Today we’re answering the question on every Entrepreneur’s Mind: How much money, moo-la, cashola, does it take to become a household brand? I was recently standing before the majestic Angel Oak Tree. A sight on everyone’s top ten list of things to do in Charleston, South Carolina.
In a city that was voted the number one most beautiful city in the country and number two most beautiful city in the world by Condenast… And Condenast knows “sights to see”….Why is a singular tree on everyone’s top ten list of sights to see in Charleston? Any guesses? Seriously, take a guess in your mind. Once you have your guess, see if there is a limiting belief inside your guess. Let’s uproot that limiting belief and plant the seeds of the truth.
So what is this most common limiting belief? That money buys brand loyalty. It doesn’t. You might have guessed that a singular tree is on everyone’s top 10 list of things to do because they pay for it to be on that list. You might have thought “THEY” probably paid for Charleston to be voted the most beautiful city in America — Some PR company or marketing company, or investor has bought that status from Conde Nast to make Charleston a world-class brand. Maybe they promised ad space in all of Condenast’s magazines or some such deal.
Here’s the truth: Money doesn’t buy brand loyalty.
The belief that Brand Loyalty costs big bucks — Stops most potential competition from even starting. Don’t let that happen to you. It keeps potential badass entrepreneurs trapped in analysis paralysis trying to budget the price of success.
This is wonderful news: because Brand Loyalty is your business plan. And no one can outspend you on brand loyalty. They can only out brand you.
So how do you get the right message?
Firstly, Branding is never a dictation, it’s always a conversation.
What does this mean? It means you dictate that someone must believe in your brand. You can’t pay someone to believe in your brand, you certainly can’t pay them to come back again and again to your brand. You can’t pay someone to love it so much they tell everyone about it.
Brand Loyalty is gained through trust — trust is gained through consistency of messaging to what your ideal individual’s value (there’s that conversation thing I’m talking about – the listening part of the conversation) – I’m not talking about what objects they value I’m talking about listening to and understanding their core values and ethics. What do they need to survive, to thrive, to feel meaning in why they are alive.
The number one differentiator between billion-dollar brands and entrepreneurs isn’t their ad budget, it’s that they’ve built their brand as the home for the shared values and ethics of their ideal individuals, their brand community.
When you consistently provide a home for their values and ethics, and they can see through every evolution of your company you are there for them upholding your brand promise you earn their brand loyalty — it can’t be bought.
So why is angel oak a singular tree on everyone’s top ten sights to see in a Charleston, a city brimming with sights to see? The cobblestone streets of the French quarter, the coastline from a boat…
People who come to Charleston, People who travel anywhere, want to touch the magic of a natural phenomenon. The Angel Oak Tree is thought to be one of the oldest living beings in the country.
She has kept growing through wars, through floods, droughts, greed, progress, the industrial age, the information age, the pandemic… and now the instant gratification age.
From tip to tip the longest branch of the Angel Oak stretches out to reach 187 ft. WHOA! That’s more than half a football field with one branch.
Consider the reach of your brand equivalent to how consistently you are in helping your community survive and thrive with your brand promise. When your brand promise, your message can provide the same emotional or physical, intellectual or spiritual needs across all of your products and services, all our your slogans and campaigns, all of your 10 branding Landmarks it can grow like the Angel Oak and your community can grow like the Angel Oak’s community has grown to be Condenast’s number one sight to see.
It was never the money that made a company a household name. It was always the message, the empowering belief, the seed of truth it planted in the hearts of its brand community. What’s yours?
Let’s make today’s talk a singular branch of thought to follow:
A great brand is a great promise kept.
And consistency creates brand loyalty
And Brand Loyalty is your business plan.
I hope you enjoyed our talk today and it helped you to move from analysis paralysis to creation a Brand Promise that touches the heart of your ideal audience so you can grow like the Angel Oak Tree, into everyone’s favorite place to ground themself in how they survive and thrive with your brand’s products again and again.
I release new videos every Tuesday and Thursday. Consider them your own personal masterclass in brand building and becoming an inspiration to millions. And as always I leave you with our motto, our brand promise, our reason to survive and thrive so you can too: Love What You Do, And Love How You Do It.