What makes a Brand?

Where it all started

2014 was a big year for me. I turned 40, had major brain surgery and set myself on a journey to grow EllisJames into a ‘real’ business. I wanted my work to mean more. And I wanted to feel I’d made a difference.

Up until then I’d worked alone, often in isolation, for the best part of 12 years. I was aware it wasn’t great for my mental health, but I was also having something of an existential crisis because I wanted to know what it was that I was striving for. That’s not to say it had been a bad experience – I had a lovely bunch of clients and consistent work, all the while being able to take my boys off to nursery, then infants, and then junior school. But I wanted my work to mean more. And I wanted to feel I’d made a difference.

‘Sell from the Why not the What’ has become part of the global business lexicon since, but it was the first time I’d seen mention of ‘Purpose’ in relation to business. Hell, in relation to anything beyond the functionality of an object.

I’ve mentioned Rob Hook before – that’s because he’s a great bloke and has been absolutely instrumental in helping me to develop the business. Back then in 2015 or so, he urged me to work out what it was that I wanted to be known for. I was stumped.

Of course, I was aware of Mission statements. Even Vision statements and corporate values. But a lot of the terminology seemed to be used interchangeably by different businesses, or worse, within the same company. It wasn’t clear what was what, and crucially, how they related to each other. So how could anyone follow that, let alone be inspired by it?

Then, Rob brought Simon Sinek to my attention, with his impassioned charm and rather ropey quality Ted Talk video, in which he introduces his concept of the Golden Circle (see below). ‘Sell from the why not the what’ has become part of the global business lexicon since, but it was the first time I’d seen mention of ‘Purpose’ in relation to business. Hell, in relation to anything beyond the functionality of an object.

My Value set to that point had consisted of: don’t do work in your pyjamas and, you know, do design stuff, be good to your customers etc etc.

Now I had Mission, Vision, Values, Behaviours and – Purpose? And this guy, Sinek, is telling us to sell from the why, not the what, and oh, by the way, in between is how. That’s a lot of ground to cover. My Value Set to that point had consisted of: don’t do work in your pyjamas and, you know, do design stuff, be good to your customers etc.

The more I looked into it, the more I realised ‘Purpose’ was what I’d been struggling to articulate – to me, primarily, not just my customers. But I needed to be able to put that in some sort of useful context that made sense to me and that I felt confident enough to share with my team (when I got one) and my customers.

And so here it is. How to visualise your brand. I hope you find it useful too. I call it Brand Cosmology.