Finding Your Brand Essence And Why It Matters
*Image Credit: Mindsy Brand Studio
Here’s the truth: Everyone is clamoring for your customer’s attention.
As marketers, how then can you ensure that you can stand out from the crowd? How can you build a loyal customer base that actually lasts?
The answer is simple: you have to find your unique brand essence.
If you’re not so familiar with what this is, then you’ve come to the right place!
We’ll be discussing what exactly brand essence means and why it is essential for any business.
Why Does Having A Unique Brand Essence Matter Today?
We’ve all seen how the digital space has grown in recent times. More brands are now recognizing how connecting with consumers online can be game-changing. But there is a new challenge that comes with the increased competition in the digital space — It’s now even more important that a brand can distinguish itself from all the clutter and noise.
That brings us to our first point: It’s not enough for brands to have a better offer. Customers want something different and unique. They want innovation, creativity, and true passion to be reflected in its brand storytelling.
Consumers are also demanding more brands that are authentic and ethical. People don’t see products as just products anymore. Customers intentionally choose to focus on the unique brand story and message behind these products.
Customers clearly want to engage with brands that have values that are aligned with their own. But even with these changes in consumer trends and perceptions, businesses may still underestimate how important it is to clearly define one’s brand essence.
Nike: You Can't Be Stopped | What makes Naomi Osaka, Marcus Rashford, Kevin Durant, and others so unstoppable? They all know their why, their purpose.
If there’s one takeaway that you should remember, it is this: Determining your brand essence should be the first thing on marketers’ agendas.
What Does Brand Essence Mean?
To make sure we’re all on the same page, let’s define what brand essence or brand soul is.
Having a clear brand essence means that a brand has a specific purpose, which is then expressed in its mission, vision, and goals.
The brand has a defined purpose for existing, which goes beyond just profit. Using this purpose as its north star, it is able to fight tirelessly for its values and ideals. The core message that it wants to convey also has longevity. It isn’t simply based on a short-term trend. Its purpose can span from generation to generation.
*Image Credit: Mindsy Brand Studio
From this specific purpose, a brand is able to establish its mission, vision, and goals. All of these are then reflected in its culture, personality, voice, tone, and visual identity.
There is no point in having a purpose statement if this is not clearly lived out by the brand. A brand must certainly walk its talk.
It does this by being a master at authentic and genuine brand storytelling. You can see it in its visual identity and in how the brand relates to its customers.
What is a purpose without its advocates? Having a strong brand essence also means being able to build communities or tribes around your purpose. The brand constantly sparks meaningful conversations with its audience and involves them in brand decisions.
What Are The Benefits of Establishing Your Brand Essence?
*Image Credit: Mindsy Brand Studio
Now that we know what this term means, we can now tackle how this can actually benefit your business.
1. The Building of Tribes Drives Higher Brand Loyalty
*Image Credit: Unsplash
In a nutshell, a brand tribe consists of people who have the same interests and values. Not only do these people think alike, but they also engage in conversations with each other. Interaction is key when it comes to building a brand tribe.
With the increased usage of social media, it is even easier to create connections with fellow tribe members. Genuine dialogue is merely a click away.
But why do people join tribes in the first place? What’s in it for them?
Customers join tribes to establish their identities. They want to be seen as who they truly are. Every product we buy says something about who we are, our place in this world, and where we belong.
Clearly, brand tribes are an incredibly important asset for any business. These customers are more than willing to spread the word about your brand soul. They’re the best kind of brand ambassadors. They’re also open to providing feedback and ideas on how else you could improve your offer. Your tribe is your link to the true desires and needs of your target audience.
How do you take advantage of this? Again, we go back to social media and how it is so relevant today.
With social media, you are able to reach a large number of people and connect with them in a consistent way. You can get to know them through their comments and direct messages. You can also observe which posts they most engage with.
From the customer’s perspective, all of these experiences make their lives better in both tangible and intangible ways. All in all, it creates brand loyalists. As long as they are satisfied with your brand, they will be happy to promote it for years to come.
2. Clear Differentiation From Your Competitors
*Image Credit: Packaging Of The World
Finding what makes you unique is the key to great brand storytelling. Each business definitely has its own brand story to tell that is different from everyone else’s.
But you can’t just rely on the norm. You have to strive for radical and meaningful differentiation.
Does this seem like such an intimidating task? Don’t worry! We’ll be discussing more on how you can differentiate yourself from your competitor later on.
3. More Cohesive Brand Efforts
Your brand essence is the solid foundation from which all of your efforts stem from. Each decision is made in line with this brand's soul.
With a clear and specific brand story in mind, you are able to translate this to the different aspects of your business consistently (from marketing and branding to production and operations, and so on).
The motivation of your coworkers and employees will all be aligned with your ideals and values. And that’s where you can really start to make a change as a brand.
Overall, you will have a united front that is cohesive and consistent in all of your business efforts. This will serve you well no matter what comes your way!
We wanted to share with you a business that is very close to our hearts. Cien Chiles Case Study
Cien Chiles’ purpose: “We believe making meals better should make the world better.” Mission: We flavor the future.
