On Thursday afternoon at Cannes 2006, Maurice Saatchi rescued a concept that would make life easier for all of us if we applied it. His presentation was boring in the extreme, although I enjoyed it from the front row especially attracted by such a figure. In fact, the lord of advertising and eccentricity appeared in an impeccably white suit and glasses with a lot of personality, without a single visual aid on the screen, reading in his marked English style, from a paper that contained in essence an idea: the OneWordEquity.

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was God,” Saatchi recalled, adding, “two words is not God, but two gods, and two gods…is one too many.” He developed his proposal and insisted that each brand can only own one word, or that each word can only own one brand. Therefore, he stated the importance of choosing very well that definition in a single word, because it could become the goddess of your brand. He argues that companies today are competing for ownership of a brand-related word. In fact, he said his new company, MC Saatchi, has made a series of programs available to clients through a business unit called The Word, which focuses on helping clients find that word.
Some examples? He mentioned Google as “search” and Apple as “innovation”, while adding that his own agency is “simplicity”. The proposal itself, made by Saatchi, focused on rescuing this concept especially for the way it can contribute to creative development and groundbreaking ideas.
For years, and with the application that we do in Saatchi agencies as in Tribu, we reach this definition after peeling the Brand Onion, that is, completing the outer rings as Attributes, Benefits, Values, as well as the inner rings, as Personality and of course, in the center and in the essence of the brand, the definition of brand value, in one word. In our case, we want Tribe to be “inspiration”. What is the OneWordEquity of your brand?
Cannes is also an impressive load of talks, participations, round tables and contributions that have to be taken advantage of by everyone who can attend the festival. As a friend told me, in life, you have to go to Cannes at least once.
WHAT IS YOUR BRAND’S OneWordEquity?
Article originally published on March 10, 2007.