06/26/2022

What is a Brand Manifesto & How To Create One?

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It can take some time to build a brand. Next, establish your goals and spread the word.

Today’s consumers, employees, and business partners demand more from brands. They want to know the story behind your brand and its success.

A brand manifesto can answer this question. This article also offers tips and examples of how to create one.

What’s a brand’s manifesto-like?

A brand’s manifesto explains the motivations and hopes of a brand.

A manifesto should be more than an informational document. A manifesto is more than just an informational statement. It’s a call for action that encourages others to take action, no matter how related they are to your business.

Take another look at The Body Shop’s brand statements This is a popular way for people to share their stories and encourage others to join or take action. 

Your business needs a brand manifesto

Before you start to create your brand strategy, it is crucial to review your mission and goals.

A brand message should focus on taking action and advocating something greater than yourself. 74% of customers want to know how companies source goods, their work conditions, and where they stand on important issues.

Customers look for brands that are committed to their values and help them succeed. Businesses can use their manifestos to build relationships with business partners and to recruit more employees.

How to make a brand manifesto

  1. Make it sound like a story
  2. Connect your brand to the larger mission
  3. Your goal
  4. Add a call
  5. In the first and second person
  6. Keep your brand tone consistent
  7. Be authentic
  8. Look good

1. You should read it as a story

These questions will help you to communicate your brand’s message and purpose.

  • What’s your greater purpose?
  • What are you a believer in?
  • Why do you do the things you do?
  • What are the objectives of your mission?
  • Can you achieve your goals by yourself?

These questions will allow you to identify the core points of your manifesto.

Next, begin writing it.

Your writing will flow naturally when you approach it with the attitude that these words are your words and not marketing copy. 

2. Your brand should be linked to the larger mission

A brand’s manifesto doesn’t necessarily have to reflect your vision, mission, and values. 

This is your chance to demonstrate how your brand contributes more than just to your bottom line. Spire’s brand manifesto briefly describes how their customers use predictive analytics related to the Earth.

A brand’s purpose doesn’t need to be large or complex. 

3. Your goal is set

This is different from the goal-setting exercises you do for your company. This is not always possible. Make the best of what you already have.

Dove’s pledge/proclamation outlines specific goals.

These are their goals and promises:

  • “Our campaigns reflect the diversity of the population. “
  • “Educate 20,000,000 people about body confidence and self-esteem in 2020. “

Don’t include numbers if you don’t know what to do or are not realistic. There are many great examples of brand manifestos without this.

4. Add an action call

A manifesto builds trust in customers and loyalty by establishing brand trust. It should contain a call for action and be concise.

It doesn’t need to be “Join us in supporting our cause!” Your message doesn’t have to be “Join us in our cause!”

Lesaffre Group’s manifesto is a great example of an indirect call for action. It covers the challenges of feeding billions and how fermentation can help.

Lesaffre suggests that the problem will require more time than it can solve.

“Microorganisms and their ingredients are a new field to discover, open up, and push. Our partnerships can only be improved by the passion and dedication of our teams. “

This opens it further at the bottom.

“It is together with our customers, partners, researchers, and citizens that we each day uncover the endless potential microorganisms have. 

This is an excellent way to manage it. This appeals to people who care deeply about their issues and may also appeal to those who aren’t as passionate.

5. You can use the first and second persons to speak

Listen to any TED Talk or Commencement Speech to get a feel for how a brand’s message should sound. They address the audience as “you” using “I” and “we”.

They don’t want to be informal. Sometimes it’s easier to listen when it sounds more like an individual conversation than a corporate document. 

Glo’s brand page shows this in a striking example. It shows the differences in the language used for communicating the vision and mission statements compared to the brand message.

Glo lists these at the top of the manifesto:

“VISION – A world where people can heal one another.

MISSION — To make connections through self-care. “

This manifesto is

“OUR WHY” — We connect people through self-care so that as a group we can heal ourselves and the world.

The manifesto immediately jumps into it and the author addresses readers as “you, the seeker”. Without this kind of familiarity, it would be difficult to connect on an emotional level with readers.

6. Keep your brand tone consistent

It doesn’t matter how you design your brand manifesto, but it should have the same tone and voice as your brand.

This is an excellent example of brand consistency in Moleskine’s manifesto. It is also evident in the brand manifesto. 

It is rare to see two sentences linked with a semicolon on a website every day. 

The smallest details can make all the difference in how people see your brand message.

7. Be authentic

Transparency is key to your brand’s manifesto. This gives you a chance to share your brand’s motivations with your customers and give them a full understanding.

Accenture’s report shows that 62% of consumers want their brands to support a social or political cause. Don’t get too excited about a cause just because it’s trendy.

Let’s look at Opal as an example. Opal is a digital mindfulness platform.

Opal addresses the negatives of excessive app usage but doesn’t go too far like calling for an end to online bullying. 

Feeling pressure to reach a high goal? Take a look at these examples: Keep your eyes on what you can do and what you love and all the rest will follow.

8. Look good

After you have created your brand message, it’s time to make it stand out. This includes both your brand colors and your typography.

About the author

Kobe Digital is a unified team of performance marketing, design, and video production experts. Our mastery of these disciplines is what makes us effective. Our ability to integrate them seamlessly is what makes us unique.