At Godzspeed, we spend every day transforming the anatomy of business from institution to individual. It’s our mission statement, so there’s a ton of meaning packed into each and every syllable. We’ve decided to unpack some of that meaning and teach everyone a little bit more about the core philosophies that drive us. It’s time for a crash course on brand anatomy, Godzspeed style. 

A brand anatomy is made up of three parts: soul, mind, and body. Let’s break down each of those before explaining how all three must work together as one in order to craft soulful brands that create meaningful impact.

Soul

Conceptually, the soul is the transcendental fire and driving force that fuels a brand’s purpose. It is the spark that ignites the love affair between you and your community, and it is the glue that binds you together forever. It’s excitement, energy, and emotion. It’s your most authentic identity — who you truly are at the very core of your being.

Anatomically, the soul is the brand’s central nervous system. It’s the inspiration delivery service for every aspect of the business. It provides the fuel and direction to find your biggest impact. Your soul must be at the heart of everything. Every great brand needs to both inspire and be inspired. And that starts in the soul.

Mind

The mind is where emotion and thought converse. It takes the fiery passion and purpose of the soul and creates a meaningful and coherent strategy for living it out. This fusion creates the razor-sharp clarity needed to find inspiration, deliver solutions, and create impact. The mind lays the foundation for expressing your soul in ways that engage, inspire, and connect with your people. 

Practically, the mind is where the ideas, design, tactics, approaches, and structural processes  of the business are developed. The mind lays out the plan to make sure that the soul is being integrated into every aspect of the business: sales processes, internal operations, culture strategies, and everything else. Top to bottom, internal and external. The mind finds the best ways to share your soul with the world.

Body

The body is the vehicle for pursuing passion, living purpose, and creating impact in the real world. It’s where the passion of the soul and the strategy of the mind are animated. It is the medium through which the soul is physically expressed. The soul inspires the mind, the mind creates a strategic plan, and the body executes that plan.

Basically, the body is how and where the brand experience is delivered to your staff, customers, and communities. The body produces your product, delivers your service, communicates your ethos, and transforms the people around you. It’s how you engage your community and deliver on your promise. The body is what people see, hear, and feel about your brand.

The soul, mind, and body come together to create the brand anatomy. At Godzspeed, we partner with businesses to unleash the power of their soul, find real purpose, and forge deeper connections. We make businesses more human by transforming them from institutions to individuals. We ignite the soul to ignite the mind to ignite the body. That’s what a soulful brand is all about.

For years, institutions around the world have been teaching us that businesses are simply vehicles for profit. Our popular business culture proclaims that profit should not only be at the top of our priority list, but that we need to see profit as the pinnacle of our achievement in business. Why are the majority of business stories speaking to skyrocketing material gain, ruthless market share capture, and territorial expansion? The answer: read the title of this article.

Imagine what the world would look like if the status quo in business shifted to a model that was intentional about considering the impact that business left on the planet as a result of their influence and resources. This intentionality breeds something we like to call legacy. Impact on our natural environment and in the lives of fellow human beings is legacy building and allows business leaders to etch their significance into the foundations of our world story — FOREVER. Yes, I shouted that out because I want the earth to shake.

At Godzspeed, we don’t just see this as a dream. There are strategies and worldviews that allow for this type of impact to be ingrained into the fabric of a brand and its business model. A brand isn’t a logo or colours. A brand is the way that you do business, in every facet of your business. A brand is an individual not an institution, and as individuals have souls and a body, so do brands. The human soul is nourished and fulfilled by healthy doses of purpose and overall good. The body is engineered to communicate the intentions and mission of the soul. Uncover the need for change in the anatomy of business below.

Your Brand’s Got Soul.

Thomas.

We were thankful to have been invited by @bluepandarealty to speak about building a purposeful, meaningful brand. Whether you’re in real estate, the health sector, a professional athlete or a social enterprise you need to acknowledge that your brand is your entire business, and every ounce of your brand needs to express its deepest purpose. Working with Blue Panda Realty in our nation’s capital over the past 6 months crafting their new brand has been rewarding in more ways than we can express. Big shout to our intern Francois Mittens AKA @fm.photography_design for the video.