Starting a business is hard work. The hours can be grueling, along with the emotional and mental stamina needed to stay focused and innovative. One thing that helps with turbulence and challenges of starting a business or organization is to understand if your business or organization exists for more than just paying bills. It’s always exciting when you are brand is also a movement. When the company or organization is more than about a product or service, but you are wanting to create change.Brand vs. Movement
So what is different about creating a movement? Movements are built on the things that make us human, which is ultimately that we want to be a part of something greater. Connecting to something to believe in and follow. Movements are about creating a change. This doesn’t mean that brands won’t do that. However, the goal of a brand is about telling the story of your business, organization or product and allowing people to experience and follow that brand. Movement is about transformation, where brands are often looking to dominate and compete in the marketplace. The goal of a movement is to change lives. Both are needed and critical, however the strategy and tactics needed with each are different.
Which are you doing?
If you are interested in creating CHANGE, if you have a message, if you want to go deeper, bigger and bolder, it’s important to see yourself as creating a movement. Movements build momentum and loyalty. Movements offer hope…
Are you creating a brand or a movement?
Below are some key elements to creating a movement:
- Inspire. You can’t get away from it. If you want to create a movement, you have to inspire people to love something or hate something. You have to tell the story in such a compelling way that you tug on the emotions of your audience.
- Experience. Stories are great; they keep us engaged and help us to think. However, experiences make us FEEL something. When creating a movement, you have to create an experience for your audience. The experience you offer will depend on your industry and the vision for your company. But don’t ignore it.
- Live it. Whatever you are asking people to do, you have to be already doing it. It needs to be ingrained in you and what you believe and do .
- Create a call to action. What do you want your followers to DO? Do you just want them to share the information? Donate? Follow? Attend? Buy? Whatever it is, tell them what you need for them to do and engage them to be part of the project. You have to show people how to follow.
- Build a Tribe. In order to build a tribe, you need to build trust. Trust allows you to ask people to do some amazing things. When creating a movement (or building a brand), you need trust.
Again, some brands are both. They are about telling your company story, creating a following and proposing change. Whichever you are doing, know the difference and tweak your business model accordingly. If you need assistance in this area, feel free to contact me at [email protected]. Or attend my next workshop Strategy & Stilettos- The Workshop.