Good Book Energy: Obsessed
The book: Obsessed: Building a Brand People Love from Day One, Emily Heyward
Why I love it: I’ve been in the branding and marketing industry for over 10 years so it’s easy to re-read things I’ve already learned. Obsessed was an exception. Author Emily Heyward takes a modern look at branding and provides fresh insights on how successful brands show up in all the right ways. It’s a quick, 200-page read that can be flipped through over a relaxing weekend or a few early mornings. Needless to say, I’m obsessed.
Who should read it: Marketing industry professionals and entrepreneurs looking to create more relevance and meet customers where they are today.
Favorite takeaways: The book is packed with examples from the author’s experience as a successful strategic creative and agency founder. In 2018, Heyward was one of Inc’s Top 100 Female Founders. In 2019, she was named one of Entrepreneur’s Top 100 Most Powerful Women, as well as one of Inc’s Most Important Entrepreneurs of the Decade. Talk about #goals. Here are a few of Heyward’s concepts that stuck with me:
Embrace tension
Heyward busts the myth of consistency, giving us permission to rethink Brand 101. She digs into where consistency matters and where to break away from one-size-fits-all thinking. She reiterates the importance of authenticity and explains how different platforms often require different versions of our brand.
Counter to what many of us have been taught, Heyward believes brands that embrace and share multiple (or contradictory) facets of their personality actually end up creating experiences that feel richer and more alive.
“Rather than staying in a tightly defined lane, successful brands today embrace contrast, mashing together ideas that may not seem obviously aligned but that come together into a unique and ownable identity.”
Elevate to the emotional
Many brands focus solely on the functional aspects of their offering. They fixate on how their product performs better than the competition, getting into what I like to call “feature wars.” What businesses tend to forget is that people aren’t just buying something for its functionality alone. Both B2B and B2C consumers make emotional decisions based on how a product makes them feel.
Heyward’s advice: Share your brand story, your brand purpose, and the values you stand for. This creates meaningful connections and long-lasting relationships between your customer and your company.
She taps into this eloquently and thoughtfully referencing her experience crafting the Allbirds shoe brand:
“The brands people love the most effortlessly combine the functional with the emotional. The product does what it’s supposed to do, better than anyone else, and the brand makes you feel good about being part of its world. If you have one without the other, it’s very difficult to maintain love and loyalty over time. But when you are able to achieve both, that’s when people become obsessed.”
The power of focus
With endless options at our fingertips (I’m looking at you, Amazon), consumers don’t need more options, they need the right one. In Obsessed, Heyward explains why brands that focus on a singular or specialized offering—especially at launch—catch the attention of consumers faster and more profitably.
“Successful brands of today aren’t afraid to hone in on a clear point of view, rather than attempting to cover all the bases. Curating the choice for customers is doing them a favor.”
It’s incredible how the right book can show up at the right time. While reading this one, I had a few “ah-ha” moments where I found myself underlining and sharing with clients right away. Obsessed offers a clear roadmap for building a lovable brand and #ChallengesTheNorm in the best way.