First and foremost, let me start with saying there is no secret as such, to creating a successful campaign, nor is there a one size fits all formula. However, there are communication tools, which I have used in the past to help create a successful campaign strategy.
Having worked within the public sector for over 10 years, from experience, I have learnt that communication is key, as you are using tax payers money to fund your campaign.
Therefore, I have found that “The Golden Circle” has come in handy to summarise my campaigns in order to get across the main point of my campaign to board members or any one else within the company who needs to see the campaign before it’s rolled out.
Everyone who works within the marketing industry will have heard about “The Golden Circle” and think its now a little outdated, however I still think “old is gold” and going back to basics never hurt anyone…so here is my take on The Golden Circle.
The Golden Circle consist of 3 main elements, the WHY, the HOW and the WHAT. It’s not just used within marketing; however, many leaders use this tool to help with their leadership campaigns.
The Golden Circle concept is an attempt to explain why some campaigns are inspiring and engage well with consumers and an interactive campaign is usually known to be a successful campaign. The neuroscience behind The Golden Circle idea is that humans respond best when messages communicate with those parts of their brain that control emotions, behaviour and decision-making.
So, let explore the WHY, HOW and WHAT of the circle in detail.
WHY
The WHY is the most important part of the tool. It defines the reason, as to why your producing the campaign, the reason as to what your company believes in and identifies the purpose. It is the sole reason, which you can refer to when producing and reporting the campaign. It helps to set the aims and the objective. If leaders create a strong reason, as why the campaign needs to be run, then the they have already created the backbone of the campaign, which they can also refer to even when the campaign diverts always from what it’s supposed to initially do.
Successfully articulating your 'WHY' is an impactful way to communicate with consumers. It helps to define your value proposition and inspire them to purchase your product/service. The 'Why' taps into the part of the listener's brain that influences behaviour. This is why the Golden Circle is considered such an influential theory of leadership. At an organizational level, communicating your 'Why' is the basis of a strong value proposition that will differentiate your brand from others.
HOW
If WHY is the main body of the vehicle, the HOW are the wheels. It helps to drive your campaign. The how can look at using human senses to help the campaign become more interactive. This helps to engage with consumers on another level and make them bond with the brand. The how activates the limbic part of the brain, which governs the behaviour and emotion therefore, the more interactive your campaign the better it will engage with your consumers. For example: using offline and online marketing, can help to make the campaign interactive and lets the consumer use more than one sense to engage with your campaign.
WHAT
The WHAT of the Golden Circle represents the products or services a company sells. The WHAT, is where we find rational thoughts and language within our brain. The HOW and WHY circles helps consumers generate feelings like trust and loyalty for the brand and if your consumer has great trust within your brand then they will naturally aim to buy your product. Therefore, influential companies start from the core question rather than the WHAT question. It’s helps to reeled in customers because they have established a connection. They have created a match between the actual reason and the underlying decision.
Conclusion
If you want a campaign to be successful, it should focus on the core question in the golden circle, the WHY. It should help to explain clearly and honestly why your products/services are the best a customer can get.
Rather than being a competitor to other companies, a company should be its own competitor, so that it can grow stronger and become one of the influential players in the market.