Once upon a time, far, far away…
Everyone loves a good story. Perhaps it starts back in childhood, with fairy-tales told over and over again by loving parents just before bedtime. Or maybe it’s the influence of the media broadcasting emotional stories of the day’s events while we’re eating our dinner. One thing is for certain – a good story can be a powerful tool – whether it’s a fairy-tale to put a child to sleep or a news item to keep people informed. But what can marketers learn from storytelling?
Many brands have a unique story to tell – whether it’s about their history, their reason for being, their struggle to survive or their people. However, only a few companies leverage their brand story as a unique selling proposition. Take Apple, for instance. It has always been about being cool, bucking the trend and being the first to innovate. The Apple brand story is reflected in everything it does – from its people to its products to its outlets. Apple knows how to tell a good story.
The key to a brand story is not about crafting the best story. It’s about having a real story that doesn’t need good writing to resonate with consumers – although it can help! The most effective brand stories are simple to remember, fun to hear or tell, reflect the brand values and make a connection with the individual. A good brand story will turn into a legend – a story that has been told throughout the years by many people.
Sometimes a brand story comes from inside the organisation – told by employees and managers. Other stories come from outside the organisation – told by customers retelling their experience with your product or service. People love to hear stories about companies going the extra mile. Like the car dealer who rings to check how your service went or the retail chain that contacts every store to find your right size.
Here are five tips to help turn your brand into a compelling story:
Find the best stories
To help find your brand stories, talk to your employees, customers, investors and other interested stakeholders. What experiences have they had with your business? What do they think is different or unique about your product or service? Ensure that your stories come back to this central message.
Use colourful characters
Just like a fairy-tale, a good brand story needs colourful characters. Look at Virgin and Richard Branson. Your characters might not be so high profile, but they can still be interesting. For example: a customer with a strange request, an employee who takes their job to the extreme or a founder that overcame major hurdles to make his or her business a success.
Leverage your heritage
How did your business start out? Often the best brand stories are about a company’s founders. Look at Australian Anthill, the editor-in-chief had a vision, quit his day job and started the business from his bedroom at his parent’s house. Others start in their garages or out of the boot of the car! These great stories capture the mind of anyone who has ever thought of starting their own business.
Use multiple channels for telling your story
In today’s networked world, there are more and more opportunities to tell your story. It’s important to use people – employees, customers, founders – but also consider using new channels like websites, blogs and YouTube. In Australia, Bunnings Warehouse is using its employees to tell the brand story in mass advertising campaigns. In one of the advertisements a female employee talks about working at Bunnings all day, and then going home to a house made from Bunnings – what a great story!
Ensure your brand story is authentic
Don’t make up a brand story! A brand story must be real and your audience must believe it’s genuine. If your story is too good to be true and not consistent with your company values, it will quickly be dismissed by your critics as PR fluff!
So, what’s your story?
Renee Hancock is a marketing and communications specialist, whose experience spans finance, government, education, not-for-profit, telecommunications and law. She has consulted for two of Australia’s most prestigious public relations agencies and now works in-house for a leading financial services organisation.
