The Secret to Success: no secret at all
The secret to building a successful brand? It really isn’t a secret at all – in fact, I won’t even make you wait for it.
Here it is:
Build your brand around fulfilling human emotional needs, not logical ones.
That’s it! That’s the big secret to success.
So why don’t more brands do it?
If the secret to success is so easy, what’s keeping everyone from doing it?
- They are impatient. They don’t want to take the time necessary to truly understand consumer needs
- Short-wins are sexier than long plays. Most people would rather have a guaranteed $1M in 1 year than patiently wait to earn $20M in 5 years.
- They assume. We always remind our clients – YOU ARE NOT YOUR TARGET AUDIENCE. What excites and drives business owners (the tech, the innovation, etc.) is not the same thing that excites and drives consumers. This is a big lesson to learn.
- They can’t see past the logic themselves. Most business owners start with an amazing idea, knowing it will fulfill a marketplace need. But they don’t do the hard work necessary to truly understand the emotional reasons why their product is important and therefore cannot meaningfully differentiate it in the marketplace.
Build a Legacy Brand
If you intend to build a legacy brand, like the Apple’s, Nike’s, and Disney’s of the world, a brand that stands the test of time and has true brand loyalists, you MUST invest in understanding the emotional needs your brand fulfills.
Humans are emotional creatures, we follow our hearts first, then justify the decision with our head. To align with people in a meaningful and relevant way, brands need to do the same.
At Whynomics, we find the important emotions. We lead with those and the rest follows.
