Have you heard of Simon Sinek? He's a genius. The Yoda of the marketing world. Anyway, he introduced us to the concept of the 'Golden Circle', to explain how incredible humans like Steve Jobs and Martin Luther King were able to inspire rather than manipulate- which is rare when you want to motivate people in the marketing world. The Golden Circle is the framework for the WHY.
According to Sinek, the power of WHY is biology. It is not merely a communications hierarchy, rather, a guide for marketing and branding that considers the tenets of human decision making. It recognises our brains and how we process information...it's logical and inspiring (which suggests Sinek really understands his 'Why'). We highly recommend watching Sinek's TED talks and reading his works. This blog is our little dedication to his concept of the Golden Circle, because it resonated so deeply when we began our Creative Agency.
The Golden Circle has three rings: 1. WHY: This is the core belief/motive/focus of the business. It is essentially WHY the business exists
2. How: This is how your business fulfils that core belief
3: What: This is what the business does to fulfil that core belief
Sinek suggests that many companies do their marketing backwards; by firstly focusing on WHAT they are going to do (events, photography, websites etc), then HOW they are going to do it (such as what channels they will use) and often, they don't consider the 'WHY'. In reality, if you want to inspire, be authentic and practice alignment and accountability, you should always begin mapping out your business with the 'WHY', especially when you are planning your objectives, marketing and business strategies.
Starting with 'WHY' will enable you to align your strategy with your business goals. The 'Why' is probably the most important message that you can communicate about your brand. It explains why you exist, your primary purpose and the reason you behave as you do. If you are passionate, successfully communicating your passion, especially as a small business owner, will inspire your target market. At a biological level, it is a way to communicate with the listener/viewer's limbic brain which is the part of the body that processes feelings of trust, loyalty and decision-making. Every business owner knows that trust in a brand is fundamental to its success. A strong value led business will differentiate your brand from those who are working backwards, from those who use marketing to manipulate and from those who are bottom line focused. By adopting this model and really focusing on your 'why', you will be able to differentiate your brand from others. Sinek provides a great example of this, imagine if Apple started backwards and created a marketing message that began with the 'What', he provided this example: "We make great computers. They're user-friendly, easy to use and beautifully designed. Purchase yours today" as opposed to
"Everything we do, we aim to challenge the status quo. We aim to think differently. Our products are user-friendly , beautifully designed and easy to use" The message is similar, but you can FEEL the difference behind the message.
If you want to stand apart from your competitors and create a mutual relationship founded on trust with your target audience, we recommend you follow the Golden Circle Model. Think about your 'Why', are you communicating it?
This is fantastic, thank you so much. You can definitely feel the energy difference behind both of the marketing messages with such a big difference in each message. i can’t wait to read more blogs from you 💜