THE
INDIVIDUALITY
COMMANDMENTS
Customize whenever possible. Start simply by using your collected customer data to create personal experiences surrounding your customer service or product interactions. Customization can start as small as that and grow from there.
Surprise your tribe by being personal and hence making your brand personable instantaneously.
In order to study and fully understand the individual quirks of your audience, ask your tribe to submit their stories of who they are and how they use your products. You will learn how to cater your product or provide service to them in a more personalized fashion.
Blend personalization and customization, and celebrate the limited nature of your products – jointly, they work magic.
Study customization and personalization in your specific industry to ensure you are equipped to make it work financially for your brand.
THINK
BIGGER THAN
| this |
Most of us want to create the innovation brand that continuously disrupts our segment. You now know that having a “normal” product or service offering does not mean you cannot connect with today’s customer in a deep, meaningful and sticky way. You are searching for the AND?DNA, the underlying DNA of your brand story, which all starts by asking, “What is bigger than this?” Using the eight traits and their commandments in this book will guide you on your specific path to turning your venture, whether that be a commodity product or not, into a better, more beloved brand.
You just need to
feel the urge
to move the
needle forward
to transform into
a brand that has
a story to tell and
an even better
story to live.
I believe you had that urge when you picked up this book, and now you have all the inspiration necessary to kick it up a notch.
The easiest exercise to move your thoughts into action takes me right back to the first book I wrote (How to Launch a Brand [Brandtro, 2016]): Use a simple positioning statement to derive the bigger story. Put extra emphasis on deriving your “because” – the reason to believe:
“To [target audience] our product is the [category] that provides [functional, symbolic or emotional benefits] because [support/reasons to believe].”
If Fishpeople’s fish can turn a fish’s origins into a story, if shoes like TOMS can turn into a movement, and if staplers made by Poppin can become a delightful experience, your venture can turn into true brand gold, too.
When it does, e-mail me ([email protected]).
Perhaps I will be able to feature it in the second edition of this book.
If it does not and you are uncertain as to why, e-mail me.
If you feel a brand should not have been in this book, yes, then also e-mail me.
These are traits #6, #7 and #8 (transparency, solidarity and individuality) exemplified. See? Many of these traits can be applied easily in your and your brand’s daily actions.
Don’t overthink it; apply it.
Truthfully,
FABIAN GEYRHALTER
If you found my book useful, please leave a review on Amazon or Goodreads (or your preferred online resource). It means a lot to me, and it is the single most important tool for any author to spread the word about a book. Thank you in advance! #belief #solidarity
APPENDIX
The Fishpeople “About Us” Page
The “About Us” area of Fishpeople’s website reveals the power of the company’s understanding of all eight Bigger Than This brand traits, which was rather remarkable the moment I realized it. Here it is verbatim:
--
What if you knew? You knew it all.
[Brand Trait #6, Transparency, page 128]
Where your fish was caught. By who.
[Brand Trait #4, Heritage, page 102]
And if it was handled with love.
[Brand Trait #8, Individuality, page 156]
And what if all those answers were just what you needed to hear. As in: Sustainable Species. Wild Caught. In American waters. By independent fishermen. On boats with names like “Sunset Charge” and “Courageous”.
[Brand Trait #5, Delight, page 116]
Ethically. Responsibly.
And you could follow it all, in intimate detail, online.
[Brand Trait #7, Solidarity, page 143]
Yeah, that would be a TMI zig to the BIG FISH zag of floating factories, overfishing, habitat destruction and stealth operations.
[Brand Trait #3, Cause, page 77]
So we lay everything bare.
For the ocean’s sake. Your family’s sake. And the sake of our fishermen partners, their coastal communities, and American jobs.
[Brand Trait #2, Belief, page 63]
Here’s to pure seafood, free of GMOs, chemicals or artificial anything.
Welcome to peace of mind.
--
Fishpeople successfully turned sourcing and selling fish into an interactive, honest and engaging story. Here, differentiation started with a story, innovation not necessary.
