Manifesto

A plain statement of what a brand believes and refuses. Written for the people inside first; the market reads it later.

A manifesto is written to be obeyed, not admired. Its audience is the next hundred internal decisions: what we believe, what we refuse, therefore what we do when the choice is expensive. The refusals are the load-bearing part; beliefs without refusals are wallpaper.

Published, it becomes a standing invoice the public may present at any time. That is its value and its risk: a manifesto the company cannot afford to be measured against converts, on first breach, into evidence. Write only the sentences you are prepared to lose money keeping.