Ben & Jerry: the importance of having a brand belief

I am increasingly obsessed by the notion that to really succeed in building a strong brand you have to have at the centre of everything a core brand belief. The belief is something bigger than the functional product or service area that you are operating in.

This passion is driven by my study of companies and brands that have succeeded, and have on the surface seem to have succeeded by being different. The reason they have been different is because they focus on what they believe in versus trying to constantly react to the competition.

I am, therefore, always on the look out for examples and especially when they come directly from the mouths of the visionaries who created brands.

I was delighted to hear an interview this morning with Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield who created the distinctive ice cream brand Ben & Jerry (who is now owned of course by Unilever). The interview was on my favorite business show (Wake up to Money on BBC Five Live, which I listen to via their podcast each weekday

Here is what they had to say about brands and business that I think clearly shows why they created something as remarkable as the ice cream they did.

Ben Cohen
“Do something that you believe in.

The purpose of business is not to make money. The purpose of business is to meet a need in the society and, if you do that well, then you end up making a bunch of money.

People who go into it with the idea of “well my goal is to make money,” I think a lot of times they don’t really succeed”

Jerry Greenfield
“I think, in our experience, whenever you start a business you will run into some difficult times and things won’t always be easy.

If you are doing something that you really believe in and that you care about, that will get you through those difficult times.

If you are doing something just because you think it’s going to make you some money, I think you are more likely to give up”.

Ben Cohen
“The other thing to understand is that as your business supports the community, the community supports your business. There is a universal spiritual law, which says that as you give you receive. And people kind of believe it in terms of individuals, but what we found is that it also works as a business.

The connection that you form with your customers by doing things for the community where they feel like you are actualizing values that they share that connection is incredibly strong and that is what builds amazing consumer loyalty – and it is not about advertising”

For more about why I feel that brand beliefs are so important, listen to my podcast on “What makes you different”

What do you think about brand beliefs?