The Drivers of Brand Storytelling Strategy

Brand storytelling is about connecting the outer value the brand provides to the inner values of the customer. There must be a deep affinity between the two or the relationship is just a transaction.

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The Drivers of Brand Storytelling Strategy

Customers own the story of the brand

now What brands say is f ar less

important than what brands actually do

to serve the well being of the f aithf ul

Whereas bef ore, the brand conversation

was based on delivery and interruption,

successf ul brand conversations are now

participatory in ever more technology

driven channels

Storytelling is at the very heart of how

we humans share and connect what we

value about our heritage, our

communities and ourselves Brand

storytelling is about connecting the outer

value the brand provides to the inner

values of the customer There must be a deep af f inity between the two or the relationship is just a transaction

The f oundation f or this af f inity is built on the shared stories between brands to consumers, customers

to brands, and consumers to consumers Like all relationships, there has to be chemistry Brands have it

or they don’t How well these collective stories line up with the experience customers have is what creates “insistence without substitutes” in the minds of customers

Brand storytelling is a strategic imperative not a promotional tactic.

Many marketers conf use the two In our brand consulting work, I’ve heard many marketers complain, “We just don’t know what our brand story is about” Or worse, “no one seems to get what our brand story is about” Seemingly ubiquitous marketing obscures the transcendent storyline of what makes brands matter to people

There are three drivers of

brand storytelling strategy

-purpose, method and

opportunity These drivers

work in parallel with stories

customers tell to the tribe and

stories brands tell to the tribe

For enlightened brand

marketers, storytelling is a

powerf ul means to build

enduring connections as we

now live in a culture

characterized by participation,

interaction and dialogue

Brands must have a storyline

anchored in a human purpose

rather than a commercial one

Let’s explore how these

drivers work f rom both the

brand and the customer

perspective:

Purpose

The most basic purpose or

reason f or brands to tell their

story is usually to create or

reinf orce the brand’s positioning and competitive advantage For customers, the motivation or purpose

to tell brand stories comes f rom a desire to share ideas and experiences as an af icionado of the brands core purpose In other words the strategic purpose in the brand story is based in resonance and

relevance

Method

Of course brands have a multitude of methods and media channels to tell their story The audience now

is hyper-f ragmented and the method f or storytelling is less about media and more about real

engagement Customers too, have more methods available through social media channels to share their brand stories What this means is the brand’s story is now a shared experience, with both brand and customer contributing to each other in a more real and meaningf ul manner

Opportunity

The opportunity f or brands to tell stories are varied and diverse Brand storytelling creates awareness to product innovations and important events on one hand, to more dif f icult issues of public relations disasters on the other Brands can be proactive or reactive in this regard For customers, the opportunity

f or storytelling, by their own initiative, is also driven by good or bad news about a brand experience Transparency is the order of the day now Enlightened marketers now realize they must provide the venue f or inviting customers to share their experiences and tell their stories

If you’re a marketer in the process of inventing or transf orming your brand’s positioning, brand

storytelling will be a critical component to building an enduring connection with those of like mind All legendary brands have legendary stories told though generations

Your strategy f or creating a compelling brand story will be driven by your brand’s purpose, the level of engagement, and the ability to leverage events and circumstances around customer experience

Sponsored by: The Brand Storytelling Workshop

Connect:

Authored by:

Derrick Daye

I'm the Managing Partner of The Blake Project, a leading brand consultancy We help small

and large growth oriented companies design, manage and build brands that drive revenue

through dif f erentiated customer experiences Ask me how: 813-842-2260

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