In order for a product to be considered great, it must create value for the consumer and have intriguing features.
In order for a brand to be great, it has to be built on an impactful mission and purpose.
The product is the what and the how.
The brand is the who and the why.
The product and brand must work together cohesively to create an incredible customer experience.
When a great product meets an amazing brand, that’s where the magic happens.
We help companies who often have great products build great brands to match.
We do this through a structure we call the Messaging Pyramid.
Branding is very much an art, so it’s funny to think about how there’s also a structure underneath it guiding the process.
Just like a great painting has an underpainting (or structural outline), effective branding has a structure that informs the messaging tone and direction, and lays the foundation for the entire work.
The messaging pyramid allows us to connect emotional brand storytelling with the product and features.
At the top of the pyramid we have our most abstract messaging (high level).
At the bottom, the foundation is built on product features. It’s the product that supports the brand.
And then the middle of the pyramid creates the flow that connects those two together.
In its entirety, the pyramid provides the structure for the customer experience.
For example:
If a company sells widgets – what the widgets do might bring someone in. They might be interested in the widget’s features and how they allow them to do X and Y.
But as they learn about the brand, they find out that there’s a story behind how the widget cme to even exist.
Perhaps it’s an origin story or a founder overcoming obstacles. This story connects the person to the product in a unique way.
As a person discovers more and more about the product, they learn more of the story and become more and more connected, enticing them even further to purchase the product.
There’s also another journey…
A person may hear about a product whose founder had a compelling story.
They discover the product, learn about the story and ultimately learn about the product and realize it’s exactly what they’ve always needed.
In essence, the pyramid represents the journey and the way the story connects.
Even when we get really creative with a company’s messaging, we’re always keeping the pyramid in mind, making sure that it makes sense to people regardless of the level they’re coming in at.
Whether they start at the top and move down, or at the bottom and move up…
The Messaging Pyramid IS the entire story and therefore must effectively lead them through a journey to grasp the whole picture.
Well, there’s no moral to this story, we just wanted to let you in on how we think.
The pyramid is a super powerful model we keep in mind to keep brands aligned but never at the risk of being overly structured. It’s simply the underpainting of a great brand masterpiece.
Any additional thoughts on this? Any questions?
Reach out at any time!
