“Given them what they want – just not the way they expect to get it.” Robert McKee, as told to us in his 3 day Story Seminar.
The How, Not the What.
Brands that have lasting impact aren’t the ones that focus on the what. The what gets commoditized pretty quickly. What is the intellectual property, the patent work behind the idea, that the competition views online and quickly end-runs.
The how is the experience wrapped around the what that makes people prefer you over them.
Method is a how brand. They make admittedly great stuff: sustainably formulated cleaning products that don’t smell like chemicals, all packaged in aesthetically well-designed packaging.
But the intangibles in betwixt and between are what make the brand work over time. The tension between the design elements, the sustainable mission and the brand personality makes them a hard brand to imitate successfully. Brands that try will end up looking like impersonators, not imitators. And caricatures always fail.
As Eric Ryan related to me, “If we had been a one dimensional brand, the big guys would have figured us out long ago.”
42Below vodka, owned by Bacardi now since its acquisition in 2006, is a how brand.
Vodka, by law, is ethanol and water. It has no taste. Its purity can be rather subjective. And yet this brand – stepped in what founder Geoff Ross described as its “New Zealandishness,” is impossible to copy.
42Below is an unapologetic brand with a brash attitude that mixes well with its reputation for quality, as described on its website as the “world’s most awarded vodka.” It’s a lifestyle brand in a branded landscape overrun by cool, passionless Euro and faux-Euro brands that all speak of frozen tundras and turtlenecks.
42Below pokes us in the ribs (and sometimes the eye), because, as Geoff very aptly related to me, “everyone loves the lovable rogue.” It’s a how brand.
MINI is a how brand. Apple is a how brand. Go Daddy is a how brand – just call their customer service line and see how you’re treated compared to their alternatives. Conservation International is a how brand, using debt-for-nature swaps to fight deforestation in developing countries and promoting sustainable economic initiatives for indigenous people. Sony used to be a how brand and I hope it returns.
Why is How more important than What?
How you do what you do is more than just “differentiation” or “customer service” or any other trite label. Your how is what makes you memorable, sticky and durable. How is experience. How is intangibles and emotions, whether stated or unstated (or even unrecognized and unarticulated).
As my friend and colleague at Decision Triggers, Dr. Steven Feinberg, often tells me, “Vivid is more important than valid.”
Our ability to shift perception, our willingness to focus on how we deliver what we deliver, our discipline to package our work and finish in a way that others would happily leave undone is what separates great brands from everyone and everything else.
Are you focused on the How? Or the What?
Regards.
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Great post today! This reminds me of a blog post I wrote a few months ago based on Simon Sinek’s “Start with the Why” TED talk. (You can see it here: http://www.totalattorneys.com/blog/people-dont-buy-what-you-do-they-buy-why-you-do-it).
The key to both viewpoints (how-vs-what and why-vs-what) is that these marketing/communication methods affect the way consumers perceive a product or service. In a world where consumers have many options to choose from for similar services and products, marketing must get a message across that shows the consumer why one product/service is better suited for a consumer’s personal and specific needs more so than any other similar product/service.
Hiya Stephen and also Kevin!
when I have seen title of this blog in my rss reader, I went straight here as I wanted to elaborate with Start with Why concept by Simon Sinek;-)
As I can see Kevin is on the same page with me on this;-)
So, starting with WHY you do what you do, is damn powerful concept to get into core and heart of your business;-)
cheers,
i.
I agree in the importance of “how”. The “how” is what can really make the difference between you and your competition, and the reason why my old company, a web design agency, stood out and outlived any competitor. It’s how we treated customers, how we delivered our works, how we make people feel comfortable.
Kevin & Ivana: thank you both – will have to take a look at Sinek’s TED Talk. Sounds like we’re on similar wave lengths.
Gabrielle: thanks very much for stopping by and commenting – it sounds like you’ve had considerable experience in this spot, as well.
Frankly, the interviews I conducted in developing the manuscript for Killing Giants were inspiring to me because so often we’re hit over the head with the idea that in order to take that first step – in a venture, a start-up, etc. – we need our “what” to be so revolutionary and novel that it becomes an insurmountable obstacle to our first step. The bar is set too high.
The idea of “how” as a differentiating factor is liberating because we can easily control this. We can re-engineer the “how” endlessly, even when working with a rather pedestrian product or service. Look at Virgin. Air travel, train service, mortgages, even cell service – none of these are unique in any way, and yet Virgin (in the UK and Europe, at least – they’ve struggled mightily in the US) is successful because of a consistent “how.”
A great ChangeThis.com manifesto by Trevor Ginn on this subject, as well. Check that out if you’re interested.