Joshua Sparks

The session

Premium45 min

Digital Advisory

Building a brand promise that lifts company value

What Joshua teaches

1. Build up to your promise, do not start with it

   Sparks runs a brand pyramid workshop that takes roughly a day or two, and it works bottom up. Start with the central organising idea (your reason for being), then points of parity (the rational hygiene factors that get you on the field but never win the game), then points of difference (both rational and emotional), then your value set, then a single archetype, and only then the promise. Asked cold, most founders describe their offer ("we sell supplements", "we own hair salons") rather than a promise.

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2. Write the promise as two words you can build product against

   For MJ Bale the promise landed on "rugged elegance". The tailoring and knitwear could have drifted towards a soft English or Ralph Lauren feel, but founder Matt Jensen is the son of a sheep farmer with a farm in Barrow, so a tougher, functional element was authentic to him. Find the phrase that sits at the intersection of the category and the founder's real story, then make product decisions against it.

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3. Audit every touchpoint against the promise

   Once the promise is set, break it down across product, in-store experience, online experience, wholesale accounts, third party e-com platforms, all marketing, ambassadors and influencers. Every point where you touch the consumer either honours the promise or breaks it. Inconsistency is what fractures trust fastest, in brands the same as in personal relationships.

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4. Keep the personality fixed and change the seasonal wrap

   Treat the brand like a character in a film. The personality and promise stay consistent because that is the basis of trust. But a story where the hero slays the dragon and stops is dull, so refresh the wrap through seasonal campaigns and through different ambassadors bringing their own lens to what the brand means.

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