A Quite Interesting example in defining and expressing your brand

I was listening to John Lloyd on the radio the other day. Not the ex-tennis player but the television producer and writer who is best known for his comedy television programmes such as Not the Nine O'Clock News, Spitting Image, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and Blackadder

He was talking about QI, the organisation he created. Most people think of QI as a TV programme. Some people would also know that it produces books as well, and others might know it does radio programmes too.

So is it a media brand?

Not according to John, who said it was a ‘mining company’.  He described it in the following way “We go out into the desert of dullness and dig for interesting facts, the emeralds and sapphires that are Quite Interesting”. This is a great modern take on the Charles Revson quote that in the factory Revlon makes cosmetics but in the store it sells hope.

(Apologies to John if this isn’t exactly what he said; I couldn’t write it down exactly as I was in the shower when I heard it!)

This made me want to find out more about how QI saw itself as a brand, so I went to their website and found a great example of modern marketing. They talk about their ‘philosophy’. They don’t try and define their brand in a word or series of bland ‘values’ but instead they describe their beliefs and the way they see the world, which drives everything they do

In the “About us” they start by saying -

“We believe that everything should be interesting.”

They have a section on their ‘Philosophy’; it starts, “They say the primal drives are food, sex and shelter. QI says there is a fourth: Curiosity.”

And continues, “We are hard-wired for curiosity; it is innate - a fierce need - and, unlike the other three drives, it is what makes us uniquely human. But pure curiosity, completely standard in children under seven and found in great artists, scientists and explorers, is for some reason quickly suppressed, sublimated or shrunken in most people. We make do with crossword puzzles, gossip, football results, pub quizzes and Jerry Springer.”

They have a manifesto “Ten steps to making your life more interesting”. This aligns with some of the latest thinking on disruptive marketing. James Watt, the notorious co-founder of BrewDog, says in his book ‘Business for punks’, “Businesses fail. Businesses die. Businesses fade into oblivion. Revolutions never die. So start a revolution not a business. It is no longer enough just to start a business. You need a clear purpose, a mission, a reason for existing.”

QI go on to talk about some of what we do. The list includes TV Series, Books, Radio Series including The Museum of Curiosity, Podcasts, Online discussion groups, Events and Apps. In brand terms it’s a clear demonstration that a good brand definition opens up your thinking for possible extensions and doesn’t link you to just one product or service or indeed one category.

Talking about their podcasts it casually mentions that QI researchers are known as 'elves'. An indication that the brand has developed its own tone of voice and language. It reminds me of Disneyland where employees are all ‘cast members’ and to get a job you don’t have an interview but an ‘audition’. It is often rightly said that the best brands come from within and that they are a cult-like culture – specific to themselves. It seems clear that QI also fits that criterion of a great brand.

Now, QI does have the advantage of having John Lloyd so it’s not surprising that it expresses itself well but, even if you don’t have a John Lloyd, there a lot of inspiration we can all take from the brand he has helped build.

Footnote: On the day I visited the website the fact of the day was “On her eighth birthday in 1936, Shirley Temple got 135,000 birthday presents.”