One Thing To Rule Them All

Like practically anyone who works in media, I'm obsessed with Michael Lewis's "Moneyball", and maybe the movie more. It's the ultimate "Revenge of the Nerds" story, where data and analytics unseat the arrogance of "experienced gut instinct". But I also love it if you go one step deeper; it's not just about the data, it was the idea that the data was reduced to ONE KPI..."on-base percentage". The scene in the war room where Billy Beane (Brad Pitt) tosses out players names, the scouts all winge, and , with the "no-look" demands "why?", snaps his fingers, points to Peter Brand (Jonah Hill) "because he gets on base"....*swoon*.

Every strategist has their own approach to Brand Strategy. Sure their agencies have set processes and formulas to assure clients that the "C" students will do "A" work, developing a platform and ideas consistent with that platform, ultimately impacting everything from content strategy to placement strategy. My approach (take it or leave it) is to reduce the cacophony to a one-word brief. "What is the most essential thing your brand stands for? What is the single greatest benefit to the consumer?" And I don't mean product features, I mean what higher order need can the brand fulfill?

Nothing in my career has impacted the way I think about brand, brand behavior (I use this inclusive of voice and tone, as well as "media" which is about the brands' actions that speak for it through the company it keeps, the context in which it is encountered, the experiences it creates) than my week as a media juror at Cannes. 3,247 cases...that's what we reviewed, and a MASSIVE chunk of those were submitted for Coca Cola...maybe 1 in 10. I was just blown away by their one word brief (which was also their slogan)..."Happiness". Teams all over the world created happiness occasions by Coca Cola; seeing the permutations and variations on the theme was staggering and inspiring...life changing. As a Strategist, it was as beautiful as the complexity of a symphony, the variety of instruments coming together to create something beautiful.

This isn't to say the one-word brief is always 100% ownable outright or within the category. It's up to the combined client and agency teams to come up with THE BEST ways to manifest that One Thing. As an example, I would boil a current client's offering down to "confidence"; confidence to live life free of the burden of chronic disease, to live an utterly typical life without being sidelined or concerned about symptom burden. Likewise, I worked on a laundry detergent brand some time ago and, to escape the sea of sameness, I felt the brand also stood for "confidence"; the confidence to get dirty without having to think about it. Another major brand I've led was distilled down to "Access"; this product, among its competitors, granted its loyal consumers access to experiences and benefits unparalleled in the category. In those cases, it is our job to (1) generate messaging that conveys the most superlative "confidence" and "access", reassuring the consumer that this promise made will be kept and (2) drive media strategy and activation as well. This should inform not just the "softer" parts of what we do like Communications Planning, but everything that goes into reaching the right people, at the right time, in the right place, in the right mindset.

Finding "the one thing" has often helped me and my teams find a starting point when stalled out looking for one. You'd be amazed at how many parts of our business can riff and create strategies around programmatic activation, brand content, live or interactive experiences as well as placement. I think this will be especially relevant as we delve deeper into creating experiences in the metaverse. You can't virtually drink a Coke with a VR headset on, but the brand can certainly create "happiness occasions". It's terribly unexciting to access early ticket sales through a VR headset, but think of the possibilities of "gated" experiences you could access in a virtual world. It's impossible to experience the confidence a healthcare service can provide, but the possibilities to create "play" occasions or other interactive experiences that build confidence and show the value of confidence are endless.

The one thing that rules them all is a north star for standing out to consumers; it's a lever for competitive advantage. It's the first step to getting your brand noticed, loved, and recommended.

"The shoemaker's children have no shoes"...agencies should actually be turning this on themselves: What is it we ACTUALLY do in a word? Is there a word that encompasses our approach and the way we behave? Are we about "curiosity", "innovation", "invention", "accountability"? Of course you're all those things, but which do you lead with? Which will differentiate you from the sea of sameness in the agency world? And (perhaps a whole separate article), can that one word be your guide to talent acquisition? Do you screen for "curiosity", "innovation", "inventiveness", "accountability"? Sure test for technical acumen, but does that person fit with the ethos of your organization? Will they be a cultural fit? Do they have examples of how they manifest that essential quality?

Simplify. Don't kill yourselves with the complexity that we've all come to equate with competitive advantage. Find the one thing that defines a brand or your brand and activate the Hell out of it.

#strategy #brand #performance #attention #planning #mediastrategy #simplicity