Can A Monkey Save Your Startup from A Marketing Crash?
Created by DALL·E 2024 - OpenAI
Train the Monkey Before Building the Pedestal: Why Solving Problems Should Be the Core of Your Marketing
You are trying to teach a monkey to stand on the top of a 10-foot pedestal and recite Shakespeare. What should you do first? Train the monkey or build the pedestal?
There's no point building the pedestal first. All of the risk is, can you train the monkey?
But when you actually look, almost all the time, everyone's building pedestals. Because then you can be half done, you spent a couple of years, you can see “progress,” and you get a promotion. Because egos are fragile. [1]
This is exactly the same for marketing!
Train the Monkey Before Building the Pedestal: Why Solving Problems Should Be the Core of Your Startup Marketing
Imagine this: You’re tasked with teaching a monkey to recite Shakespeare while standing on top of a 10-foot pedestal. What’s the first thing you’d do? Train the monkey or build the pedestal? The obvious choice is to train the monkey. There’s no point in spending time and energy building a grand pedestal if the core challenge—the monkey reciting Shakespeare—can’t be achieved.
Which is staggering, seeing as how many businesses get this wrong when it comes to their marketing. They build and sink titanic amounts of time, money, and resources into constructing beautiful logos, sleek websites, and flashy designs—but forget arguably the most important one: to solve the customer's problem. That's the equivalent in marketing of building the pedestal but not training the monkey.
Marketing isn't about pretty pedestals.
Brand aesthetics are indubitably important for setting the tone and creating recognition. But in the scheme of things, they come second in line to the main challenge: offering up a solution to your customer's problem. If you are not able to convince a customer that your product or service will challenge their problem or make their life better, then no amount of branding flair will save the day.
Take NoBull Project, a training apparel company for athletes, for example. NoBull’s branding is clean, minimalistic, and effective. Still, its real success comes from solving a vital issue for its target audience: providing high-quality, durable gear that stands up to the demands of hard training. The simplicity of their message—“No Excuses. Just the Gear You Need.”—resonates deeply with athletes who value performance over flashy aesthetics. They’ve “trained the monkey” by focusing on solving the core problem of durability and performance rather than just building a “pedestal” of sleek design.
Not to worry, here is a simplified framework to teach the monkey how to recite Shakespeare.
The StoryBrand Framework: Begin with the Problem
That's all that Donald Miller's whole framework of StoryBrand is based on: the question you should be asking first isn't, "How do I make my brand look amazing?" It's, "What problem does my product or service solve?" People don't care about you, your company, or your brand until they understand how you can help them survive and thrive. The StoryBrand framework is all about clarity of messaging. The customer is the story's hero, and your business is the guide that can show a simple plan to solve the problem successfully. It works because it's just so simple.
Why problem-solving is the very basis of marketing
It makes your customer's life, at the end of the day, easier or better. If your product or service doesn't solve a real problem—or you don't communicate how it solves that problem—nobody will care about how sharp your website is, nor will they care about some cool social media posts.
Take this example: a SaaS company that delivers accounting software. All the tension goes into building a fancy website without showing how the product saves time for its users, eliminates errors, and makes tax filing easier. It's all a pedestal show and no monkey training.
On the contrary, if their marketing clearly articulates how the product saves small business owners time each month, relieves financial stress, and gives them peace of mind, they are getting customers in because they solve a meaningful problem.
First Focus on the Problem Before Building the Brand
That doesn't mean you can altogether leave out your branding. Much like a pretty pedestal shows off a well-trained monkey, great branding elevates a well-communicated solution. But getting the order right is key.
Here's an example of how you could position your marketing around solving that problem in a three-step framework:
Identify the problem: What external (customers can see) and internal (customers can feel) challenges are your customers currently facing? Which pain points make them lose sleep at night?
Clearly present the solution: Simply and clearly point out how your product or service makes their lives easier.
Message Consistently: Once the answer is clear, create messaging and branding around it. Make sure every touchpoint from your website to your social media speaks to this problem-solving message.
Final thoughts: Value First, Aesthetics Second
Many startups and SMEs in the Arab World make the mistake of focusing too much on how they look and too little on what they’re actually offering. No matter how stunning your branding is, it will fall flat if it doesn’t communicate value or solve a problem.
Start with your client's deep understanding of the problem at hand. Present yourself as a vehicle towards the solution and articulate that message.
As in life, in marketing, first comes substance, then style. The next time your initial thoughts gravitate towards brand and design, ask yourself, “Have I solved the problem?” Only then can you start building the pedestal.
Footnote
This post was inspired after learning about the Monkey and The Pedestal Question explained by Astro Teller on the ‘A Bit of Optimism’ podcast by Simon Sinek. In short, it focuses on the issue of wasting resources on the easy stuff, while businesses should focus on the hard, essential tasks. Like training a monkey to recite Shakespeare, don’t get caught building a fancy pedestal to show progress. Prioritize solving the core challenge, even if it’s tough, instead of focusing on what’s simple and easy to showcase.
This was also inspired by Donald Miller’s StoryBrand framework, designed to help marketers and businesses refocus their efforts on what truly matters: solving their customers’ problems.
Resources:
[1] A Bit of Optimism Podcast With Simon Sinek - Podcast
Tackle the monkey first - Astro Teller - Article
Storybrand - Donald Miller - Website
Delloit - Which comes first: The monkey or the pedestal? - Brandon Barker - Article
P.S. I saw this post:
"The tech investor dropped us because I speak for Palestine." - Tech Startup - [link]
This prompted me to do something. I want to help startups find growth, whether it be in marketing that leads to revenue or clear communications that lead to finding the right investors.
Only when we stick together, we can pave the way for the true potential of the Arab world.
This blog is here to help startups. May it find the right people and help them.
From the river to the sea.
Justice and Freedom.
P.P.S. Need marketing help in identifying the problems you’re solving?
No worries, drop me an email, click “Let’s Talk” below, and I’ll sit with you for 1 hour to identify them and help you simplify and clarify your marketing messages, and more.
