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The most common reasons behind the tussle is either a. the content shared was irrelevant to the prospect or b. leads generated were useless.

This occurs due a very simple misalignment, we often jump into talking about ourselves rather than figuring out what we should be talking about.

‘Zero sugar’ is a result of changes in the production process, enabling the customer to have ‘all the fun with none of the calories’ is why Coca-Cola did it. Thinking on behalf of the customer, not only increased the sales of Coke Zero, but their entire product line.

This simple blindside has massive impact on businesses. For example, if given the choice wouldn’t you buy from the inventor of a product rather than a second mover?

Nissin invented the instant noodles and advertises different flavors, but Maggie positioned it as a ‘2-minute’ alternative because they supported home cooking rather than ordering out. Result? 57% market share as compared to Nissin’s 10%.

And this is not a rare phenomenon, annually USD 37Billion is wasted in ads that do not connect with the target audience. But why does it happen?

We perceive marketing and branding as the first step towards communication, but they are the last. Understanding ‘why do you exist?’ and ‘who do you serve?’ precede them. We get too caught up in talking about the rational benefits of a product rather than why it was created in the first place.

The purpose of an organisation lies in the latter and so does its competitive advantage.

Branding strategies centered around ‘purpose’ and not product benefits achieve 67% above average organic revenue growth. Companies that lead with their purpose grow 3x faster than their competitors, while achieving higher employee, customer and other stakeholder satisfaction.

Bosch strives towards ‘improving quality of life’ by uplifting their supplier’s manufacturing standards. Making them an engineering company with one of the most loyal supply chains.

TCS’s drive to provide ‘better futures for individuals, communities and planets’ results in the lowest attrition in an industry with the highest attrition rates.

There are 2 critical aspects towards isolating purpose and creating communication strategies around the same.

1. It cannot be something that you “come up” with, it’s a trait that the organisation has demonstrated since inception.

Tesla’s ‘enable the world’s transition to sustainable energy’, TED’s, ‘spread ideas’ and Amazon’s, ‘becomes the most customer centric brand in the world’.

As opposed to “The Home Depot is in the home improvement business and our goal is to provide the highest level of service” where if you remove ‘Home depot’ from the statement it would apply to any home improvement business.

2. Branding centered around a purpose statement is too large to be driven by one vertical.

Amazon’s product department focuses on getting the highest number of options, finance only work with banks that can deliver faster refunds and analytics are aimed at helping customer’s make purchase decisions.

Understanding why you exist and who you serve can completely change the direction of your communications.

“Stay up to date” or “know what your competitors are up to”, which makes you want to subscribe to the Economic Times more?

– Co-authored by Tarun Chakraborty and Ramesh Jude Thomas on behalf of EQUiTOR Value Advisory