Customers, yeah they don’t care about your brand mission.
This week we focus on challenger brands again, but specifically when it comes to driving sales.
what a customer actually buys into isn't your mission, it's what you show you care about.
And we know that sounds harsh, but think about it for a minute. You can say:
'We are on a mission to... X'
'Our customers love us because... Y'
'We are the number contributer to... Z cause'
Because in reality, your customers aren't stupid, they will see what actions you take over time and very quickly if that mission isn't embedded in the DNA of your brand. They'll see straight through you like Princess Caraboo.
So, who gets it right?
Well you can't go wrong, looking at Tony's Chocolonely and what they can teach us about building a challenger brand people want to talk about.
The test for this one is, if I asked you to name the biggest chocolate makers in the world, you'd probably say:
Cadbury.
Mars.
Nestlé.
Lindt.
Maybe Ferrero.
Tony's Chocolonely probably isn't the first name that comes to mind. And that's probably the point at this stage, which is remarkable really given their brand equity. Because Tony's isn't trying to win by making the cheapest, sweetest or even the best tasting chocolate (which in our opinion, it is). They're trying to make buying chocolate FEEL different, and give the process that it landed in your hand meaning.
That's commercial strategy that will take longer to build, but when it's there it's so much stronger as a result.
The Problem Was Never Chocolate
Ok, so in the same way that when Atari were producing home consoles they weren't trying to replace the arcade experience (they actually made both and didn't know that as its turned out 50 years later everyone would be at home).
They wanted to create a product with meaning, in that family of all ages connect at home, friends and social groups connect in arcades.
Tony's in the same way wasn't founded because the world needed another chocolate bar.
The world already had loads of those, instead, the founders asked a different question.
"What if buying chocolate could also help fix the chocolate industry which is clearly broken?"
That's a much bigger meaning and not actually to do with the product primarily. It's the process. And suddenly customers aren't buying a snack, they're participating in something.
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Mission Isn't Marketing
One thing I think that seems to be apparent is that businesses confuse, is mission with messaging.
A mission isn't:
"Our values."
Or:
"Our purpose."
Or:
"Our vision statement."
Your customer will literally let that go in one ear, and out the other. What they remember is how your mission changes their buying decision.
On Tony's, their mission is simple. A 100% slave-free chocolate industry.
Whether they achieve that or not isn't today's discussion, what's interesting is what it does commercially.
It gives customers a reason to choose.
Not because the chocolate necessarily tastes better (it does) but because buying it FEELS different. That's really powerful.
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Sweat the small details, from the foundation to the top.
Look at a Tony's bar, bold colours, uneven chocolate squares, bold typography. Nothing about it looks like traditional premium chocolate.
And that's all deliberate, and considered. The uneven pieces represent inequality within the cocoa supply chain, the name "Tony" is a version of founder and Dutch journalists name Teun, and the Messy layout reflects the discomfort of what they are trying to fix.
The product IS the mission, and the raised awareness of the problems in that industry resonate all the way through to the customer, so they care in the same way that Tony's do.
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Challenger Brands, Need A Cause Bigger Than The Category Itself
The strongest challenger brands rarely compete on features. They compete on belief.
Patagonia, Who Gives A Crap, Liquid Death, Nothing and Tony's.
They're all selling products, they all want your attention and your money. But, they're all also selling a point of view. Customers don't simply consume them, they want to identify with them.
And identity creates advocacy.
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This Doesn't Mean Every Brand Needs A Social Mission
So, before you go all 'Swampy'.
SWAMPY: Eco Warrior Royalty
Here's where people misunderstand what we are harping on about, your mission doesn't have to save the world. It simply needs to answer:
"Why should I care about what your product is?"
For Ello Group that might be:
Helping families spend quality time together while making eating out more affordable.
And that's something that you either agree with, or you don't. It's relatable and meaningful, it resonates with customers.
And if you don’t believe me, read this short essay from Oxford University in the UK that cites:
New research from the University of Oxford has revealed that the more often people eat with others, the more likely they are to feel happy and satisfied with their lives.
so there… read the full piece here.
And if you are a fintech, that answer could be:
Helping 18-24 year olds avoid negative wealth.
For an insurer:
Helping 2.4million UK customers afford insurance that protects them.
This isn't about charity, or what's trending its actually making sure what you do solves a problem.
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Why This Matters Massively in a Commercial Setting.
When customers understand what you stand for:
📈 Conversion increases.
Because decisions become easier.
📉 Customer Acquisition Costs reduce.
Because customers tell other people.
💰 Lifetime Value increases.
Because people stay loyal to businesses they believe in.
The 'why' of your business, isn't replacing marketing, its greasing the cogs in the revenue generation machine.
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The Sweet Spot
Tony's Chocolonely didn't become famous because it made another chocolate bar.
It became famous because it gave customers a reason to feel something every time they bought one.
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Marinade on This
If someone removed your logo tomorrow, would customers still recognise what your business stands for?
And we hate to say it, if you are using Ai to do that for you that's where the deck of cards holding up what you do falls down. Because if your mission only exists on your 'About Us' page, your brand is created based on other things you are just another brand, offering exactly the same thing as your competitors but in a different packet, app, suit etc...
