What is Brand Storytelling?
Brand storytelling can be defined as the practice of “using a narrative to connect your brand to customers, with a focus on what you stand for of the values you share with your customers.” (MarketingInsiderGroup.com). Producing a high-quality product is only one part of a marketing equation. A company needs to find the best way to talk about that product in order to get the most effective message out in the world. This is where storytelling comes into play. Brand storytelling can offer a narrative that combines facts about a product, while at the same time evoking a strong emotional sense of consumer connection with it. It can even be said that the major character in a brand story is not the brand itself, but the target customer.
Since storytelling is such a basic human activity, making use of it to connect consumers to products, and to differentiate those products from others available in the marketplace, simply makes good sense. A brand’s story can recount a company’s inception and idiosyncratic history, while communicating its ongoing mission in the form of an engaging narrative. Compelling stories enable consumers to remember brands and to feel a sense of identification with them, thus leading to an enhanced experience of brand loyalty.
How to Tell a Brand’s Story
Consumers are eager to connect with brands that give them the opportunity to feel that they are on a shared journey. Marketers need to take advantage of this human urge, by creating and communicating effective brand stories. According to brand story coach, Celinne Da Costa, companies designing brand stories should ask themselves the following questions: “What do you want to be remembered for? What is the message you want to transmit to your audience, and what do you never want them to forget?” She goes on to observe, “Consider the emotion you want to evoke in your audience every time they interact with your brand. They may forget what you say, but they will not forget how you made them feel.” (Forbes.com)
When writing a brand story, it is important to take into account such storytelling elements as characters, setting, conflict, and action, highlighting cogent stops on an emotionally involving journey. On the Burt’s Bees website (BurtsBees.com), founder Burt Shavitz describes the journey of his company from when he first met his partner, Roxanne, through the company’s evolution. Brand storytelling, however, can go beyond merely telling the story of how a brand come into being. An excellent example of this can be found in the Warby Parker video, “How Warby Parker Glasses Are Made” (YouTube.com). Rather than telling the story of the company’s history, the video provides a fascinating step-by-step account of how their glasses are made, which imbues the product with a sense of vibrant immediacy. Whatever a company chooses to portray in its story, it must be simple, genuine, unique and enticing, in a manner that sets the brand apart from all others.
How Storytelling Enhances a Brand’s Image
Perhaps the best way for a company to connect with customers and influence their buying choices is to focus on what the company has to offer, and why it even exists in the first place. Communicating these things in the form of a narrative is an effective way to engage with consumers, expressing common values and areas of shared interest. A brand’s story can become its most crucial promotional strategy. Not only can storytelling present the underlying purpose of a brand, it can also promote sales by grabbing interest, and keeping it, through ongoing campaigns that stress consumer identification and involvement. As marketing specialist, Thomas Wachtel, has observed, “When we build a story around a brand, it gives the brand the ability to ‘recruit’ prospects to its cause. You’re not just buying a product or a service, in essence you’re joining a team.” (ElementThree.com)
The more consumers come to know, trust, and feel connected with a brand, the more likely they will be to continue seeking out and purchasing that brand. Although it may take up some of a company’s time and resources to engage in storytelling, it is a crucial tool in nurturing a loyal and dependable base of consumers who can at times be eager to provide unsolicited positive testimony about the brand. To sum up, in the words of Celinne Da Costa, “Brand storytelling is no longer nice to have. It is a need to have, and what will ultimately maximize your business’s visibility, profit, and impact. Treat it as a compass for your marketing strategy, and the result will be a brand that is as profitable as it is captivating.” (Forbes.com)
About the Author:
Otis Kopp
LinkedIn: @OtisKopp
Twitter: @OtisKopp617
OtisKopp.com
OtisKopp@gmail.com