You know the feeling. Sales are going soft. A new competitor is gaining traction. Your website is feeling wonky. The limelight has cooled. Whatever the circumstance, it’s enough to inspire a call to your marketing partners—and when you do, you ask for SOMETHING.

A new website.
A marketing plan.
A brochure.
A logo.
An event.
A social media blitz.
A creative campaign.

In other words, you’re looking for a WHAT. But what if you’re asking the wrong question?

In his book, “Start with the Why,” Simon Sinek explains that customers aren’t really motivated by WHAT you do. Rather, they’re inspired by WHY you do it. The only wrinkle is that most organizations don’t know—or can’t clearly articulate—their WHY.

That’s because understanding your WHY requires seeing yourself from an outside perspective. When you live inside your brand story, it’s difficult to step far enough back to see the big picture. On the inside, you’re too close. It’s too personal. Your marketing team is spread too thin. Your team has too many opinions. You have too many irons on the proverbial stove and too many cooks in the proverbial kitchen. And on top of it all—there’s internal politics to navigate.

But if you can find a partner that helps you unpack the WHY, a lot of the other questions suddenly disappear. You begin to see what really matters to your customers and how you can fulfill their needs. You can prioritize your tactics and goals. You’re better able to understand the very specific value your company provides and ignore all the other shiny distractions that threaten to throw you off that course. Even better—you can give every tactic more impact by crafting a story that truly inspires and motivates customers.

At Big, we like to get to the heart of a brand by asking a lot of questions. Qualitative. Quantitate. Open. Closed. Rhetorical. Even facetious. But what we’re really asking is—“Why?”

Because once you know, you know what to do next. And we can help with both.