Hey you savvy Entrepreneur, you!
As the leader of your company, what are you committed to?
If I were to buy from you, would I know what your values are? Would I know what you stand for?
What would I see from your brand? What would I feel when I interact with your company?
These are important questions to ask yourself.
If you can’t identify your brand commitment, your company is failing its audience. And failing to attract its audience.
Have you heard the adage, “If you don’t stand for anything, you fall for everything”?
Consider this your wake up call. Your business is either failing to connect to its true fans… Or it’s rising to a new, never before seen, level of purpose, clarity, and connection.
Your brand commitment is a singular personal dedication. It comes from you, the leader. It’s your drive. It’s what motivates you. It’s the cause you’d dedicate time and energy to even if you were alone in the crowd.
It’s the driving force behind your business and shines through every aspect of your company. It’s your presence and purpose in the market. It’s what separates you from the clutter in your industry.
And if you don’t know your brand’s commitment… I’ll help you uncover it in Branding With Purpose, my VIP Group Coaching Program. Check it out here if you’re done getting lost in your industries noise. As of today, there are only 2 spots left!
For right now though, let’s take a look at a personal brands commitment that has stood the test of time.
Here’s a perfect example of a business leader’s brand commitment.
Last week I had the pleasure of meeting the makeup artist Bobbi Brown at an intimate book release Q&A in Chicago.
If you know me, you know I am an incredibly pale white girl from the Midwest. Growing up I was gawky and really tall, all middle school and high school girls go through an awkward phase, I think my phase bloomed early and stayed late.
Through Bobbi Brown’s books in the late 90’s I learned that beauty comes from the inside out. That each freckle, skin tone and eye color is unique to our personality and style. That it’s our differences that make us beautiful.
Her brand commitment was to ensure everyone in her audience, everyone she crossed paths with knew this simple truth.
She shared her brand commitment in such a way that a teenager could understand it.
When I met her last week she was promoting her new book, Beauty from The Inside Out. She said that today, decades into her career, she still believes that beauty is seen and felt on the inside first. And everything, I mean, everything in her life and brand comes from this commitment.
She’s a great example of being both a personal brand, Just Bobbi, and a product brand, Bobbi Brown.
It’s her personal commitment to beauty from the inside out that influences the quality of her products and her brand’s messaging. From the wholesome ingredients in her products… To her lifestyle brand, Just Bobbi… What you see is what you get.
A timeless style, rooted in natural beauty.
“Be exactly who you want to be and if you don’t like it, change it.” Bobbi Brown
Her story is amazingly straightforward, like her brand.
She met a chemist at a Kiel’s party in the 80’s who made her lipstick that she sold to her modeling friends. But she realized you can’t make a business on a $7.50 tube of lipstick.
Next, she met women in an elevator who turned out to be a buyer for a cosmetics lab and asked for a meeting.
She then met a woman at a party, who was a buyer at Berdoff’s and again asked for a meeting.
What I take away from her “serendipitous” encounters was that Bobbi believed in what she was creating. She moved from a deep place of commitment and purpose… She let her gutsy intuition kick in and spoke up when the opportunity presented itself.
Bobbi and her husband poured their retirement and life savings into the business at a time when the make-up market was rich burgundies, deep purples, and chiseled cheeks.
There was nothing “naturally” beautiful about the market she entered. But she stayed true to her brand commitment.
It was as if Bobbi Brown created a blue ocean strategy based on being natural (crazy right?!)
“Choose directions that don’t exist.” Bobbi Brown
“Feed your curiosity.” Bobbi Brown