The Golden Circle is an innovative concept presented by Simon Sinek in his TED Talk “Start with Why”.

The Question is now a few years old, but still as valid as ever, and you can apply these three key takeaways also to your next big augmented reality campaign.

He talks about the three circles that make the golden circle of business. The golden circle defines the different entities or stages of your business model and how your audience relates to your vision or message.

This model has been set up following his studies on the success of the most influential leaders and companies in the world know why they do what they do. And by why I don’t mean to make a profit: that’s a result.

Simon Sinek explains how to truly differentiate a brand when most fail

what Sinek discovered is that all successful brands and companies are doing their marketing backward. They start with their “what” and then move to the “how.” Most of these companies neglect to even mention “why.” More alarmingly, many of them don’t even know why they do what they do!

The 3 Parts to The Golden Circle:

What – Consistency of WHAT  Every single company and organization on the planet knows What they do.

• What the products or services.
• what you offer to your customers.
• what are the features and benefits of it?

What – What are you offering? For example, what is your product or service, what are the features and benefits of it?

How – Discipline of HOW  Some organizations know

• How: Our products are easy to use and beautiful looking
• How they do it. These are the things that make them special or set them apart from their competition.
• How: The process of delivering that offer
• How something is different or better.
• How will this help your customer
• How things that differentiate you from the competition
• How are you different than your competitors?

Why –  Clarity of Why • What:  Very few organizations know WHY they do what they do.

This is the core belief of the business. It’s why the business exists.  WHY is not about making money. That’s a result. It’s a purpose, cause, or belief. It’s the very reason your organization exists.

Purpose, cause or belief • The Why is the single driving motivation for action and the reason why you exist

The belief or the motivation behind your business. This asks the question “what is our organizational purpose?”

Very few organizations and few people know why they do what they do and they can think about internal motivation and their beliefs that drive their purchase decisions. This is why the Golden Circle is considered such an influential theory of leadership. At an organizational level, communicating your ‘Why’ is the basis of a strong value proposition that will differentiate your brand from others.

Sounds simple, but still most companies do their marketing backward. They start with “what” and then move on to the “how”, without ever considering asking “why.”

The conversation with our prospects needs to begin with why our business exists. We need to find those best-fit prospects who care about why we’re here. Then we can talk about how we might be able to solve a pain point or need the prospect is experiencing, finally presenting what our solution is in the form of our company’s product or service.

His underlying idea, “People don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it.”, is incredibly simple, and also very universal.

How does this relate to your business? 

Simon Sinek cites the example of Apple. In his opinion, Apple is technically no different from its competitors. But Apple communicates from the “Why.” Apple’s “Why” is to challenge the status quo and empower the individual. And their challenging the status quo is a pattern repeating in all they say and do, which is the reason why people perceive Apple as authentic.

The success of Apple. First starting out as a computer company, Apple has changed the face of personal computing, Apple is a trusted company. Their reputation is so much that people no longer question whether or not they should buy their products.

But Apple starts …From their ‘why’!

It is the core of their marketing and the driving force behind their business operations. To help illustrate this point, imagine if Apple also started backward by creating a marketing message that started with “what.”

“We make great computers. They’re user friendly, beautifully designed, and easy to use. Want to buy one?”

According to Sinek, the fundamental difference between the “Apples” of the world and everyone else is that they start with “why.”

people buy experiences and outcomes based on their emotional reactions to a solution that can solve their problems.

CLOSING WORDS

• Apple Why: Everything we do, we believe in challenging the status quo and thinking differently.
• Apple How: Our products are beautifully designed and simple to use.
• Apple What: We just happen to sell computers.

Whatever your preferred method, the “Why?” part in your augmented reality campaign is still the most crucial one. Everything else after that are quite trivial development and marketing efforts.

Remember: “People don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it.” Augmented reality just so happens to be a perfect tool for delivering your core message to your audience.