Brand & Purpose

Brand Values and Purpose

Done correctly, an inspiring mission is a sustainable competitive advantage.  At 6peas we believe that a strong brand has the following mandatory characteristics:

Relevance is priority #1.  Customers must find the brand appealing.  If not, the brand won’t make it into the consideration set, regardless of how differentiated or credible it is.

It must also be relevant to your employees in each of their roles – how do they support the brand and reflect its key values. Make your mission inspiring and relevant to every employee within the organisation. Ensure you can engage every level of your employees as a part of delivering that mission.  If you want to recruit the best employees, make sure that your      organisation has an inspiring mission that engages employees.

One-third of global employees strongly agree with the statement, “The mission and purpose of my organisation makes me feel my job is important.” By moving that ratio to eight in 10 employees, business units have realised a 51% reduction in absenteeism, a 64% drop in safety incidents and a 29% improvement in quality.  (Gallop, 2019)

Differentiation is critical and the key driver of positioning success.  The brand must be unique vs. competitive offerings. With it becoming increasingly difficult to compete on pricing, or promotions identifying a way to deliver an exceptional customer experience is critical to achieving a sustainable brand.

Credible and attainable is the final measure.  If you cannot credibly provide the offering, the customer is left with an empty promise. In order to have a strong value you must be able to clearly articulate the promise you are making to your customers. You must be able to deliver upon that promise to your customers and your employees.

Simon Sinek’s ” The Golden Circle”

At 6peas we are huge fans of Simon Sinek- we believe it is one of the easiest ways for businesses to understand how to define their purpose in terms that resonate with their customers. Importantly, the Golden Circle can also be used to define the organisational roles in ensuring that the whole organisation is aligned with the purpose of the business. This is one of the core 6pillars of driving great customer experience.

Some organisations and individuals know How they do what they do. They may call it their “differentiating value proposition,” or “unique selling proposition (USP).” The Hows are an organisation’s or individual’s strengths, values or guiding principles. These are the things they feel set them apart from their competition; the things they think make them special or different from everyone else.

Very few people and very few organizations can clearly articulate Why they do what they do. Why is a purpose, a cause or a belief. It provides a clear answer to the questions, “Why does your organisation exist?” and “Why should that matter to anyone else?”  The Why is about our contribution to impact and serve others. The Why inspires us.

 

The Golden Circle is not just a communication tool; it also provides some insight into how great organisations are structured.

The cone represents a company or an organisation, an inherently organised system. At the top of the system, representing the Why, is a leader. She or he articulates the Why and points to a vision of a better future. The next level down, the How level, includes the people who are inspired by the leader’s cause. They give their blood, sweat and tears to build and bring the vision to life. The What, at the bottom of the cone, are the things the organisation says and does that breathe life into the Why. They make it tangible. An organisation communicates its Why through everything it says and does; the marketing, the products and services the company provides … everything.

A CX driven purpose must be able to answer the following six questions.

Words alone are not what make a mission inspiring, you need to be able to clearly articulate to every employee how they personally contribute to the organisation’s mission and how important they (as individuals) are to the organisation.

Is it relevant to your customers and your employees?

Is it communicated through every level of the organisation? While the words are not what makes a mission, it needs to be written down so that it can be shared consistently across an organisation.

Is it real? A mission statement/purpose is only valuable if it truly embodies the mission of the company, otherwise it’s just a collection of meaningless words (weasel words). The leadership team needs to consistently make decisions that optimise the mission over other objectives. Can you actually fulfil the promise you are making to your customers and employees with your purpose statement?

Is it simple? If you want employees to understand the mission, then it needs to be easy enough for them to repeat it to others.

Does it connect with employees? Every employee in an organisation should feel connected to the mission; they should be able to see how they help deliver it every day.

Will it create value? Missions must define the value that the organisation intends to creates for customers or other key stakeholders. What difference is your company going to make to the world? Is there a clear difference between you and your competitors?