How did Dolly Parton epitomize brand strategy?

Lindsay Says

“Find out who you are and do it on purpose.” – Dolly Parton

There is no more apt description of brand strategy than Dolly’s. Brand strategy is pinpointing who your business is, so that your business can do more of that on purpose.

Let’s look at the two parts of Dolly Parton’s quote and of brand strategy itself.

1) “Find out who you are…….”

In developing your brand strategy, you get really still and listen for what is already there. To me and others I’ve talked to, it can feel a bit like therapy or coaching – only rather than therapy for the individual, it’s therapy for the company. In that work, you uncover your business’s deep truths and distinctiveness and sources of value. You ponder questions like these:

Why are we here, and in service of what?
What really matters to us?
What makes us different?
What is the true heart and soul of this company? What are the things that won’t change as we grow?
What is our promise?
What's the specific reason we exist that is different from anybody else‘s?

Notice that Dolly Parton did not say: “find out who you want to be,” or “invent yourself anew.” Rather, simply identify what is essential and true.

2) “…and do it on purpose.”

Once you’ve pinpointed who you are, then you can allow it to be your North Star. You can be who you are on purpose. When you're very clear on the distilled meaning of who your company is, you can lean into that thing. You can expand it.

The act of implementing your brand strategy is less about doing things radically different from before, and more about being focused. You stop doing things that are off-brand, and you intensify actions that are on-brand.

A lot of times people who have done their brand strategy express some surprise that they are not deviating sharply from what came before. The outcome does not usually feel fundamentally different. What is different is its clarity and resolution, and as a result, the fidelity of your decision-making and actions.

When approaching a brand strategy exercise, do not make it fancy or intimidating. Ignore the gobbledygook and expectation of profound change. Let it be simple. With honesty and precision, articulate who your business is on its best day, so that it can be more of that.