Why Showing Who You Are Sells More Than What You Do

Ever notice how the most talked-about Super Bowl ads aren’t explaining features—they’re making you feel something? We take that lesson and turn it into a practical playbook for small businesses: lead with brand personality, earn attention with emotion, and guide people to the details when they’re ready. Using standout examples like Uber Eats’ star-powered humor and Coinbase’s karaoke twist, we break down why entertainment-first storytelling sticks and how you can translate that into everyday content without a stadium-sized budget.

We share simple ways to move beyond dry product lists. Think lifestyle shots over spec sheets, behind-the-scenes peeks that humanize your team, and customer moments that spotlight impact. If you run an HVAC company, “We show up when everyone else sleeps” says 24/7 service with warmth and wit. If you run a gym, highlight member wins and milestones to make your brand the setting for transformation. Throughout, we show you how to keep clarity intact: pair personality content with crisp next steps, link to guides, and use short, memorable lines that carry across platforms.

You’ll leave with a repeatable rhythm: start with a feeling, follow with proof, and close with simple actions. We cover how emotion drives memory, where education belongs in the journey, and why consistent voice builds brand loyalty. Ready to swap bullet points for stories that sell? Tune in, take notes, and try one line this week that shows who you are, not just what you do. If this sparked an idea, subscribe, share with a friend, and leave a quick review so more people can find the show.

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Meet your hosts and learn more about Kickstart Collective at kickstartcollective.co

Kickstart Collective is a creative marketing agency based in Wilmington, NC. We offer our clients a creative advantage through creative content and marketing strategies. 

Transcript

Welcome And Series Setup

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Welcome to Kickstart Your Week, brought to you by Kickstart Collective, a marketing agency focused on helping brands grow with purpose. Every Monday, we're here to help business owners, creators, and marketers start their week with clarity, momentum, and practical ideas you can actually use. Kickstart Your Week is produced right here at Kickstart Studios in Wilmington, North Carolina. Let's Kickstart Your Week. Welcome to Kickstart Your Week. This week we are continuing on what we started last week, which was the themes that we noticed in this year's Super Bowl ads. So if you haven't watched last week's episode yet, go check that out. We talked about our four favorites as a team, some trends we're seeing, and then how small businesses can apply those themes and trends that we saw. So this week and then the next three weeks after this, we're gonna kind of deep dive into each of those themes. So today we're gonna talk about brand personality over just selling a product. Um so it should be a fun conversation. We'll give you some highlights, some examples, and then talk about how, as a small business owner or marketer, how you can apply these to your business. So um I'm Lara. I'm Melissa. Didn't need to say your name for you. This is Melissa.

Entertainment Over Information Examples

SPEAKER_00 1:14

Um and yeah, so let's jump in. So let's do it. I feel like a lot, I feel like this is a pretty big theme with commercials this year. And a bunch of different um categories, I guess, utilized being more entertaining over informing people and like educating people. The one that we covered in our last episode was the Uber Eats commercial. Yes. Um, and theirs was obviously very fun with Matthew McConaughey and um Was it Bradley Cooper? Yes, yes, Bradley Cooper. Um, and it was just fun and lighthearted, and it they weren't sitting there telling people this is what Uber Eats is, this is how you use it. They were just having a good time. Yeah. And I feel like a lot of people did that. Like a lot of the food commercials did that. Even the um some of the crypto commercials did that too.

From Big Brands To Small Biz

SPEAKER_01 2:09

Yeah, that's what we talked about the Coinbase ad, and that was one thing I was thinking about. Like it was the karaoke uh Backstreet Boys song. And so it's never showing you how to trade crypto on an app or website or honestly, whatever it is. But it's entertaining and it's memorable. Um, and basically I think their messaging behind it was like crypto trading can be for everyone, not just like tech people. Yeah. Um, so it was more of a brand statement versus product education or really informative beyond like a brand statement, which is cool. Um so let's talk about because I know with like these big brands, like people know what Uber Eats is, most likely. You might not know what Coinbase is. Um, so that I feel like makes is a good example for this conversation too. But how do small businesses who might not have all that brand recognition behind them? Right, how do they tap into this without feeling like they need to sell their product or service or talk about their product and service a ton like in their marketing?

