I have to say, I love a company manifesto.

Reminded to me when opening up my new Moleskine notebook*, I was pleased to see theirs.

Every brand should have one. In a highly competitive world dominated by sameness and mediocrity this is your chance to work out “why you?”:

✅ Have a point of view on the market.

✅ Express that there needs to be a better way.

✅ Show what you’re doing differently.

It’s the foundation for your brand and should be a few paragraphs that uniquely distils your value.

A manifesto isn't another set of corporate waffle words. It's something your employees can use, as well as the North Star to check back on when making decisions.

A real manifesto does three things:

Lays out a bold vision for your company and your industry
Talks about the customer challenge, not your products or services.
Forces brutal honesty about who you actually are (not who you pretend to be).

It's your promise to yourself before it's a promise to the world.

Without it? You're just another brand having an identity crisis, with every customer-facing employee making up their own story. Rather than harnessing your true value to the world.

Give it a go!

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*And yes, I love making written notes. In some situations the hand-eye-brain coordination just make things stick better for me. In fact, the very act of writing something down instantly commits it to my memory. It’s weird. So whilst I’m a big fan of AI notetakers, I’m working through yet another AI/human balancing act!