Six things I learned about branding from Steve Martin.

I grew up watching "movie star" Steve Martin in films like The Father of the Bride and Three Amigos. However, I didn't realize that he can teach us so much about branding, from his stand-up days through his movie stardom and onto his Only Murderers days.

I recently watched "STEVE (Martin)—a documentary in two pieces" on Apple TV+. I'm a bit late to the game, and if you still haven't, I highly recommend it. The show spans his life's work in two parts, and there's so much rich branding information that I will try to recap what I learned in four parts.

Lesson 1: Start with your why.

Simon Sinek popularized the idea of "starting with why" through his TED talks and similarly titled best-seller. Both are great resources to check out, but the gist is that one must begin by communicating or understanding why they are doing something before figuring out what and how.

Sometimes, this is called your purpose, and some studies suggest that brands with clear brand purpose grow three times faster than those without.

Steve Martin’s “why,” or purpose, was simple.

“I just wanted to be in show business. I didn’t care if I was going to be an actor or a magician or what.” – Steve Martin.

The beauty of starting with your why is that it doesn’t change often or easily—this is the root of what you do and why you are doing it. While other aspects of Martin’s career may have shifted (what he does and who he does it for), he never strayed from his purpose.

As I mentioned, there is so much to learn from this documentary that it's impossible to cover in one post. For now, what are your thoughts? Do other actors, comedians, or performers have a strong "why"? What about brands?

Visit our website, www.mainstreetbrand.co, for more blog posts and to discover how we can help you find your purpose.