What’s YOUR Brand Philosphy?

Yesterday, I was completing some training with the Coaching Association of Canada, and was asked what my "coaching philosophy" was.

Immediately, I wasn't sure how to answer it.

And not because I didn't really KNOW the answer. But because no one had asked me before.

And once I wrote it down, and gave myself a chance to FEEL into it, what I would DO as a coach became abundantly clear.

Now, when it comes to marketing, people often operate in the reverse.

They focus on the things they think they need to DO. But they don't really FEEL connected to the activities. And therefore, stay separate from the KNOWING that turns those activities into something meaningful.

So, in today's article, this is where we're going to go.

Let's start with the difference between a Brand Philosophy and your documented Corporate Values.

Brand Philosophy vs. Corporate Values

Let's start with some definitions:

Philosophy: A set of beliefs or ideas about how to do something or how to live.

In laymans terms, it's a guiding belief system that shapes how a brand behaves, communicates and shows up in the world. It is INTENTIONAL and deeply rooted in purpose; and sets the tone for everything the brand does.

Personally, I like the idea of an emotional and cultural compass.

And it's the answer to the question, "what would YOU do?"

Now, theoretically, that SHOULD match with the next definition...

Values: The principles or standards of behavior; one's judgment of what is important in life.

Now, if you use your ACTUAL set of beliefs to craft your principles and standards, then your values and principles should end up being aligned.

Yet SO many companies jump right to publishing "aspirational values" that the connection doesn't end up happening.

An aspirational value is something that you think sounds GOOD to other people. According to ChatGPT, the most common Corporate Value listed on a company website is "Integrity". And why? Because we want to use "marketing" to create trust. So we use words like integrity, because it signals trustworthiness.

But just putting it on your website, or on the wall of your office, doesn't make it so.

How many of us have experienced THAT?

I happen not to believe in absolutes, so I won't say 100%, but it's pretty dang close.

So, what do we need to do DIFFERENTLY if we want to discover our TRUE Brand Philosophy so that our values are REAL? Well, that's where we're going next :)

Deeper than Strategy

Let's start here with a reminder: Strategy is an OUTPUT.

Belief is an INPUT.

What you believe and who you are as a person (and business) is the core driver of your success. So long as you are trying to be someone else, you'll never be the best you can be💡

Which means, you'll stay stuck in CHASING.

Chasing your competitors. Chasing your clients. Chasing the market.

You CAN'T get ahead.

So, if your strategic outputs continue to disappoint you, you can't just change the strategy. Or the strategic consultant😉

You need to TAP INTO your beliefs.

With intention. With focus. With your time.

What do you believe about the world? What change do you exist to make? What truth drives you? What stand do you find yourself taking for your clients or industry?

These types of questions are what take you in that direction.

And the tricky bit is that there is no ONE right answer.

The answer is different for every business. And indeed, every person.

So, if a business is a sum of it's people, then the answer isn't just YOUR answer either (as the founder or CEO).

It's an US Story.

What do WE believe about the world? What change do WE exist to make? What truth drives US? What stand do we find OURSELVES taking for OUR clients or OUR industry?

For example: Patagonia didn't start with "sell outdoor clothing"; they started with "the planet needs protecting; how can WE contribute?"

Do you feel the difference?

Fully Integrated

I love the idea of Pressure Tests when it comes to your Brand Philosophy being fully integrated. And a great place to start is with what you've already created.

How about your Vision? Your Mission? Your corporate values? Your website? Your social media posts? Your sales conversations? Your operations? Your communications?

How well are each of those DEMONSTRATING your philosophy?

And if they're not...the next question is, "why not"?

Maybe you're like me and hadn't done the deep-dive clarity. So you couldn't possibly have created from it previously. But now you can, and you can update all those things (and pretty easily too).

But equally, you might identify that there's something "aspirational" in your Brand Philosophy, which will NOT work. If it's based on something you deeply believe, then there should be SOME degree of that living in your day-to-day work, and if there isn't, it's probably not really YOUR beliefs it's based on...it's someone else's.

From product design, to customer service, to internal hiring (or firing) practices, if it's rooted in who you actually are and what you believe, there should be a natural alignment.

And it should also be easy to see any misalignment.

An Emotional Component

Once we're getting into Strategy and Tactics, there's more DATA and less EMOTION. But that doesn't mean there isn't a spot for emotion in the overall process.

When we're using phrases like, "We Are", we're bound to feel SOMETHING. Either a connection to the statement (yes, I'm TOTALLY that), or a DISconnection (ugh, that's not what I would do). Something else I feel sure we've all felt at some point.

And this emotion isn't about what people OUTSIDE of the company feel.

It's not just for your marketing.

It's for YOU.

It should make you feel the way YOU want to feel.

Do you want to feel stressed and overwhelmed with all the things you have to do?

Or do you want to feel capable and competent?

I promise you, there are things you feel confident and competent doing today.

What if you did MORE of that?

And then asked yourself the questions from part one of this article?

It might not even take very long.

But I bet you feel SOMETHING.

I'll leave that with you and you can come back to me ✨✨

Being Unique

I don't think it's any surprise that I believe in uniqueness through authenticity. If you didn't know that, just spend 5 minutes on my profile page.

But often we get caught up in talking about the things that DON'T make us unique.

"Being the Best"

"We value Integrity"

Oh, and your features, no matter how unique they are, aren't it either.

What's something ONLY your brand would say?

A good test for this is to write out your Brand Philosophy with your brand name IN it. Then, read it WITHOUT your brand name and if it sounds like any other company, that's NOT it.

In my experience, the best way to figure this out is through conversation.

Because only through conversation - unabashed, open conversation - would you say what YOU would say. And that's where the secret sauce lies :)

The Proof is in the Consistency

If you're doing what YOU would do, it should be easy to stay consistent. Regardless of what activity you're trying to focus on.

Staying connected with partners.

Solving problems for people.

Creating access for new ideas on social media.

Networking. Sales. Marketing. Customer Service. Operations.

When we're doing what WE would do, we create consistency.

So, if you feel like you're NOT consistent with the things you WANT to be consistent with...

First, ask yourself WHY you want to be consistent with that? What part of you does it align with? And if it doesn't align with you, LET IT GO.

Second, if it is aligned, look at all the things you are doing that AREN'T aligned...and get rid of those things. You could assign them to other people, but honestly, they probably don't need to be done by ANYONE if they aren't aligned with your Brand Philosophy...

And if it's your TRUE Brand Philosophy...you wouldn't want other people wasting their time NOT executing that either, right?

Bringing it all together

I love a good "bringing it all together" at the end of an article, but I particularly love this one; because it works in two different capacities.

Bringing all we talked about in this article together...

But more importantly, bringing all of YOU together.

You see, when we constantly do things we wouldn't do, it's exhausting.

And then WE are exhausted.

And it becomes harder to tap into what we would do.

The answer?

MAKE SPACE.

Take time to do NOTHING.

And fill that space with BEING you.

You know those moments when you're really in flow? When you feel like you're killing it?

That's when you're BEING the most YOU.

It has nothing to do with what you're DOING.

Or the strategy. Or the tactic.

And everything with you.

So, tap into that FIRST.

And then you really have somewhere to go 💖

P.S. If you want to get into the convo in a deeper way, let's chat!