“If you’re trying to please everyone, then you’re not going to make anything that is honestly yours in the long run.” Viggo Mortensen

Every cafe tells the same story (or tries to anyway); ‘we serve the best coffee.’ Every non- profit tells us how our money will make an impact and every box of detergent promises to clean clothes better than the pack next to it.

So how are you going to tell a different story? One that’s not for everyone.

What other promises can you make and keep? What priceless shortcuts can you offer? What will enable people to connect with your brand? What will make them choose you?

Could you tell a story as different as Sanuk’s, the footwear brand selling shoes that “are not shoes” at all, which “are happiest when they tread the road less travelled”.

How are you going to tell a story that’s different enough to get noticed and true enough to be believed? And who are you going to tell it to?

Image by Fancesco Minciotti.