What the agency should tell the client is that a brand can own an idea by doing it—doing it first, doing it better, doing it bigger.
Very few products have meaningful differences, and those that do rarely have them for long. Today’s speed of innovation makes it almost impossible to maintain a true performance edge, whether selling deodorant or cars. But that’s OK, because consumer motivations are emotional, not rational. That’s why brands matter.
From the sagas of Sunkist to the ballads of Bayer, true marketers can see through the myth of the USP. Your brand is the only unique selling proposition that matters.
Winning brands seize the category benefit and make it their own.
What differentiates a brand isn’t a thing, it’s a thought. An idea that the DNA of the company—the soul of the brand—reflects the values we all share and makes your company the most credible in the category.
If you think the average athlete can explain technical differences between shoes made by Nike, Adidas or Reebok, hold that thought while I explain how summer turns to winter—not because the earth tilts away from the sun, but because Persephone goes to live with Hades in the Underworld for half the year. In other words, don’t waste my time.
Which brings us to another myth as old at the Parthenon: the notion that humans make rational decisions about what they buy. Behavioral economics has proven time and again that when it comes to brands, we all make emotional decisions that we post-rationalize later.
I bought this car because it’s got a great safety rating and it’s fuel-efficient. Bullshit. You bought that ride mostly because of the way it made you feel when you imagined rolling up to a stoplight next to your ex—ex-spouse, ex-boss, ex-grade school teacher, you name it. You tell friends you bought the car because it’s such a great value, but every time you catch your reflection in the rearview mirror, you can’t hide those lying eyes any more than Glenn Frey.
Reasons to believe, aka notorious RTBs, are not without merit in this instance. That’s how we post-rationalize emotional decisions—by having some rational tidbits to tether our heart to our brains.
Now, before you claim this disproves my first debunking, remember that product features can add texture, but they are not the story. Stories that sell are human narratives, driven by empathy, not details. A brand is a relationship between a company and its customers, so think of your ads as anecdotes, remembrances and snapshots of that relationship as it evolves. Favoring facts over feelings is why clients get confused and agencies get misdirected.
Building a brand is a confidence game. If you can’t stand the heat, get out of the acropolis.
Our third delusion is arguably the most powerful of all the marketing myths. The belief that purpose-led marketing campaigns are better than all other campaigns is sacrosanct among the marketing elite.
Question purpose and your sanity is suspect. Any deviation from industry orthodoxy may lead to marginalization, mockery or worse. Like the legendary hydra, cutting off its head only results in two more taking its place, with all the heads shouting that consumers buy purpose, not products.
Unfortunately, a growing body of evidence suggests that isn’t always the case. Naturally, consumers say they prefer brands with a purpose, but what people say and what they do are two different things. Voting with their wallets, consumers seem to be saying purpose is nice but not necessary. Like RTBs that help justify their decision, purpose is a nice wrapper for the thing they wanted to buy anyway.
Scientific skeptics far more capable than me have done the math and studied the reports, and the pattern is clear: Creative campaigns that strike an emotional chord carry the day, but the key to caring is showing how that product fits into my life. Does this brand get me? The answer lies in building personal relevance, not virtue signaling.
What about shared values, you ask? Some brands thread the needle perfectly, from the product story to why the company was founded in the first place. To make something better, to disrupt a dysfunctional category—an unbroken narrative from product to purpose, as relevant to me as to my neighbors. That is purpose with a point, and those campaigns are working.
But that’s become the exception and not the rule. More and more brands are reaching too far, beyond their business into the cultural arena, grasping at social issues to gain currency. That disconnect feels disingenuous, and consumers clearly aren’t buying it.
After all, sales are the oracle we all have to heed. And that’s a dose of reality powerful enough to shield any marketer from myth.
