How to bring a brand strategy to life

and discover your creative personality.

I recently connected with Wishnu Hartandi, former Creative Head at Lowe & Partners. With his permission, I’m sharing some insights on how we think about branding, creative messaging, and bringing it to life in our work. Views expressed are our own in how we personally approach the art of branding.

Finding your why: values > vision > mission (in this order)

Finding your why is a crucial element in getting your brand to cut through the noise. According to Simon Sinek:

The “Why” is within you. And once you find and know your “Why”, the hardest part is to remain true to it.

All organizations start with “Why”, but only the great ones keep their “Why” clear year after year. Those who forget “Why” they were founded show up to the race every day to outdo someone else instead of outdoing themselves.

You are your best competition.

Asking about your why involves evoking values and aspirations that bring meaning to your life. In his book, The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck, Mark Manson stated good values are defined as “1) reality-based, 2) socially constructive, and 3) immediate and controllable.” Examples include creativity, humility, love, compassion, kindness, curiosity, integrity, intimacy, freedom, independence, efficiency, etc. Your values will define how you show up in your relationships (internal culture); an organization's values will define its work culture.

My approach is to have a value system in place first before crafting a vision and mission statement. I know there are various approaches to this. Here’s why I say this:

The most successful companies and individuals posses strong value systems. These values shape the way they perceive and act towards internal and external events. An organization’s values are unchanging, but its brand’s vision and mission statement may change over time. Two quotes to illustrate this point:

Diane Coutu writes:

Strikingly, many companies describe their value systems in religious terms. Pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson, for instance, calls its value system the Credo. Parcel company UPS talks constantly about its Noble Purpose.

Value systems at resilient companies change very little over the years and are used as scaffolding in times of trouble. UPS Chairman and CEO Mike Eskew believes that the Noble Purpose helped the company to rally after the agonizing strike in 1997. Says Eskew: “It was a hugely difficult time, like a family feud. Everyone had close friends on both sides of the fence, and it was tough for us to pick sides. But what saved us was our Noble Purpose. Whatever side people were on, they all shared a common set of values. Those values are core to us and never change; they frame most of our important decisions. Our strategy and our mission may change, but our values never do.

Seth Godin writes:

Brands and personas are made, not born, and we use them because they work, not because our DNA orders us to. When they stop working, it's time to change them.

Being comfortable with the familiar persona you see in the mirror is not the same as having an appearance that helps you reach your goals.

Now onto vision and mission. The vision is where you want to get to, the mission is how you’re going to get there. The vision could take many years to realize. In terms of creative execution in crafting a brand message, the mission is prioritized first.

Example: DBS’s vision is to “make banking joyful”. Their personal banking mission statement is “live more, bank less” which serves to market their personal banking products. You see various campaigns deployed around this mission, from DBS Sparks to their content marketing lifestyle and thought leadership pieces.

Sharing your why: go to methodology to construct a brand narrative

Me: Jungian archetypes.

Wishnu: Joseph Campbell’s The Hero With A Thousand Faces. It's basically saying everyone is their own hero in their own story. You have a goal and you set on a journey to achieve that goal. Along the way, you encounter obstacles.

In your campaign, your demographic representation is almost always the protagonist. Your product is a solution to an obstacle. The application in marketing is to use a brand's products or services to help the hero achieve that goal. The hero levels up and has a new character reveal by overcoming a specific obstacle. That's why we in media, creative etc, really like specifics. Think of mission like a dart board. The more focused it is, the easier to aim [and keep the narrative tight].

Greatness is in the details

Complete briefs are important, for internal departments that have marketing requests and for external agencies as well.

Me: I'm a stickler for detailed creative briefs. My (in-house) team would go insane without a proper brief AND if the brief changes mid-production. Over the years, I've learnt to stand my ground on one-liner briefs that go, “Let's market this product. Cuz we're no 1.” Cue cricket sounds.

Wishnu: For [agency] ad works, a good company brief should (at least) tell us:

• the purpose of the product / service (why the market / customers need it)

• how it is different from the competition.

• who it is for

• how it fits in the company's core values, vision and mission

From there, we should be able to create a pitch for a suitable campaign.

What's #mycreativetype?

Our results *drum roll*:

Me: Visionary

Emotional, passion-driven, and full of ideas, the VISIONARY combines a vivid imagination with a desire for practical solutions. Your introspective and intuitive nature is balanced by a keen interest in the world around you and a desire to contribute to society.

Wishnu: Maker

Driven, focused, and dedicated to the creative process, the MAKER has mastered the art of manifesting ideas and visions in three-dimensional form. Society greatly benefits from the work of MAKER types, who develop the systems, structures, tools, and innovations that the rest of us rely on.

Discover your creative type at https://mycreativetype.com/