Like Any Good Criminal, a Successful Brand Needs a Clear Modus Operandi

Image source: Volodymyr Hryshchenko via Unsplash

It’s a pivotal point in the investigation... The cops piece together the thief’s Modus Operandi and realise the robbery is part of a far larger pattern. They aren’t chasing some two-bit hood, but dealing with a criminal mastermind who knows what they’re doing and remains one step ahead.

And it’s all down to the M.O. I mean who hasn’t dreamt of knocking off a series of up-market jewellers? Dreaming is easy, uncovering the formula to enable you to actually pull it off is the difficult bit. And this is where fiction’s finest felons can give brand owners important management lessons in aligning idea, capabilities and execution. 

Let’s take Arsene Lupin, the French literary outlaw recently made famous by Netflix. He’s an intelligent, sophisticated, charismatic man of honour. His ‘brand idea’ is: ‘the gentleman thief committing crime for justice’. While it’s an inspiring thought, this alone doesn’t tell you what he actually does or how he does it. To understand a ‘Lupin’ crime you need to look to his Modus Operandi (1) Target corrupt high society (2) Use charm and disguise to succeed (3) Provide a calling card for notoriety. This is what he actually does. This is his M.O. and it draws on his ‘capabilities’ to deliver his ‘idea’.

Modus Operandi is the missing ‘delivery’ link for brands. We are rightly proud of developing a powerful brand positioning, a compelling brand idea and distinctive brand world. We present this at the company quarterly to great applause. But the question staff are left asking themselves after the bunting has been put away is ‘what do I do now?’

Underpinning delivery is culture; which famously eats strategy for breakfast. Brand values can play a role in managing culture, but too often you end up with five noble nouns that are too abstract for people to know what to do with. Giving staff such corporate favourites as integrity, innovation, commitment, respect and courage requires them to do a lot of thinking in order to apply them to day-to-day concerns and there is plenty of room for widely different interpretations.

Brand M.O. helps make culture visible and so understandable. Brand M.O. is simply three to four behaviours which play to your strengths and combine to tell a story of how you deliver your brand idea. We have recently worked with Daemon, an IT consultancy. They take a ‘people first’ approach to delivering digital transformation. They focus less on the tech and more on turning the client / agency team into a movement for change. Their idea is ‘movements power digital transformation’ and their M.O. is (1) Unite behind one vision (2) empower people to realise potential (3) inspire collective spirit. It’s memorable because it’s short and makes intuitive sense. It’s aspirational because it describes them at their best. And it’s useful because it literally explains how they play to their strengths to deliver their idea, so it’s close to the concerns of those doing the work.

There’s a lot more brands can learn from the likes of Lupin. Crime is a high margin category and notoriety requires charisma and careful image management. All good lessons. But delivery is ultimately the difference between success and failure and here the heroes of the underworld have stolen a march on the rest of us by recognising the power of a clear Brand M.O. to turn inspiring ideas into compelling reality.

NB this article picks up on the importance of Culture and Brand behaviours which was raised in the Startup Microdose x 2050 podcast featuring Matt Cooper ‘Ad man of the ages’.