for buying the technology wasn’t simply so he could answer the question (although it would be like the emperor with no clothes if it was his job to manage – and had no insights). With no answer, he’d likely be fired. Talk about “what keeps you up at night…” Better yet – have analytics at the ready on how he was able to manage that cost while providing access to important medications. Feelings he may have been experiencing because of the pain points:
- Anxiety
- Fear of losing his job
- Looking clueless/embarrassed
After gaining access to information, he could help close gaps in care, improve access to medications, reduce costs by identifying less expensive alternatives, and could impact not only the drug spend, but also the lives of those depending on medications. Feelings he may experience after gaining access to the information:
- Confidence
- A sense of purpose
- Maybe even like a… hero
The brand promise for this company was to transform raw data into meaningful information in order to effect change in a business-user-friendly format. But for him, it was to make him a hero of sorts. The transformation of the data is symbolic of his own transformation into a superhero by enabling him to do his job with confidence.
Your logo isn’t going to tell him he can be the hero, but your content can. Communicating your brand promise in a succinct manner is not an easy task. First you must have a heart-to-heart with yourself and your leadership to uncover the real purpose behind your business (besides making money). How do you solve real people’s problems? How do you tell the world your story? How do you deliver on your brand promise? Is your operation up to the task to deliver efficiently, with quality, on time? Are you spending resources wisely? Do your account team members understand and deliver on your brand promise?
We can help you uncover insights for deep transformation – internally and externally. We help brands dig into and define their purpose to improve client acquisition, and then we help your operations, product and account teams live that out to keep those clients.
Our purpose is to help organizations accelerate success. Let us know how we can help you and your organization say more in fewer words, and deliver on the promises you make.
Contact me directly at [email protected] today to schedule a time to talk about what keeps you up at night.
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