The Essential Idea: The driving force behind campaigns that bring brands to life

What makes an ad campaign memorable and successful? An idea that stirs emotions and a tagline that perfectly captures a brand’s essence. At Engine, we uncover the Essential Idea—a singular vision that transforms brand assets into compelling communications. This philosophy drives everything we do, turning data into insights and forging meaningful audience connections.

Here are three examples of the Essential Idea in action:

Central Carolina Community College

Essential Idea — Preparing Students for Rewarding Careers
College That Works

Objective:
Facing competitive challenges, Central Carolina Community College partnered with Engine to create a video campaign for social media and television, focused on aspirational messaging and student success stories.

Result:
Even early in the campaign, the college saw significant increases in awareness, engagement, and applications.

CEP Compression

Essential Idea — Empowering Confidence to Achieve Your Goals
Pressure Builds Confidence

Objective:
To strengthen its position, CEP Compression aimed to build brand awareness and differentiation as the leader in compression athletic wear.

Result:
An integrated campaign drove a 40% sales increase in six months and secured CEP’s entry into the outdoor category with a top retailer.

Indigo Field

Essential Idea — Rediscovering Hope in Nature and Connection
A Tale of Love and Redemption

Objective:
After a successful launch, the author partnered with Engine to sustain momentum through organic and paid social media, blending personal storytelling, book content, and community engagement.

Result:
With visual storytelling and emotional themes, the campaign is projected to double book sales in 60 days.

At the heart of every successful campaign is an Essential Idea—clear, simple, and emotionally resonant. Connect with Engine Enterprises today to develop the Essential Idea that will elevate your brand and deliver real results.

Is it time to refresh your brand colors?

Brant Wansley


Quick, when you think of McDonald’s, what color comes to mind?  Or, what about UPS?  Or, Starbucks?  And, why do you think these companies chose these colors?

As an integral part of brand identity, color elicits specific emotions and sets the stage to drive purchase decisions.  At Engine, we take great care to select colors that align with the Essential Idea and personality of our clients’ brands.  Then, we make sure to weave that color throughout the entire customer experience—logo, website, advertising, packaging, point of sale, collateral, even uniforms. With each style guide we create, we identify primary, accent and neutral colors to foster strong, consistent branding.

With the increasing importance of differentiation in today’s marketplace, smart marketers take the choice of color more seriously than ever.  With that in mind, the announcement of the 2023 Color of the Year by Pantone is exciting.  Click here to learn about Viva Magenta and how it reflects a courageous energy for brands looking to emerge from isolation and embrace the future fearlessly.

https://www.pantone.com/color-of-the-year-2023

By the way, who can forget the golden arches when thinking of McDonald’s?  The perfect color for a fun and delicious experience and clear reflection of its tagline, “I’m Lovin’ It.”  Reach out to us if you’d like a complimentary appraisal of your brand colors.    

“Purpose to inspire positive change is the new way forward.”

Brant Wansley

It began as words painted on rocks by children in my neighborhood.
An idea that sank deeper into my consciousness each time I passed by on my daily run.
The words: One Human Family.

What does this have to do with branding and marketing you ask? May I suggest—everything!

Who among us has not known someone affected in this past year by disease, prejudice, gun violence or economic hardship? The trials we’ve gone through as a nation have made it clear. We’re all connected as individuals, communities, businesses and governments, regardless of our backgrounds and beliefs. We’re one human family.

How can corporations manifest this message?

Well, there’s Procter & Gamble,

a longtime leader in raising important social issues. Last year, they responded to the death of George Floyd by speaking out against racial inequality. P&G’s “The Choice” campaign is a prime example of how marketers might leverage their voices to affect change with purposeful marketing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U7bnS8R994I

Closer to home, HanesBrands Inc.

launched its sustainability website > [https://hbisustains.com/] with ambitious goals to “improve the lives of people, protect the planet, and generate world-class sustainable product.” “Comfort is more than the clothes we make” is more than a slogan for HBI. In 2020, it partnered with Mark Horvath and Invisible People to provide socks to the homeless. https://vimeo.com/298588210/8e164ea05c

Then there’s Mattel, Inc.,

which turned its Barbie doll’s sexist image on its head with this purposeful effort to demonstrate how dolls can be powerful means to impart empathy to children. And, as all good marketers know, “Without empathy, nothing works.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hXLiK8whHPc

On my morning run today John Donne’s famous poem popped into my head: “No man is an island. Everyman is a piece of the Continent...Any man’s death diminishes me, Because I am involved in mankind.”

Marketing involved in mankind is the best kind of marketing. Inspiring positive change is the new way forward. It’s the kind of marketing and branding that truly matters to your customers.

---

No Brand is an Island.

COMPLIMENTARY BRAND CONSULTATION

Did you know two-thirds of customers would switch from a product they typically buy to a new product from a purpose-driven company? Let our experience work for you. Reach out to us for a complimentary one-hour review of your current marketing campaign and our thoughts of how to better lead with heart and humanity—what our world is crying out for right now.