RESOURCES
Easily share quotations from this book with your colleagues and entrepreneurially minded peers. –
BiggerThanThis.com
Gain continuous branding insights and actionable advice by signing up for my regular blog updates (we throw in our latest brand name and design case studies as well). –
NewBrandPost.com
Download free comprehensive white papers on topics surrounding a successful brand launch from brand strategy to naming and brand architecture. –
Finien.com/WhitePapers
Need swift, personalized brand advice? Schedule a brief call with me using Clarity. I would love to connect. –
Clarity.fm/FabianGeyrhalter
To work with me and/or my consultancy FINIEN on your brand strategy, name or brand identity design, or to book me for a workshop, panel or speaking engagement, e-mail me directly. –
[email protected]
Brands mentioned in this book to visit and learn from, or to connect and support:
Aspiration - www.aspiration.com
Away - www.awaytravel.com
Bennison - www.bennisongives.com
BOMBAS - www.bombas.com
Bucketfeet - www.bucketfeet.com
Budsies - www.budsies.com
Café Momentum - www.cafemomentum.org
Campos Coffee - www.camposcoffee.com
Careem - www.careem.com
Chewy - www.chewy.com
Combat Flip Flops - www.combatflipflops.com
Everlane - www.everlane.com
Everytable - www.everytable.com
Fanatics - www.fanatics.com
Fishpeople Seafood - www.fishpeopleseafood.com
GEA - www.gea-waldviertler.at
Glossier - www.glossier.com
Kendra Scott - www.kendrascott.com
OzHarvest Market - www.ozharvest.org
Planet Fitness - www.planetfitness.com
Pledge 1% - www.pledge1percent.org
Popcorn Palace - www.popcornpalace.com
Poppin - www.poppin.com
Punch Bowl Social - www.punchbowlsocial.com
Rareform - www.rareform.com
Ritual - www.ritual.com
SAME Café - www.soallmayeat.org
Shinola - www.shinola.com
The Package Free Shop - www.packagefreeshop.com
This Bar Saves Lives - www.thisbarsaveslives.com
TOMS - www.toms.com
FURTHER READING
How to Launch a Brand:
Your Step-By-Step Guide to Crafting a Brand: From Positioning to Naming and Brand Identity (2nd edition)
Fabian Geyrhalter
Once you have identified the areas of your AND?DNA and if you enjoyed this read, pick up my first book to craft your brand platform. It will further take you step by step through the process of deriv
ing a new brand from scratch.
Find Your Why: A Practical Guide for Discovering Purpose for You and Your Team
Simon Sinek
Taking his first book Start With Why a step further to make us implement our differentiator(s), Find Your Why is a must-read after having read Bigger Than This, as your head is spinning with ideas but you need clarity to define your own “why.”
Simply Brilliant: How Great Organizations Do Ordinary Things in Extraordinary Ways
William C. Taylor
Taylor, co-founder of Fast Company, studies companies that, as in Bigger Than This, are not leading through technology or disruptive innovations but by brilliant thinking. It’s a great follow-up read to Bigger Than This that moves outside commodities and brand thinking into operations and corporate culture.
Delivering Happiness: A Path to Profits, Passion, and Purpose
Tony Hsieh
For those of you who have not read Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh’s book on how he disrupted the shoe retail landscape, catch up on his unique corporate culture and customer service viewpoints rooted in a brand trait that comes close to Delight, the power of happiness.
On Purpose: Delivering a Branded Customer Experience People Love
Shaun Smith, Andy Milligan
Once you have (re)defined your AND?DNA, this book will assist you in defining and delivering your message of purpose to boost your customers’ experience with your brand as well as further instilling it into your company’s culture.
