Rooted in the TRUTH

If you picture a tree, you think of its leaves, branches and trunk. It’s natural, that’s what you can see.

You might also think about snoozing in its shade, risking a climb or admiring the changes through the seasons.

You can’t see its roots but you know they’re there. They have to be.

What you might not know is that trees have different kinds of roots, each doing a different job.

There’s the tap root, which is how many trees start until other roots take over.

There are lateral roots that spread out horizontally just below the surface. They give the tree stability and reach, anchoring it across a wide area rather than in a single spot.

Then there are fine roots. These are the dense, fibrous roots branching off the laterals. They do most of the work, absorbing water and nutrients day in, day out.

And there are sinker roots. These grow downwards from the lateral roots where conditions allow. They anchor the tree deeper into the ground, helping it withstand storms and long-term stress.

That’s because trees know it’s not just about growing. It’s not just about standing out or standing for something, but about keeping on standing.

You could say a brand also has the part you can see.

Assets that make it look distinctive, like leaves.

Benefits like branches, functional and emotional.

And a positioning that holds it all together, like a solid, single-minded trunk.

But all the strength stems from its roots.

There’s the truth about the brand. Not just the origin story, although that’s a good place to start.

And not necessarily what’s written in a brand model but what’s actually in people’s minds. What it means to them.

This is what spreads laterally, as far and wide as you can afford. It’s what links the brand to the environment.

Then there’s the fine detail of the product. The dense daily work of what it does, experience feeding the brand and renewing belief. Never forget how central the product is.

And then there’s the truth about the company. Not just the vision or mission or purpose, but what anchors the brand.

Often this is revealed when the weather changes, when decisions are made under pressure. When trade-offs have to be weighed up.

Of course, there’s one other ingredient to long-term survival. Well, in my book anyway.

That’s where you choose to plant your brand’s roots.

You can pretend that doesn’t matter. But I would always argue the richest soil will be people’s deeper needs, the ones that tend not to change.

But when it comes to them putting their trust in your brand, that will always be earned from the truth. The reason to believe.

Not just supporting evidence. We’re not persuading here, not most of the time.

More like in that Bruce Springsteen song: ‘At the end of every hard-earned day, people find some reason to believe’.

They find it because they need it.