Let’s go on a step beyond the realm of Marketing – Into the Mystical World of ‘Brand Storytelling’. For most businesses, success equals increasing sales revenue and a stable income stream. However, for those who want to go beyond, a Brand Story is what’s important.
For starters, did you know that 92% of consumers want brands to make ads that feel like a story? That’s according to a study by OneSpot, which surveyed over 2,000 consumers about their preferences for branded content. The study also found that storytelling is 22 times more memorable than facts and figures alone.
These statistics demonstrate the power of storytelling in marketing and how it can be a game-changer for your brand. In this blog post, we’ll explore the art of brand storytelling and how to create a story that truly resonates with your audience.
The Power of Storytelling
Have you ever been captivated by a brand’s story? Maybe it was a tear-jerking Super Bowl commercial or a heartwarming social media post. Whatever it was, you probably remember it vividly. These are occasions where you felt your emotions stir up, where your heartbeat peaked, and you felt as if you had suddenly deep-dived into ecstasy.
Ask yourself this – Did that feeling come about just on its own OR was there a trigger for it?
That trigger, folks, is what a truly authentic ‘Brand Story’ is all about.
Our brains are naturally wired to react to stories because stories activate our emotions and create a connection that facts and figures simply can’t match. The human brain avoids rationality and will do its best to avoid the hard truth. This is what customers would also do if you simply threw an uppercut at them albeit with a 25% discount promo.
To fully get into consumer psychology and make raving fans out of customers, you need to take them from a place of uncertainty and misery to one of rags and riches. Your product needs to be a hero for them, a guiding light, so to speak. Aesthetic photography or mouth-watering deals won’t cut it in the modern age.
From ancient myths to modern-day movies, storytelling has always been an integral part of human culture. But why do stories captivate us so much? And how can we use this power to connect with our audience and build a strong brand?
In the words of Tomas Pueyo in his charming TED Talk, ‘Being Right is not enough. We need to be able to communicate it and unfortunately, hard facts and reason won’t do. Why? That’s because the most famous TED Speakers in the world only spend 25% of the time telling facts and 65% telling stories.
Stories are MORE MEMORABLE than Facts, PERIOD!
Finding Your Brand’s Story
Every brand has a story, but not every brand knows how to tell it. The single biggest obstacle when crafting a storytelling framework is what actually your bank should say. I like to think of this in terms of two questions that I’ve outlined below:
- Is Your Brand the ‘Protagonist’ in this Story?: This holds true for brands that introduce innovative technologies in the world. For example, Apple, Tesla & McDonald’s
- Is Your Brand the ‘Next-Generation’ Who will carry an existing story forward? This question considers brands that are continuing or advancing the work of an existing invention. For example, Acer, and Huawei.
Once you figure out where your brand stands, you can get to work on your Brand Story. Now it’s all about tension & relief from this point onwards. Depending on which question you decide to answer, you may place your customer or your brand as the focal point. The former would place your brand as a guiding light while the latter will position your brand as the center of attention. Let’s clarify the tension & relief part now.
As you all may already be aware, LITERALLY every story has a problem and a solution. Some term it as Good vs Evil, Darkness vs Light, or White vs Black. Tension is the ‘black’ part. It’s what’s keeping your audience from reaching their ideal state. Relief on the other hand is the solution or the light that you bring into this fictitious world.
And this is the only thing you need to know when you’re working on ‘finding your brand story’. To summarize:
- Figure out where your brand stands
- Write down what your brand stands for
- Craft the story according to your brand’s position
Crafting Your Storytelling Strategy
Crafting a storytelling strategy is more than just choosing a catchy tagline or creating a viral video. It’s about creating a cohesive and effective narrative across all your marketing channels. There’s nothing more annoying about a brand than inconsistency in the information that it shares across different platforms.
For starters, you need to sit down and write what your goals are:
- Are you looking to acquire more customers?
- Are you looking to take advantage of those already in the pipeline?
- Or are you just doing it because your competition is doing it?
A great brand story doesn’t just happen by chance. It takes careful planning and execution to create a story that resonates with your audience and builds a strong brand. My favorite exercise here is to have your ENTIRE creative team brainstorm and ask the simple question – Why on Earth should I buy this product?
Now this team needs to communicate their answer in a simple and concise sentence. If they’re able to do that and it makes sense, you’ve got a winning brand story that just needs some glitter on top.
Once you’ve uncovered your brand’s story, it’s time to craft a storytelling strategy that brings it to life. Contrary to what many blogs claim, a Storytelling strategy is not just related to the content you put online. Storytelling needs to be consistent across ALL the channels.
I’m talking HR, Logistics, Development & Accounts – each part of your business and product needs to echo the same storytelling strategy over and over again like clockwork. For starters, here’s my 5-Point Storytelling Checklist that you can go over when you’re sitting down with the homies to craft a storytelling strategy:
- Product: Everything from the product packaging to the labels and the online descriptions should be concisetent with your strategy
- Content: Your content should also tell the same story across all social media, web, and paid channels
- Communications: If you’re working with PR agencies or influencers or news media, this part is also one that you need to tick off
- Branding: Your website, design elements, logo, style guides, etc should also stick to one single storytelling narrative
- Culture: Your employees and stakeholder should live and breathe this Storytelling Strategy, always seeking to promote it from within
Conclusion:
Storytelling is more than just a buzzword in marketing. It’s a powerful tool that can help you connect with your audience, build a strong brand, and make a lasting impact. Brands like Nike, Adidas, and Apple among others have all taken advantage of Brand Stories and it has rewarded them fruitfully over the past decades.
Your brand shouldn’t be left out either and has what it takes to reach that level too! It’s just a matter of belief…
By following the tips and techniques we’ve explored in this blog post, you will be well-placed to plan and implement a stunning brand story that will truly resonate with your customers and set you apart in your industry.
As always, if you need help in crafting a breath-taking Brand Story, give your boy Zane a heads-up!