Portraits

For celebrating individuals and cultures. This is when you want to honor a person, mindset, or lifestyle that inspires your brand. Doing this well means that your audience will likely find inspiration in this thing, too. Find beauty in unacknowledged places. Done well, these feel like gifts to your audience.

This is the perfect manifesto to use when you don’t have anything to say—no products to release, no initiatives to announce, no success to brag about. Inspiring manifestos show your values rather than tell them. These also work great in overcrowded categories.

The secret to these scripts is restraint. The hardest thing to do with these manifestos is to only focus on the thing that inspires you. You can’t talk about yourself at all. You might be able to sneak in a single line, but even that is risky. This manifesto needs to be about them. It’s a tribute. Don’t turn the camera around or it will look like you’re using them. Treat this like a portrait.

Raise a glass to an established but misunderstood group. Make us wish we were one of them. These are usually anchored around a product that amplifies the group’s magic.

Distinguish a bunch of people who didn’t realize they were all in the same group. This can give people a sense of culture, but be careful not to patronize, diminish, or offend.

Demonstrate the potential in all of us through the tumultuous story of one individual. Go edgy. Nobody cares about easy. They want triumph from hardship.

Consider the vulnerable truths of a culture. Ponder the problems and glorify the possibilities. Each needs a moment of realization that uncovers a deeper truth.

Create a tribute to someone deserving of high praise. The best way to do this: speak for a community. Put into words what everyone wishes they could say.

Create a character that personifies the point you’re trying to make. Could be symbolic of a real person or a new invention. Inspire us with their choices, actions, or impact.