BRAND ANATOMY – Oneslide

Here is a beautiful urban legend for you:

Once a tribesman asked an anthropologist what the key difference was between people of their tribe and the modern, ‘civilized’ men.
The anthropologist answered, that a modern man can feel one thing, think another thing and say something else altogether.
The tribesman had a hard time understanding what the anthropologist meant. Once he finally got it, he said: “Oh, don’t you ever do that, my friend. You’ll get very sick very soon if you do”.

We think this story should be taken more seriously by a lot of modern brands (let alone people). Too many of them have a wide gap between (a) what they feel and believe in [their heart], (b) what they think [their brain], (c) what they make [their hands] and (d) what they say [their mouth].

We wish more people and more brands spoke from their heart. Hell, we wish more brands had a heart in the first place.

We know that more often than not, brands actually do have a heart, but they tend to forget about it too often. Then what they think, what they make and what say gets disconnected, lost and heartless. And then they get sick.

So, here’s our checklist of how to keep your brand healthy:

What you believe in.
What you stand for. Your purpose. Should move people. Should connect with consumers on an emotional level. Should be based on the deep human truth. Should always stay the same.
What you think.
Your expertise. Your way of thinking. Your business model. Should make sense and be future-proof. May change rarely, when the industry is disrupted and reinvented (by you or somebody else).
What you make.
Your product or service. Your offering. Should have unique value attached to it. May change every now and then, following the change in consumer needs or progress in technology.
What you say.
Your message. What you say to the rest of the world. Should reflect what you believe in, what you think and what you make. May change often, depending on the objectives, context and trends.