Fabled ad exec, John Hegarty, said it well:

“A brand is the most valuable piece of real estate in the world: a corner of someone’s mind.”

But occupying that corner is very difficult. Our minds are such busy, cluttered places, after all.

Enter: Luke Sullivan.

“I propose the only antidote to clutter is draconian simplicity,” writes Sullivan. 

He co-wrote the classic advertising book, Hey Whipple, Squeeze This.

“Draconian simplicity,” writes Sullivan, “involves stripping your brand’s value proposition down to the bone and then again to the marrow, carving away until you get down to Brand = Adjective. Make your brand stand for one thing. Pair it with an adjective.”

Brand = Adjective

As a marketer, you want your brand to LIVE in your prospect’s brain. You want permanent residence! But that can only happen if you boil down what you stand for… 

Stand for one thing, one word, one adjective (preferably). 

More will only add to The Clutter. 

Sullivan gives a great example in his book:

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“Jeeps, they’re tough,” he writes. “Porches, they’re fast. Volvos, they’re… what? If you said, ‘safe,’ you’ve given the same answer I’ve received from every person I’ve ever asked. Ever.”

This means Volvo has universally branded itself as the “safe” car. The car you want your kids to drive. 

Volvo = Safe.

“And here’s the interesting bit,” writes Sullivan. “In the past couple of years, Volvo hasn’t even made it into the top 10 list of safest cars on the market.”

It's a remarkable achievement — forever pairing your product with a single word. A word that instantly tells your brand’s story and value. Such is the power of simplicity. 

Now you might be thinking...

“But our brand can’t be whittled down to only ONE word.”

This is a common objection because brands are, of course, so much more than a single word. Of course they are. Brands are usually a combination of many things (including several benefits). Not just 1 thing.

Sullivan argues that, while those benefits are obviously important and valid, their place is slightly further down your marketing funnel (e.g., a few clicks into your website).

“All those other benefits will serve to shore up the aggregate value proposition of a brand, once customers try it,” writes Sullivan. “But what they’re going to remember, the way they’re going to label it in their mental filing system, is with a word. 

“Find that word.”

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