Brand Ideology

Not all brands are created equal even though they benefit from the same brand effects. Not all brands harness their power in the same way. 

The strongest brands transcend awareness, move beyond product quality, go even higher than leadership, reputation, trust and confidence taking a step beyond relevance and association, but operating at an ideological level. 

The strongest brands have an ideology, a soul, a conviction, a driving belief, a way of seeing the world, a point of view. 

Steve Jobs "What do we stand for beyond the bits and bytes? Where do we fit into this world? (…)  we exist for a higher reason." 

For instance:

  • Coca-Cola believes in optimism, in happiness. Coca-Cola so happens to sell soda. But why they do it is because they believe in happiness. 

  • Nike believes that every human body is an athlete. Nike just so happens to sell sneakers and accessories, and clothing and technology. They're not defined by what they do, they're defined by why they do it. 

  • Apple exists to challenge the status quo, to buck the conventional norm. Apple so happens to sell computers and music and phones and tablets and movies and so on. But why they do it is because they want to challenge the status quo. 

They move beyond the products to an ideological level. They exist at ideological level because "Brand is not so much about the rational arguments, but about the way the company resonates in the hearts and minds of people." That's what a brand is, a signifier that conjures up thoughts and feelings. They so happened to sell cars and batteries and solar panels. Dove believes in encouraging self-esteem, just so happened to sell soap and lotion and conditioner and shampoo. These brands have an ideology, a soul, a conviction, a driving belief, a point of view about the world that will allow to transcend its categories and operate at an ideological level such that we consume it because our identity is congruent with their identity, with the way they see the world and the brand becomes an identity mark, a way by signaling who we are to the world. 

That means we have to move beyond being on-brand to being on belief. Think less about being on message and being on value, moving beyond being on strategy to being on conviction. 

The better we understand that, the better we are to take advantage of the power of brand.