Start With Why

particular way. No cash-back incentives or mail-in rebates required. 
People feel compelled to spread the word, not because they have to, 
but because they want to. They willingly take up arms to share the 
message that inspires them.
Build a Megaphone That Works
After a three-month selection process, BCI finally chose a new ad 
agency to help develop a campaign to launch their new product 
line. Big Company Incorporated is a well-known brand operating in 
a fairly cluttered market space. As a manufacturer, their products 
are sold via a third-party sales force, often on the shelves of big-box 
retailers, so they don't have direct control over the sales process. The 
best they can do is to try to influence the sale from a distance— with 
marketing. BCI is a good company with a strong culture. The 
employees respect the management, and in general the company 
does good work. But over the years the competition has grown 
fairly stiff. And although BCI has a good product and competitive 
pricing, it is still tough to maintain strong growth year over year. 
This year, BCI management is particularly excited because the 
company is launching a new product they really think will make 
BCI stand out. To help promote it, BCI's agency has launched a 
major new ad campaign.
"From the leading maker," says the new ad, "comes the newest, 
most innovative product you've ever seen." The ad goes on to talk 
about all the new features and benefits, and includes something 
about the "quality you've come to expect from BCI," something the 
BCI executives felt quite strongly about including. BCI executives 
have worked hard to build their company's reputation and they 
want to leverage it. They are very excited about their new campaign 

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START WITH WHY 
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and are really banking on the success of this product to help drive 
sales in general. They know they do good work, and they want to 
get the message out. They need it to be loud. And with a budget of 
millions of dollars to advertise their new product, in that respect, 
BCI succeeds.
But there is a problem.
BCI and their agency did a good job of telling people about their 
new product. The work was quite creative. They were able to 
explain what was new and special about their latest innovation, and 
focus groups agreed that the new product was much better than 
that of the competition. The millions of dollars in media ensured 
that lots of people would see their advertising and see it often. Their 
reach and frequency, the measurement commonly used by ad 
agencies to gauge the number of people exposed to the advertising, 
was very good. There is no doubt that their message was loud. The 
problem was, it wasn't clear. It was all WHATs and HOW and no 
WHY. Even though people learned what the product did, no one 
knew what BCI believed. The good news is, it's not a complete loss; 
the products will sell as long as the ads are on the air and the 
promotions remain competitive. It's an effective strategy, but an 
expensive way to make money.
What if Martin Luther King had delivered a comprehensive 
twelve-point plan about achieving civil rights in America, a plan 
more comprehensive than any other plan for civil rights ever of-
fered? Booming through the speakers that summer's day in 1963, his 
message would have been loud. Microphones, like advertising and 
PR, are fantastic for making sure a message is heard. Like BCI, 
King's message would still have reached thousands of people. But 
his belief would not have been clear.
Volume is reasonably easy to achieve. All it takes is money or 
stunts. Money can pay to keep a message front and center. And 
publicity stunts are good at getting on the news. But neither plants 

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STATUS BUT WHY, BUT KNOW HOW 
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seeds of loyalty. Many reading this may remember that Oprah Win-
frey once gave away a free car to every member of her studio audi-
ence. It happened several years ago, in 2004, and still people refer to 
the stunt. But how many can recall the model of car she gave away? 
That's the problem. It was Pontiac that donated $7 million worth of 
cars, 276 of their new G6 model, to be exact. And it was Pontiac that 
saw the stunt as a way to market their new car. Yet although the 
stunt worked well to reinforce Oprah's generous nature, something 
with which we are all familiar, few remember that Pontiac was a