Don’t get stuck on your elevator pitch

Everyone’s heard of the elevator pitch. An imaginary scenario of an accidental meeting with someone important in an elevator (or for us Brits a lift). If the conversation in those few seconds between floors is interesting, rather than what seems like a never-ending silence as people stare intently at the floor, then who knows something good may come of it. Although we’ve all heard of the Elevator Pitch there aren’t many people who can carry it off convincingly. So here are some pointers for the next time you meet Mark Zuckerberg in an elevator and you’ve got just 7 seconds to impress him about your brand. The Elevator Pitch is essentially the big idea about your brand. Using the car analogy it would be ‘Safety’ for Volvo, ‘Performance’ for BMW and ‘Luxury’ for Mercedes.

There are 4 things you need to think about to come up with your Elevator Pitch:

1 — Your brand’s personality

2 — The products and services your brand provides

3 — Your brand’s internal culture

4 — The consumer’s view of your brand.

Simply arrive at 3/4 words in each of the 4 categories and then looking at the 12/16 words you’ve come up with, sum them up with 1/2/3 words or a phrase that would impress Mark with their laser-like focus and simplicity.

With thanks to Graham Robertson at beloved brands.