Brand Storytelling: Find Your Truth
Grandma is not amused. In fact, she’s a little peeved.
Whose grandma? That nice lady down the street with the overenthusiastic pug, the prodigious collection of flower print dresses and the delicious lemon cookies? And wait, isn’t this a post about how to tell your brand story?
It is. And Grandma is a character I just made up. But she illustrates two key points when trying to find your brand story:
People don’t like being marketed to: Grandma has seen some things in her time and isn’t interested in nonsense or high-falutin’ babble. If she doesn’t understand your brand story, or is put off by an overly promotional sales pitch that has no inherent value, chances are your customer will be, too.
Storytelling is powerful: Admit it. You want to try those lemon cookies. The latest neuroscience research indicates that humans are hard-wired for narrative. We crave real stories, and when we’re presented with compelling characters and situations (real or not), we get interested. Certainly more interested than when we’re exposed to some promotional, self-serving message that tries to bludgeon us into purchasing something.
A service-based mentality
If I had to boil a good brand story down to just one word, it’s this: Service. By focusing on who you serve, what drives you to serve them and what makes you better than your competitors at serving these customers, you’ll put the focus on your audience – not your company (or your sales goals). When you do this, you build a stronger, more appealing brand story, which you can then tell in many strategic ways to grow your business.
The power of emotional connection
Organic brand narratives that evoke strong emotions draw people in. And in a world that’s become oversaturated with content, half-baked efforts that lack authenticity will have the appeal of a parsley tooth on a first date.
Is your pitch a blockbuster?
I like to think of a brand story as if it’s a screenplay pitch at a trendy L.A. restaurant. You’ve got 30 seconds to sell this overworked producer, who has heard it all, is looking for something that excites her (and, frankly, is only half-focused on this meeting because she needs to pick up her son from daycare in 45 minutes. She’s also wondering why, despite working just as hard as her male counterparts, she’ll only earn 79% of what they will, even though it is in fact 2020). In short, she’s distracted and looking for any reason to turn you down and get back to her life.
Your customers are the same. In an era of choice, if you sound like everyone else or come off as too smarmy, they’ll quickly swipe left and move on to the next contender.
6 questions to help identify your brand story
Who are you? Carefully crafted mission statements with lofty language often do nothing to actually tell your customers who you are. (To wit: “Our mission is to create a superior, uplifting experience that empowers our customers to make the world a better place.”) Who is this company? Are they selling a recycling service? Stuffed animals? Coffee? No one knows. Instead, start by focusing on specifics.
How did you get here? I’m not talking about a bland regurgitation of the historical record. No matter how big or small your company is, it started with the vision of one person (or small group). What was this vision? How has it changed? Get gritty and include any adversity that you’ve overcome. Telling your story in an authentic way and owning your history will help to build trust with your audience.
Who is your customer? “Targeting” is a big buzzword these days, especially with the advent of big data analytics and the Big Brotherization of our personal details, which allow marketers to finely tune where their message goes. But all of these fancy schmancy targeting insights and mechanisms will be worthless if you don’t know who you’re selling to. And not having a good sense of who your customer is (either current or ideal), will also affect your ability to tell a good brand story.
Why should customers care about you? This goes beyond your unique selling proposition, or USP (although that’s part of it). This is a gut-level assessment of what makes your company special. What do your longtime customers love about you? What’s the not-so-secret sauce that comes up again and again in conversations with your team? In fact, what does your team love about working at your company?
What are your keywords? If you’ve worked through the first four questions, you should have a detailed list of thoughts and pieces of copy, raw material to help you articulate your brand story. All good marketing begins with powerful keywords and phrases, so boil down your copy soup to the tasty nuggets, including attributes, service offerings and anything else that best describes your company, its values and how you affect your customers’ lives. Then start stringing these together into statements that feel authentic. These can give you a better sense of your truth, and might also be used in everything from headlines and taglines to positioning copy.
How can you simplify? Like a 10-year-old who balks at complex math homework and takes an extended gaming break, never to return, customers tune out when something gets too difficult to understand. Complex messages are also more difficult to incorporate into your marketing, especially in headlines and other areas where brevity is required. So beware of trying to fit too many ideas into your keyword-driven statements, and look for ways to simplify these ideas.
In future posts, we’ll discuss specific ways to develop and leverage your brand story, using a smart content strategy that drives both awareness and engagement, building lasting relationships with your customers.
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Vaccine Creative is a hybrid agency that has worked with some of the biggest (and smallest) brands. We specialize in developing thoughtful, effective campaigns that don’t bust the budget. If you’re looking for more guidance on how to develop your brand story and content strategy, contact us.
About Ryan
Ryan Poquette is Vaccine’s Senior Creative Lead. While writing was his first love, over 24 years he has become a multi-hyphenate creative and gained an encyclopedic knowledge of marketing, advertising and strategic communications. Ryan’s boundless energy and insatiable desire to learn new things have also taken him to some curious places. Everywhere from the bustling campus of an elite science and technology institute to the frenetic madness of Hollywood sets, from the terrifying excitement of laying out a daily newspaper to the controlled insanity of managing an advertising agency. This expansive experience has given him an edge when developing authentic campaigns that get results – and it also means he is never without a story at the water cooler.