By Peter L Getman, Principal Brand Director
MicroArts Creative Agency

I had a good healthy childhood. Despite my many endeavors, sports and personal ambitions, my parents were always proud of me for trying my hardest. Like many parents, their mantra was “doing your best is all that matters.”

As a result, I grew up ready to try anything. (And still am.)

However, parents are not clients. And effort is not synonymous with results.

• Customers demand results.
• CEOs demand results.
• Brand managers demand results.
• Shareholders demand results.
• Wall Street demands results.

All these people will more likely recognize effort but reward results. And they won’t confuse the two for long.

Now apply this mindset to your big idea driving your brand ubiquity strategy and everything in between. Is it working too hard and not getting any results? Or rather, do your customers have to work too hard to get it?

Sometimes, the best big idea can be the most obvious when you stop to think about it. So work hard to figure out what that is. For example, we have a client, Ignite, who offers a variety of transforming motivational and training programs that can propel individuals and organization to successes. Now, I suppose we could have developed a big idea brand about “organizational strategies, executive coaching, management training” and the myriad other programs they offer. Or we can simply say:

Learn something. Spark everything.™

Your brand is better than the competition for some reason. Say it. Is that the big idea?

Your brand offers your customers something special. Articulate it. Is that the big idea?

Brand it right. Brand it tight. And the results will come.