💛 Heart, 🧠 Head, and 🤲 Hands

If you have a business (or you work for one) I’m sure you want it to survive AND thrive.

The language “survive” and “thrive” is interesting because those terms are typically reserved for living things.

Granted, most businesses do operate like a living thing.

The simple definition of a business or corporation is “a group of people united in one body for a purpose.” This unity is something that’s often overlooked — and it extends beyond teams.

Even if you’re a one man show, you still want every aspect of your business unified — the brand, the marketing, the product or offer.

All of it needs to be aligned so it represents your big idea to the world.

Maintaining the integrity of your brand isn’t easy, but it pays dividends. The best brands in the world are instantly recognizable. They mean something to someone.

This is only possible because they have clearly positioned their brand in the minds of their audience over years — or in many cases — decades. They now make people feel something when they interact with their brand.

Nike has mastered the art of making people feel athletic.

Apple has mastered the art of making people feel smart.

Airbnb has mastered the art of making people feel adventurous.

Different brands. Different feelings. Different values.

This is the art of differentiation (AKA “positioning”)

But before you think this is just for the “big dogs” — think again.

This is just as important for a startup and small business as it is for anyone else.

Which brings us to the promise of this newsletter issue: the 3 things every business needs to survive and thrive — and in order…

💛 Heart (the mission and vision)

🧠 Head (the strategy and positioning)

🤲 Hands (the tactics)

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Just like the human body, you want every part mentioned above fully functioning.

The heart (mission and vision) is obviously critical — it’s what sets the direction and makes everything else possible. It provides the lifeblood needed for the head and the hands to do the work.

The head (strategy and positioning) is also essential. It’s what sets the course for the business and determines how people think and feel in relation to your brand.

The hands (tactics) are important, but without the head and the heart you could get progress in the wrong direction. You need to execute on tactics, but the last thing any business needs is “mindless” or “heartless” activity.

This framework is simple but it’s near to our heart at Empathy Marketing Company. In the year ahead, you’ll be seeing this framework illustrated in multiple ways. Starting with this newsletter.

In 2023, we’ll be rebranding this newsletter to “Brand Breakdowns.” Each issue we’ll break down a specific brand using the Heart/Head/Hands framework showcasing examples of how their positioning plays out in real life. We’re also building a database of every single breakdown 👀 (more on that in the future).

We can’t wait to share our next issue with you. And on that note, we’ll see you again in 2023!

PS – Daniel did a quick interview with GoSolo from Subkit that was published last week. If you’d like, check it out here.

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