The one rule you need for all brand decisions

I've been asked to write rules for organizations over the years. Everything from developing brand strategy to building a social media presence to creating verbal and visual executions. You can create a lot of rules and still worry that maybe you left something unaddressed.

It got me thinking that it would all be so much easier if we had some definitive guide. Like the commandments. Brand commandments.

Would there be ten of them? Would that be enough? Wouldn't it be great if it was even simpler?

It made me think of the story of when Jesus was asked what was the greatest commandment. Jesus didn't give a long list of the merits of each of the 10 commandments. He did just the opposite. In fact, he didn't even choose one of the ten at all. I know it's not written in any gospel this way, but I like to think of him answering by saying, "Look, it's this simple. Love God. And love your neighbor. That's it. (Sound of mic dropping)."

Really simple guidance. Admittedly, it's not so simple to do. But really simple guidance.

The thing is, it didn't make the commandments any less important. It just said if you're getting confused or overwhelmed or overthinking it, just remember these two things. Brilliant.

A definitive brand axiom

All this made me ask myself, "If there were one rule for all brand decisions, what would it be?"

But first, a disclaimer. I'm not trying to be a brand Jesus. I am just inspired by the simplification of something so complex. And expressed so succinctly. So with that in mind, here is my take on the one rule for all brand decisions. It takes the form of a question we should ask. It goes like this.

"Does it feel like love?"

No matter what we're planning on doing with our brand, we should evaluate it with this question.

You can't have love without empathy

If we have empathy for those that we're engaging, we are oriented to connect with them more deeply. It means putting ourselves in their shoes. When we do that, we're more capable of doing things that enhance their lives. That feels like love.

Love = serving

It feels like love when we're serving instead of just selling. We're putting the needs of those we hope to serve ahead of ours. Prospects sense that. It's why they find themselves magnetically drawn to brands that demonstrate the love.

Love spreads

You can try to push the word out about your brand. Promote, promote, and promote. Or you can demonstrate the love. Give prospects something meaningful. Find new ways to help them. Do this and watch what happens. Prospects become customers. Customers become advocates. And advocates become evangelists for the brand.

You can find lots of good advice on what should guide your brand decisions. Just knock around Google search awhile and you'll have more than enough to keep you busy reading. But if you want to cut through all the complexity, then do what great brands do. They share the love. It really can be that simple.