A couple of weeks ago, I posted about the "godfather" of marketing (David Ogilvy) and 7 of his core philosophies in marketing/branding!
One of those was something he called "your big idea"...or "your unique positioning concept". We're working with a new client to get her ready to launch next month and while discussing her "big idea", I was inspired to have that same discussion with this group!
Your big idea is defined as "an attempt to communicate your brand/products, by creating a strong message that pushes brand boundaries and resonates with your customers."
In a world of tremendous competition, being able to communicate with the public in language that is CLEAR, SUCCINT, and EASY TO UNDERSTAND, will help to set you apart from eeeevvvvvveryone else that is selling the same type of products or services.
THE PROCESS TO UNCOVERING YOUR BIG IDEA
Understand who your audience is--what do they like and dislike, what's their lifestyle, and what motivates them....
2. Do lots of research to uncover a "compelling insight"--meaning a real truth and problem to solve for your prospective customer...
An example of compelling insight that we're all familiar with is Amazon! They did research and understood that people wanted to be able to access an online marketplace where they could buy just about anything under the sun (instead of having to go to multiple sites).
Their big idea is: " to be earth's most customer-centric company; to build a place where people can come to find and discover anything they might want to buy online."
3. Once you've done your research and have a solid understanding of the problem that you want to solve for your customers, you'll then need to find the connection of the problem to YOUR brand!
An example of brand connection with which we're all familiar is FEDEX! Fedex is certainly not the only company that ships good for ppl, so they identified early on that their unique selling concept or proposition would be that they'll guarantee overnight shipping--something no one else was doing at the time!
Their big idea/slogan is: "when your package absolutely, positively has to get there overnight'.
4. At this last stage, you need to find a way to express your brand connection to the problem your customer wants solved, as succinctly and clearly as possible--there's no space for ambiguity or confusing language here.
Here are some examples of clear and succinct brand connections to problems!
a. BMW: looking for a car that handles the road like no other??! No problem! BMW has " the ultimate driving machine!"
b. Nyquil: are you down and out with a cold and just need something that will subside your symptoms so you can finally get some peaceful rest?? No problem! Nyquil is the "the nighttime, coughing, achy, sniffling, stuffy-head, fever, so-you-can-rest-medicine."
c. Southwest Airlines: are you looking to get to your destination as cheaply as possible?? No problem! Southwest airlines has the solution! Their big idea is: "Low fares. Nothing to hide. That's TransFarency!"
Hopefully you guys get the idea of how to go about coming up with your own big idea! Doing this type of research and thinking is challenging and time-consuming, so it really only makes sense to do it if you're trying to build a BRAND--meaning a company that will last for years to come and will eventually exist beyond you.
Once you have your big idea, it should be the foundation for just about every part of your business---especially the marketing, product selection and even your social media posts!
MY EXAMPLE!
My unique selling proposition for my agency is that I only work with brands that sell to black and brown women! There are tons of digital advertising agencies out there, so I wanted to specialize myself by working with a demographic with which I know I can authentically connect because I belong to that group!
My big idea for my agency is "advertising that clicks!"--which is a double entendre and play on words because by click I mean 2 different things:
the advertising we do will click, or connect" with the audience
the advertising gets the person to click on your ad!
Witty, huh?! I thought so too
Long post I know, but as usual, I like to try and inspire everyone to get those creative juices flowing and to think deeper!
Soooooooo what's YOUR big idea?
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