Your job is to be amazing

A classic from Hugh MacLeod, November 2004:

The primary job of an advertiser is not to communicate benefit, but to communicate conviction.

Benefit is secondary. Benefit is a product of conviction, not vice versa.

Whatever you manufacture, somebody can make it better, faster and cheaper than you.

You do not own the molecules. They are stardust. They belong to God. What you do own is your soul. Nobody can take that away from you. And it is your soul that informs the brand. 

It is your soul, and the purpose and beliefs that embodies, that people will buy into.

Ergo, great branding is a spiritual exercise.

Why is your brand great? Why does your brand matter? Seriously. If you don't know, then nobody else can- no advertiser, no buyer, and certainly no customer.

It's not about merit. It's about faith. Belief. Conviction. Courage. 

It's about why you're on this planet. To make a dent in the universe.

I don't want to know why your brand is good, or very good, or even great. I want to know why your brand is totally frickin' amazing.

Once you tell me, I can tell the world. 

And then they will know.

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Comments

Carla Lynne Hall said... (Nov 18, 2008 4:03:19 PM)

AMEN to that!

Bob said... (Nov 18, 2008 4:04:10 PM)

Excellent article. And something I'm going to try to incorporate better into our business. Thanks Andy!

Parenting Maven said... (Nov 18, 2008 5:29:42 PM)

The Only way to be amazing is to be passionate about what you are doing...

Howtoorigami said... (Nov 18, 2008 8:06:45 PM)

You are so right. If you don't know why you are doing what you are doing, you shouldn't be doing it in the first place. If you can show the energy of your soul through your conviction, you are on your way to be great.