Contagious: Why Things Catch On
Jonah Berger
The quintessential branding book on the art and science of making your brand story catch on. Not surprisingly, a lot is based on human empathy, which makes Berger’s book a great read after Bigger Than This.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Gratitude goes to all of the followers and readers who give me the reason to write; our clients, who intrinsically believe in my brand strategy advice and fearlessly act upon it, giving me fulfillment, joy and purpose in my work; my wife, Judy, for bringing constant affection and Zen into my life; my mum and dad (oh yes, what would acknowledgments be without Mom and Pop?!) for having shaped me into the creative I am today; David Glaze for taking the time to craft the humbling foreword for this book; Elaine Pofeldt for believing enough in my book to accept taking it on and for being an editor extraordinaire, going far beyond the expected to transform my draft from good to great (and if you are a one-[wo]man business, I can highly recommend her book The Million-Dollar, One-Person Business, which will be readily available via Lorena Jones Books by the time my book hits the shelves); Jessie Campbell for carefully lending true FINIEN design excellence to these pages and creating an engaging visual identity around my writing; Kristen Tischhauser and Eilene Zimmerman for the unconditional outreach help on my quest to find the perfect editor; Uwe Hook for telling me I have to start tweeting; David C. Baker for telling me I have to start writing; Freedom Scott, CEO of Civican (a social network for civic action, which I am an advisor for – please do partake!), and Péter Szántó, founder of SpringTab, for being (amicably!) critical MVP “beta testers” of this book; and DIVISION4 Group for their continuous support from Vienna throughout all of Europe.
Font Families used: Din 214, Aktiv Grotesk
Design by FINIEN.com
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Fabian Geyrhalter is a renowned brand strategist and the founder and principal of FINIEN, a Los Angeles–based consultancy specializing in turning ventures into brands.
Geyrhalter is a columnist for Inc. and Forbes, and his thoughts on branding have been published by the Washington Post, Mashable, Entrepreneur and the Huffington Post. A frequent speaker and mentor to entrepreneurs worldwide, he is a Global 100 mentor at the Founder Institute and author of the #1 Amazon Bestseller How to Launch a Brand. Geyrhalter regularly judges international design competitions and is an active jury member of the Academy of Interactive & Visual Arts. His branding work has won numerous accolades, including 32 American Graphic Design Awards. Geyrhalter is an advisory board member of Santa Monica College and served as an adjunct professor at USC and Art Center College of Design. He is further serving as consulting Executive Creative Strategist at Urban Insight, a leading technology consulting firm, managing the intersection of brand vision and creative digital strategy.
His consultancy’s client list ranges from high-growth startups such as Jukin Media, Survios and Vimmia to established brands such as Honeywell, Warner Brothers, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Goodwill, W Hotels and Evolution Juice.
Geyrhalter was born in Vienna, Austria, lives and works in Long Beach, California, and is a graduate of Art Center College of Design.
REFERENCES
STORY
i Kessler, Sarah. “How Snow White Helped Airbnb’s Mobile Mission.” Fast Company. November 8, 2012. Available online at https://www.fastcompany.com/3002813/how-snow-white-helped-airbnbs-mobile-mission
ii Bazilian, Emily. Infographic: “The Influence of ‘Corpsumers’ Who Care as Much about a Brand’s Values as Its Products.” Adweek. September 11, 2017. Available online at http://www.adweek.com/brand-marketing/infographic-the-influence-of-corpsumers-who-care-as-much-about-a-brands-values-as-its-products/
iii Helm, Burt. “How This Company Launched with Zero Products and Hit $12 Million in First-Year Sales.” Inc. July/August 2017. Available online at https://www.inc.com/magazine/201707/burt-helm/how-i-did-it-steph-korey-jen-rubio-away.xhtml
iv Forbes staff. “Greatest Living Business Minds.” Forbes. September 2017. Available online at https://www.forbes.com/100-greatest-business-minds/person/shonda-rhimes
v Buchanan, Leigh. “How an Afghani Prayer Rite Became One Entrepreneur’s Aha! Moment.” Inc. November 2016. Available online at https://www.inc.com/magazine/201611/leigh-buchanan/combat-flip-flops.xhtml
BELIEF
vi Gelles, David. “The Moral Voice of Corporate America.” New York Times. August 17, 2017. Available online at https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/19/business/moral-voice-ceos.xhtml?mcubz=3
CAUSE
vii “Why Pledge 1% Is One of the Most Innovative Companies.” Fast Company. February 13, 2017. Available online at https://www.fastcompany.com/3067480/why-pledge-1-is-one-of-the-most-innovative-companies-of-2017
viii “This Store Teaches People How to Lead a Waste-Free Life.” Now This video. Available online at https://www.facebook.com/NowThisNews/videos/1423893591034094/
ix Bazilian, Emily. Infographic: “What Consumers Really Think of Cause Marketing.” Adweek. March 12, 2017. Available online at http://www.adweek.com/brand-marketing/infographic-what-consumers-really-think-about-cause-marketing/
x Bcorporation.net. “What Are B Corps?” Available online at https://www.bcorporation.net/what-are-b-corps
xi Saporito, Bill. “Why Kevin O’Leary Wants You to Be Evil.” Inc. March 2016. Available online at https://www.inc.com/magazine/201603/bill-saporito/shark-tank-kevin-oleary-be-evil.xhtml.
