"Kills rats. And tastes great on toast"

That was a phrase I used to hear as a very young - and extremely fortunate - account manager in what I still believe to be the best advertising agency ever. It was, of course, a challenge to work harder in defining the creative brief. Actually, to work harder in understanding the brand.

If "strategy is about making choices", then deciding between the rat and the toast was a graphic way of learning: not only the 'how' but also the 'why'. And if it works for the brand strategy, then it also works for the overall business strategy. I can think of one client for whom the "and" was fundamental to its commercial turn-around and eventual success, but for everyone else, our most valuable work has been in answering the "either/or?" question.

It can be an idea behind the brand just as easily as a product feature; it can be an experience or the brand's verb (see previous post on that one). But it seems as relevant a challenge as it's ever been - perhaps even more so, given the apparent interchangeability of claims in various advertisements and communications. Was it Millward Brown who first showed the adverse effects of multi-messaging on recall and understanding? The lesson was undeniably "more is less".

Now think of all the brands you would call leaders, and I'll bet they each have single-minded clarity on what they do. And who they do it for. So, "less is more": in all aspects of the business, and at all levels of the brand.

Kill rats, or taste great on toast: the choice is yours. But make it.