The Surprising Way Non-Profits Get Action (That CPG Brands Should Copy)
Insights — 11/21/23
0 minute read
Six questions all brands should answer to wake people up and get them to care
Marketers always want to talk about their brands. What they do and how they do it in infinite lavishly described detail. Working across consumer, B-to-B, and non-profit brands, we see the same knee-jerk response to talk about the “how” when we ask our client partners “why” real people should care about their brand. “Why” always starts with a problem.
Our experience transforming Enterprise Community Partners and other non-profits put a big spotlight on the need for all brands to start with the problem they are solving. While it’s obvious, people give real attention to a perceived problem. To get you and me to care about their cause, here are the six questions best-in-class non-profits answer:
- What’s the problem?
- Why do I care?
- Why do you exist?
- What’s the impact?
- How do you do it?
- How can I act?
While simplistic, every successful non-profit, from Everytown to the Ford Foundation, follows this format. Like any good storytelling, the sequence matters. Why? Because what you do as a brand doesn’t matter if I don’t see and care about the problem first.
Sure, this works when solving significant challenges like clean drinking water in the developing world, but what about something more mundane? To which I reply . . . comfortable footwear!
We’ve said it before: Crocs is a brand in service of a shared problem. Their celebration of comfort and self-expression is core to their existence. By championing the fundamental issue of how to be comfortable and feel like “me,” Crocs has earned legions of fans. People worldwide embrace the shoe’s ugliness, comfort, and personalization while loving the brand more for it with every Jibbitz they buy.
And what about CPG products sold in the hard-knock world of grocery? Olipop set out to solve a gut health problem and has been laser-focused on making us care about it and its delicious flavors.
Olipop leads with my gut health and follows up with great taste. Start with a shared problem first and help people, with emotion and logic, understand why they should care before wasting your marketing dollars on why you exist and how you do it. Olipop shows that it’s worth the investment to educate folks on the problem, plus you can have fun doing it.
The best in any class starts with a big shared problem. All brands can learn from the non-profits by starting with the urgent problem they aim to fix, followed by the why and how the brand does it. First, make me care. Second, show me the impact, and finally, give me the means to take action. Yes, this is the foundation of marketing. It’s also worth repeating to try and drown out the brands talking about themselves instead of the problems they solve.
Does your brand have a problem to solve? Do people care? If not, try answering these questions or contact us here. Let’s talk about problems.
