Do you have big ideas about how your brand could change the world, but you’re having difficulty getting traction or having the impact you truly desire?
Wouldn’t you love a simple and powerful way to achieve this result… ?
Well… a manifesto is a simple but powerful way to create more traction and impact with your brand.
Full stop.
Thankfully, entrepreneurs haven’t yet caught onto the importance of these powerful little pieces, which is good news for you. If you get on it….
A manifesto is a powerful marketing tactic that you can publicly share to build your brand and instigate a movement.
A manifesto is a declaration of your motives, intentions and beliefs. It’s the culmination of all of your brand’s core messages into one element that inspires people and rallies them to join you.
What makes a great manifesto?
Most importantly, great manifestos put your customer at the core of your brand through the following types of messages:
- It sets the tone of voice and language for your communities culture
- It inspires your community towards a higher purpose
- It paints the picture of a compelling vision
- It shares what your community stands for and against
- It points out the common enemy
- It gives your tribe a name that they like being called
- It inspires behavioural change for the greater good
- And much more…
Well-created manifestos are typically visually appealing, include compelling language, making them easily mistakable for inspirational posters, merchandise and collateral items.
If you want to create your brand’s manifesto, here are 3 examples of manifestos:
Lululemon
PROTIP #1: Speak out to shared truths
Yoga retailer Lululemon’s manifesto is one of the more well-known ones on the list because it is displayed on product bags, in-store, and even on select apparel. It includes 31 philosophies and recommendations for a happy and healthy well-being that it’s staff and followers stand behind.
What’s great about the manifesto is that it inspires shared truths, such as the statement that “friends are more important than money”. A virtue like that speaks to a specific personality type, and resonates with people who live a certain lifestyle. Highlighting shared truths of a community point out the unique commonalities that its members share, and thus help to foster a greater sense of closeness and relatability. With that, as well as the great publicity of the manifesto, it’s clear why Lululemon is known for its large community of dedicated followers.
Granola Girl
PROTIP #2: Point out the the common enemy in a positive light
Vancouver-based Granola Girl’s manifesto is all about wholesome goodness and positivity. Right from the get go, it describes a their community as having “open hearts, open minds and a confident sense of style” that- like Lululemon- speaks to a specific type of people.
Where the manifesto really excels is by pointing out the common enemy that members of the Granola Girl community mutually oppose. Opposing a common enemy improves the cohesiveness of groups by giving them something in common. Granola Girl does just that by stating a preference for “bikes over cars” and “natural over processed”, referring to the common enemy of all things artificial and unnatural.
(RED)
PROTIP #3: Inspire small wins
(RED) is a brand focused towards spreading awareness of HIV/AIDS and raising funds to combat the disease. The manifesto speaks to international community of first-world consumers about the strength of their purchasing power, and the importance of leveraging that power to combat HIV/AIDS.
The text is powerful and clearly gets the message across, particularly by inspiring small wins. By stating that making a difference starts with taking the step to “upgrade your choice”, (RED) is providing a simple step that is easily accomplished.
To a single individual, the vision of a company – although compelling- may seem unreachable, potentially leading them to feel disengaged and unmotivated to join the cause. This is why it’s extremely beneficial to provide smaller and more tangible steps that the community can take to help guide people toward the right direction.
In the comments below, I invite you to share… what messages will you include in your manifesto? What movements are you a part of?