xii Janzer, Cinnamon, and Weinstein, Lauren. “The Buy-One-Give-One Model Might Make You Feel Good, but It Doesn’t Make the World Better.” Fast Company. November 17, 2015.
xiii Responsibuys. “Mitscoots Outfitters: The Buy-One, Give-One Company That Also Gives Jobs.” Responsibuys.com. Available online at https://www.responsibuys.com/job-creation/2017/1/4/mitscoots-outfitters-the-buy-one-give-one-company-that-also-gives-jobs?rq=1.0%20companies%20that%20treat%20symptoms
xiv Zissu, Alexandra. “When ‘Doing Good’ Isn’t Good Enough.” Entrepreneur. June 2017. Available online at https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/294435
xv Dunbar, Meghan French. “Café Momentum Is Using Social Entrepreneurship to Fight Recidivism.” Conscious Company. March 5, 2016. Available online at https://consciouscompanymedia.com/the-new-economy/cafe-momentum-is-using-social-entrepreneurship-to-fight-recidivism/
HERITAGE
xvi Perman, Stacy. “The Real History of America’s Most Authentic Fake Brand.” Inc. April 2016. Available online at https://www
.inc.com/magazine/201604/stacy-perman/shinola-watch-history-manufacturing-heritage-brand.xhtml
xvii Hershkovitz, David. “Why the Opening of Detroit-Based Shinola’s Tribeca Flagship Is a Big Deal.” Paper. July 26, 2013. Available online at http://www.papermag.com/why-the-opening-of-detroit-based-shinolas-tribeca-flagship-is-a-big-de-1427002279.xhtml
DELIGHT
xviii Zaleski, Olivia. “Your Dog Deserves an Oil Portrait with Her Gluten-Free Kibble.” Bloomberg Businessweek. November 22, 2016. Available online at https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-11-22/your-dog-deserves-an-oil-portrait-with-her-gluten-free-kibble
xix Zaleski, Olivia. “PetSmart to Acquire Online Pet Store Chewy in E-Commerce Push.” Bloomberg Businessweek. April 18, 2017.
xx Bluestein, Adam. “How a Middle-Aged Grouch Cracked the Code on Marketing to Millennials.” Inc. December 2016/January 2017. Available online at https://www.inc.com/magazine/201612/adam-bluestein/punchbowl-nightlife-machine.xhtml
xxi The Financial Brand. “54 Statistics & Trends That Will Shape Your Digital Marketing Strategy.” June 27, 2017. Available online at https://thefinancialbrand.com/66080/trends-facts-digital-marketing-advertising/
TRANSPARENCY
xxii Legere, John. “T-Mobile’s CEO on Winning Market Share by Trash-Talking Rivals.” Harvard Business Review. January-February 2017. Available online at https://hbr.org/2017/01/t-mobiles-ceo-on-winning-market-share-by-trash-talking-rivals
xxiii Giacobbe, Alyssa. “How Glossier Hacked Social Media to Build a Cult-Like Following.” Entrepreneur. September 2017. Available online at https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/298014#
xxiv “These Five Fashionable Brands Have Mastered Content That Sells.” Fast Company. February 13, 2017.
xxv Giacobbe, Alyssa. “How Glossier Hacked Social Media to Build a Cult-Like Following.” Entrepreneur. September 2017. Available online at https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/298014#
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