Substance Before Beauty
Your company leadership recognizes that you need an overhaul in the company’s identity — a complete rebranding. Before you jump into looking for a design team to present logo concepts to you, start at the beginning. Start with your purpose.
What does purpose have to do with getting a new logo?
In a marketplace where a growing body of research shows that companies with a clear and motivating purpose can serve as a key differentiator between competitors, the reason your company exists needs to be identified.
The cool thing is that it often serves as a springboard for creating your company’s identity and marketing initiatives. It is the foundation of your culture code.
What’s in a purpose?
Some call it a mission, others call it purpose. We think of your mission as that thing you do to fulfill your purpose.
Example:
Dove sells soap products.
Their vision is to redefine beauty.
The company’s purpose is to inspire every woman to see her beauty in who she is.
The company’s mission is to ensure that the next generation grows up enjoying a positive relationship with the way they look.
Dove will see their vision reached as they carry out their mission and fulfill their purpose in how they make, market, and sell their products.
This is carried out in a number of ways, in the Dove Self-esteem Project and (which they term as their “mission in action”) the Dove Real Beauty Pledge in all of their marketing.
Van Arsdale France, in 1955, founded the “University of Disneyland.” He was tasked with creating a training program for those who would bring Walt’s dream of Disneyland to life.
As he was preparing to pitch what would become the purpose of Disneyland to Walt and Roy Disney, Van Arsdale France said later, “My goal, as I saw it, was to get everyone we hired to share in an intangible dream, and not just working for a paycheck.”
“And here were top executives and I had to get up and say ‘And now our theme: the purpose of Disneyland is to create happiness for others.’
The beautiful thing about saying, ‘We’re going to create happiness’ was then I could say, ‘Look, you may park cars, clean up the place, sweep the place, work graveyard and everything else, but whatever you do is contributing to creating happiness for others.”
– Van Arsdale France
“But,” you say, “We already have a purpose.”
Are you sure? Is your purpose inspiring? Will it stay constant no matter what disruption occurs in the marketplace? Can it motivate you to get out of bed on days when the business is encountering a battering storm? Does it inspire your employees? Does everyone on your team know what it is?
Check your company’s mission statement against some great examples in the marketplace.
Strong or Weak? Our purpose is to be the best widget maker.
Strong or Weak? We exist to
Here’s the cool thing: when your leadership team digs deep to discover your purpose, you’ll find that there are seeds of it in the origins of your company. It’s in its genesis. When you find it there, it’s authentic and something that you can embrace for the long haul. It’s something to really get excited about.
There are sad stories about those companies who lost their purpose: Kodak, Sears.
Here’s the story that is coming to the marketplace. People are complex creatures who crave meaning and don’t check out of it when they sit at their desk or walk into the doors of their workplace.
