In all my years as a marketer (and there have been quite a few 😅), I have learnt the hard way that there is only one successful formula for impactful communication.

I have worked on – and seen many – brands lose their way by:

• Lacking clarity or focus on their core positioning
• Changing their identity too frequently
• Showing up sporadically
• Not engaging their audience emotionally
• Lacking clarity in who their audience is

And it always ends with the same outcome: all the energy and investment you put into building your brand simply flitters away and you end up deflated, having to start all over again.

If you want to keep your brand growing, the simple formula to communicate with impact boils down to this: 

BRAND STORY [PURPOSE + VALUE PROPOSITION] + CONSISTENCY = IMPACT

Your brand story is composed of your purpose and your value proposition. And it is by communicating your brand story consistently that you will drive impact.

Let’s break each of these elements down to understand how it works.

1. YOUR BRAND PURPOSE

Yep, here I go again, banging on about brand purpose.

That’s because your brand purpose really is the KEY to unlocking everything else!

If you haven’t yet heard Simon Sinek’s Start With Why, then please, knock yourself out, watch it here. The image below also summarises his “golden circle” concept with the brand’s why, its purpose, at the core:

I don’t claim to have invented this idea in any way, but I will remind you of the science.

Our brains have three different parts:

1. The reptilian brain: responsible for instincts and survival needs
2. The limbic brain: responsible for feelings and emotions
3. The neo-cortex: responsible for cognition, language and thinking

The neo-cortex, otherwise known as the analytical brain, is what differentiates us humans from animals. It likely explains why we always aim to convince with rational arguments.

In marketing terminology, brands try to convince people to buy by communicating their product benefits.

But what we fail to recognise here is that behaviour and decision-making are made by the limbic brain. That’s right! The part of the brain that is responsible for feelings and emotions.

What this means for brands is, if you focus only on your product benefits, you are failing to influence behaviour and decision-making.

The answer is simple: first engage your clients with a compelling story about WHY your brand exists - its purpose. 

And to dispel any further myths: supporting a cause is not your brand purpose.

A BIG brand purpose means that the brand exists to help solve one of the world’s biggest challenges - and invites others to join in.

Here are some great examples of BIG brand purposes:

• Tony’s Chocolonely’s purpose is to eradicate child-slavery in the cocoa industry.
• Dove’s brand purpose is to change the standards of the beauty industry.
• iD Genève’s brand purpose is to shift the perception of recycled materials as a luxury. 

2. YOUR VALUE PROPOSITION

Now that we have the emotional connection, we can reassure the more rational part of the brain.

This means communicating on your brand’s value proposition. 

Your value proposition is the unique value that your brand offers its clients.

It should answer the question: “what’s in it for them and why should they choose my brand over any other?”

To answer this question, you must be crystal clear on:

• What makes your brand unique - its points of difference
• How your brand is challenging the status quo of its industry – its positioning

Put your purpose and your value proposition together and, voilà, you have your brand story!

BRAND STORY = PURPOSE + VALUE PROPOSITION

Here are some great examples of BOLD value propositions:

•  Dove: We’re here to help women everywhere develop a positive relationship with the way they look, helping them raise their self-esteem and realise their full potential.
• Apple: By offering the most advanced technology, coolest design and easiest user experience, we create technology that empowers people and enriches their lives.
• iD Genève: We’re reinventing a new identity for luxury by crafting the most beautiful luxury watches out of recycled materials.

3. CONSISTENCY

The final part of the equation seems simple, right?

Unfortunately, it’s not as easy as it sounds.

It requires:

1. Consistency in showing up AND
2. Consistency in your messaging

For smaller brands, the first one will likely be the bigger challenge. Creating content and posting consistently on social media is A LOT of work (believe me, I know! 😉).

Remember this: consistency beats quantity!

It’s better to show up less, but consistently, than to go all out and not be able to keep up.

Here are a few tips to help you with your content creation:

• Plan one to two pieces of long-form content per month. This could be an article or a video, for example (this article is my long-form content for the month!).
• Use this long-form content to create multiple pieces of short-form content (eg. video shorts, short posts, quotes, visuals, etc).
• Repurpose content!  Don’t be afraid to re-use what has performed well a couple of months later.

The more your brand grows, the more the challenge will shift to consistency in your messaging. You may have more resources to create the content but you also have more people contributing and your brand is showing up across more touchpoints. 

Think of it like this: if you’re invited to different events, a work event, a sports event, a show or conference, you may wear different outfits for each, but it will always be you, with the same physical traits and unique personality, that shows up.

It’s the same for your brand: you need consistent physical assets and personality across all your touchpoints! This requires having a well-defined brand story and knowing how this brand story comes to life across every touchpoint, no matter the format: your products, your website, your social channels, your distribution, your media outreach, with your partners and influencers, etc. 

If you’re not consistent, you’re simply shooting blanks. Cue the deflated balloon.

But if you do this right, each touchpoint will build towards a consistent brand image and awareness in your clients’ minds. This is how you communicate with impact and ultimately, how your brand will grow!

The Recap

There is a simple formula to communicate with impact:

BRAND STORY [PURPOSE + VALUE PROPOSITION] + CONSISTENCY = IMPACT 

• Your brand purpose creates the emotional connection with your clients, which is what influences behaviour and decision making.
• Your value proposition shows your clients what’s in it for them and why they should choose your brand over any other.
• It is by communicating your brand story (purpose + value proposition) consistently, both in terms of frequency and messaging, that you will drive the impact you are looking to make.

If you need some help mastering these concepts then check out my 5-week online program “Build Your Brand For Positive Impact”. I will support you in mastering your brand purpose, value proposition and content strategy so you learn how to communicate consistently and effectively for impact.