Messaging Platforms for Famous People
A messaging platform is like a set of brand guidelines, for your words. It’s a sacred document for your internal team that spells out exactly how your organization communicates about your work in different scenarios and with different audiences. Here’s an article all about messaging platforms and why you need one.
We love crafting messaging platforms for clients, and also just for fun, so here’s one for some of the famous figures we find most fascinating. Your goal should be to establish a voice and point of view for your organization that’s as consistent, memorable, and uniquely yours as these guys:
Prince: Positioning Statement
Answers the questions: What do you do, for whom do you do it, and where?
Darling, I was put on this earth to free your spirit and open your mind. Let me serve as a reminder that every day is a new beginning. Every story has a dark side, and every lesson shines a light. Just like me—and my hair—you are capable of amazing things, pretty mama. My spirit transcended the rules and transcends time, and yours can too.
Mark Zuckerberg: Audiences
Answers the question: What types of people do you want to reach, and what do they care about?
Facebook is all about community, and to me community means literally everybody! We bring the whole world closer together by reminding you to celebrate your first grade teacher’s birthday, surprising you with montages of the worst photos of you, providing continued access to your ex’s personal life, plus loads of other impactful daily pokes and waves! One day, I hope we’ll all be friends—at least on FB.
Dwight Schrute: Why You Exist
Answers the question: Why does your organization exist? And why should anyone care?
Live to serve. Trust no one. Never forget the beet farm whence you came. And never lose sight of your ultimate aim: workplace (and world) domination.
Matthew McConaughey: Differentiators
Answers the question: In what concrete ways are we unique and special (as compared to our competitors)?
I don’t really need to toot my own horn or anything, but I, uh, I’ve been proving that classy and cowboy can coexist since the Fall of ‘69. Ever since I started turning down those rom com roles—ya know, around the time Failure to Launch did just what the name implies—I’ve been lifting up my personal ceiling and expanding my capacity as an actor, as a father, as a lover, as a man.
When I’m in between the, sort of, truly transformative roles that I take on these days, you’ll find me pacing back and forth wildly at every game played by the greatest team on our earth. And I’ll tell yah, it works. (Hook ‘em.) I do inspire folks to save a horse and drive a Lincoln, but I also think I personify a quintessential Texan philosophy, and that is: What you do in your own life—with your own bongos—is your own damn business and the same goes for me and mine. You know what I’m sayin’?
Leslie Knope: Vision Statement
Answers the question: How will the world of the future be different because you are in it?
Because of me, a woman will finally become president and focus on the important things men have overlooked for centuries: universal discounts for smiling and free waffles for everyone! I am here to serve as an inspiration for myself and for you (you’re welcome,) and I will stop at nothing to bring joy to the world. There will be bumps in the road, but I will blast through them full speed ahead. Don’t worry, I’ve got great shocks. Buckle up friends, it’s Knope in 2020!
Martha Stewart: Values
Answers the questions: What 3-5 values do we hold in the highest regard, and how do we define them?
Flexibility—As long as it shimmers and shines, bending the rules of the law is just fine.
Refinement—If you don’t dust your cookies with gold leaf, well, then you’re no friend of mine.
Openness—Try anything once (even a plebian Uber ride,) then you’re free to detest it for the rest of time.
Socialization—Make friends who broaden your horizons, even when you’re restricted to your perfectly curated confines (shout out to my BFF Snoop Dogg).
Power—Don’t be afraid to be cutthroat. Just make sure your collar is perfectly ironed.
Cardi B: Benefits
Answers the question: What tangible value do we provide to our customers/users?
Here’s my value. Better listen up ‘cause I won’t be repeating. I’m a gift from God and I live my best life. I show my fellow bad***es how to be themselves and if anybody doesn’t like it, that’s tough. You’d better believe I’m honest and I’m real, out here hustling, proving that a woman and a mother can be just as successful and fierce as any man. And obviously my songs are on fleek; I’m a nonstop chart-topper, papi. Everything else I bring is added value. Never forget it.
Keanu Reeves: Elevator Pitch
Answers the question: What would you say if someone asked you what your organization does?
*Keanu steps into an elevator* Hey man, how’s your day? I’ve just been trying to wrap my head around infinity, different forces of energy, how small we really are, the importance of a handwritten note, love and loss… I mean, you’re choosing to get off at floor seven and that’s your destiny. We’re all on a different journey. Red pill or blue, it’s the adventure that matters. I’m not the smartest guy, trust me, but I’ve got big ideas even if they’re a little empty. Oh, this is you already? Well just so you know— because I know it’s hard to tell—I wasn’t acting in here. This exchange was for real. Follow your heart and stay hungry out there, man.
Have a favorite character we missed here? Tweet a request @youaremighty and maybe, just maybe, we’ll write one up just for you…
