What is a core or brand idea? And why does my business need one?
Do you have a core brand idea?
What’s that? It’s a meaningful difference, or single-minded idea that enables your brand to position and stand up against (or even transcend) the competition.
Volvo has one and it can be summed up in a single word. Safety.
It’s woven through every single thing they do. Their brand. Their product. Their behaviour. Their marketing and communication.
It’s not a table-stake. It’s something they truly and whole-heartedly live and own. No other car company does safety the way Volvo does.
Market/sector table-stakes.
What are table-stakes, or common denominators?
These are things that are a given in your industry or sector. Things your customer wants or needs, but things that anyone (worth their salt) also has, does or delivers.
Your core brand idea.
What is a core brand idea?
It’s something unique (or specific) to your organisation or brand. A single thing you want your customers to remember about your brand. It might be an emotion; a meaning; or an experience. Or something else entirely.
The uncommon denominator.
A core idea needs to be:
Believable a ‘truth’, something that’s genuine to your brand;
Meaningful to customers, connects to their wants/needs; and
Different from the masses, or outside the table-stakes.
The takeaway
A core brand idea doesn’t have to be a single word, but it does have to be a single-minded idea. One that’s intrinsic to your brand; and woven through everything you think, say and do.
So, what’s yours?
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