Lifestyle And Awareness Tactics

SPEAKER_00 3:14

Right. So I think one there's definitely a a time and a place to educate and to sell and to lay out what it is you do and how it works. And um, but there's also a time and place to do to do this. And I think one way to do it is, you know, showing lifestyle content, um, behind the scenes sort of things, or um just I guess I'd be more of an awareness level. Yeah. Just showing, like, hey, this is who we are, this is our um brand identity, and not really delving into too many specifics. Yeah.

HVAC And Gym Messaging Makeovers

SPEAKER_01 3:56

No, I think that's right. I think kind of one of the examples. I don't know if we talked about this in the last episode, but like if you're an HVAC, I think we did talk about this example. I don't know. But like if you're an HVAC company and you do 24-7 service, you don't need to lead with just straight, like, we do 24-hour service. You can make it more fun with just simple messaging switch switches. And like we show up when everyone else is asleep. Right. Like whatever your differentiator is, it might like you don't want to definitely not throw that out. Just find like ways to tweak that to make it either more lifestyle friendly or just a little bit more creative, um, to where people remember it and can kind of relate to it or be entertained by it, versus just a blanket statement about what you do or what you offer. Um, which is fun.

SPEAKER_00 4:45

Yeah. In the same way, I think another example could be like if you're uh a gym, say, you could show more so transformations, body transformations or accomplishments of people that go to your gym rather than we're open these hours and these are the machines we have, and this is what you can do here. Just show kind of the impact that your brand has on people.

SPEAKER_01 5:09

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 5:10

That's memorable.

Emotion, Story, And Memory

SPEAKER_01 5:11

Yeah, definitely. Um, yeah, I think those are all really good points. And I think um why this works is you're creating some sort of emotional connection or some storytelling element that people are going to remember more so than just like a list of facts. Right. Um, so you're giving something for people to connect to and um just creating more of a human connection, I think, yeah than just straight selling them black and white bullet points. It's warmer.

SPEAKER_00 5:42

Yeah. It's it's not you don't feel like you're being sold to, even though you are technically, but it doesn't really feel like it. It's not too in your face.

SPEAKER_01 5:51

Yeah, and I think, and again, kind of depending on the business, this might not work with every business, but the more you can create that brand personality, the more people are gonna identify with it and connect with it. And then long term, that's gonna create brand loyalty, which is great because then you're getting repeat customers and yeah, there's that lifetime value of a customer that comes into play at that point. Um, so I think those, I mean, anything else you want to add to that?

Brand Personality And Loyalty

SPEAKER_00 6:16

I mean, it's also just as encouragement, I think making that sort of content or just making that sort of marketing content is also just fun. It is as a business owner, you know, and it I think takes some of the pressure off of it if you're in a spot where you're not sure what direction to go in. I feel like this is kind of a good fallback um using that term loosely, but it's just it's just fun to make. It's fun.

Q&A Invite And How To Reach Us

Have Fun And Stand Out

Subscribe, Share, Review, And Studio Booking

SPEAKER_01 6:44

Yeah, it is. You can have it, you can have fun with it and get creative. Um and yeah, I think it just gives gives you something, you know, different in your marketing that should hopefully stand out. Um so yeah, I think that's it. Um yeah, if you guys have questions, um, not sure how to go about doing this, definitely reach out. Um, you can find us at kickstartcollective.co um or on social reach out, whatever. We'll find you. You can find us. Um but yeah, thanks for joining in to this week's Kickstart Your Week, and we will see you next week. Thanks for listening to Kickstart Your Week. If today's episode gave you something to think about or try this week, be sure to subscribe, share it with a friend, or leave a review. It helps more people find the show. And if you're looking to create your own podcast or content, Kickstart Studios is available for booking. We'll be back next week with another conversation to help you kickstart your week.