Simplicity Must Drive the Brand

Chapter 10 of Allen Adamson's book BrandDigital focuses on driving a brand by starting with a simple idea. According to Adamson, "the idea at the core of the brand promise, the idea that must drive all brand experiences, must be simple for those doing the branding to understand" (Adamson, 2009, p. 204). The "long tail" concept, in conjunction with multiple connectivity options for consumers and advertisers in today's digital world, keeps extending this tail, thus in order to capture a consumer's interest, "it's essential to capture the simple thought you want consumers to associate with your brand in a brand driver" (p. 204-205). 

A brand driver is, "a word, phrase or notion that captures the the essence of a brand's relevantly different promise to consumers" (p. 93). According to Adamson, a brand driver must be simple, specific, surprising, and story-worthy (pp. 218-221). It must be simple enough that a 5th grader can understand it, specific enough that words are concrete and denotative and not abstract, surprising enough for people to remember, and story-worthy enough to be innovative and inspirational (pp. 218-221).

A classic and simple brand driver that fits all of these characteristics is "Breakfast of Champions". I bet you didn't have to think very long to say Wheaties cereal, did you? This slogan was created in 1935, and is still used today! The idea is simple: it's a healthy breakfast that will make you achieve success. The idea is specific: everyone knows what breakfast is, and everyone knows what a champion is. The idea is surprising: it's memorable and exciting. The idea is story-worthy: almost everyone can picture that bright orange box of Wheaties, with pictures of famous athletes to inspire the consumer. As a child, I remember being excited for my mom to buy Wheaties just so I could see who was going to be on the box! This was my favorite:

It's also innovative. For example, Wheaties is a whole grain cereal, and many of their commercials have capitalized on this "good for you" food trend. The following commercial features Michael Jordan, definitely a universal champion. The best part is that the brand driver is never even mentioned! It's almost like it's so ingrained into our culture that it doesn't even need to be said. We get it. Wheaties IS the "breakfast of champions".