They currently have 4 amazing sauces: The Mustard, The Jalapeño, The Habanero, and The Thai Bird. All of these will surely leave you wanting more!
In this project, we wanted to discover the brand soul and execute its purpose mindfully.
To do this, we first needed to establish the brand’s purpose and find their tribe.
As the founder of Cien Chiles, Chef Maria wanted to infuse her Mexican background into their sauces. And what better way to showcase their heritage than by using the beloved chiles? With this treasured signature ingredient, they are able to make sauces that are bold, innovative, and unlike anything else.
And who says healthy food can’t taste good? Definitely not Cien Chiles! Not only do their sauces satisfy your taste buds, but they are also created with honest ingredients — their products are all non-GMO, naturally gluten-free, and have no artificial ingredients. Talk about the whole package, right?
Their target audience is the Healthy Hedonists. These are people who are incredibly passionate about making every meal delicious and creating meaningful memories through food. They live for the full meal experience — from the process of cooking to enjoying food with their loved ones.
Inspired by this unique purpose, we wanted to bring the brand to life in a way that is authentic and engaging. To accomplish this, we created visuals that truly encapsulated its brand soul and passion.
Everything was meticulously crafted to express this brand story. All the different elements had to be aligned with one another: the brand experience, identity design, brand manual, packaging design, and the E-commerce website and marketing materials. Our goal was to truly reflect the brand’s personality and tell their unique brand story in a genuine way.
The results? Customers feel more connected to the brand. They understand that Cien Chiles’ purpose goes way beyond just selling its products. They know that the brand’s passion truly lies in sharing its culture and heritage through food.
An improvement in brand clarity translated to an increase in online and retail sales (it’s now selling in over 100 stores!). Aside from this, it also resulted in higher page views and social media followers. This was also during the pandemic, which makes it even more impressive.
We know that this is only the beginning for the brand, and we’re excited to see what else it can accomplish. If you want to know more about how we helped Cien Chiles, you can find our full case study here.
How Do You Find Your Brand Essence?
If this all sounds interesting to you, read on as we share the steps you can take to find your brand essence.
1 . Get To Know Your Customers
*Image Credit: Mindsy Brand Studio
It all starts with knowing the person that you’re trying to help inside and out. Having empathy with your customer is crucial to brand storytelling.
You can first begin with your ideal customer demographics. Consider their age, gender, education, occupation, annual income, and marital status.
Then you begin to move on to your consumer’s psychographics. What are their personality types and ideal lifestyles? What are their interests and hobbies? How about their beliefs and values? What activities comprise a typical day in their lives?
You can then start thinking about their problems and pain points.
Their problems could be the challenges and obstacles that they face in daily life. On the other hand, pain points are the negative feelings that occur as a result of their problems. Are they frustrated and angry? Or do they feel fearful and anxious?
Lastly, what are their needs and goals in relation to their problems and pain points? What are the social and emotional benefits that they want to have?
2 . Be Clear on Who Your Brand Is
*Image Credit: Unsplash
You also want to be clear on your offer. What exactly does your brand promise? What industry or category are you in?
You want to establish your brand’s north star or how you’re trying to solve your ideal customer’s problems. Think about the specific features or approaches that your brand uses to deliver results.
Once you have a better understanding of all these, you can now establish your core purpose. This is the exact reason why you are doing business, and it’s a motivation that is more than just about the money.
From this purpose, you can then determine your brand’s mission, vision, and goals. You can refer below for the strategic pyramid that you can use to form the building blocks of your brand.
*Image Credit: Mindsy Brand Studio
Here’s a quick summary:
A mission is a goal that you want to achieve from your purpose
Your vision is what you would like the company to become
The goals are the milestones along your journey to achieving your purpose
As briefly mentioned earlier, you also want to know what makes you different from your competitors. Radical differentiation is not just about making an improved version of an offer. It’s about reinventing the solution to a problem. To make a great impact, a brand has to be disruptive. It’s not enough to create something ordinary and expected! Businesses shouldn’t be afraid of ideas that may seem unique and bold.
How can you achieve this kind of radical and meaningful differentiation?
A good first step is to understand your competitors well. What makes them stand out compared to others? What are their differentiating strategies? After all of these elements have become clear, you must then make sure that these align with your business goals. Only after you can identify all these can you have a brand that is strong, distinct, and memorable.
Final Thoughts on Finding Your Brand Essence
What if you would ask your ideal customer this one simple question: “How does our brand matter to you?”
What do you think their answers would reflect? Have they been impacted on a deeper level? Do they now feel more connected? Overall, are they more inspired and motivated?
The answers to these questions are crucial to know whether you have a strong brand essence.
If you’re unsatisfied with your customers’ current answers, there is still hope! With the key points that we’ve made in this article, we hope that you are now more ready to step up and rise above the rest.
Ready to build up your brand? We got you.
Mindsy is a branding studio specializing in strategy, brand identity, and packaging. We help female entrepreneurs create mindful, healthy brands.
We can help you turn your business into a purposeful brand to make an impact on the right people from awareness to conversion to retention. Create a purposeful brand for this and upcoming generation