Brand Story

“The best brands are built on great stories.”
—Ian Rowden
Chief Marketing Officer, Virgin Group

What is a brand story?

A brand story is more than content and a narrative. The story goes beyond what’s written in the copy on a website, the text in a brochure or the presentation used to pitch to investors or customers. Your story isn’t just what you tell people it’s also what they believe about you based on the signals your brand sends. The story is a complete picture made up of facts, feelings and interpretations, which means that part of your story isn’t even told by you.

Everything you do, each element of your business or brand, from the colours and texture of your packaging and business cards, to the staff you hire is part of your brand story and every element should reflect the truth about your brand back to your audience.

If you want to build a successful, sustainable business and a brand that will garner loyalty, and if you’re lucky become loved you have to start with your story.

Why you need a story to tell

If you don’t have a story you are just another commodity. A replaceable cog in the consumption machine. You have no way to differentiate your brand or your business. Creating a brand story is not simply about standing out and getting noticed. It’s about building something that people care about and want to buy into. It’s about framing your scarcity and dictating your value. It’s about thinking beyond the utility and functionality of products and services and striving for the creation of loyalty and meaningful bonds with your customers.

A brand story is not just a catchy tagline that’s pasted on a billboard to attract attention for a week or two. Your story is the foundation of your brand and a strategy for future growth.

Story is how Starbucks created a whole new coffee category and elevated itself above its competitors. That story is the reason my client Kelly drives 4 kilometers, passing Dunkin Donuts and 7 Eleven on the way to pay three times more for a cup of coffee every morning.

Starbucks didn’t simply set out to sell coffee at premium prices, their mission was to be ‘the third place’. Brands like Starbucks and Apple are built on so much more than the utility and specifications of their products. Your product is only part of the story. A potential customer’s relationship with your brand will likely begin before they actually purchase your product at all.

How do we begin to tell your brand story?

Through years of experience of working with entrepreneurs and brands I have developed the ‘brand story matrix’. This is a brand communication strategy consisting of 20 distinct elements, that enables you to tell your brand’s story from the inside out. It’s the foundation upon which you differentiate your brand and make emotional connections with clients and customers. A great brand story strategy will show you how to stand out, increase brand awareness, create customer loyalty and power profits.

The world’s most successful brands don’t behave like commodities & neither should you.

I work with brands at every stage of their development, from startups who are shaping a complete culture to established brands who are realigning their positioning and marketing communications or launching new products. It doesn’t matter if you’re a bank or a city, launching an online platform or baking bread, you have a unique story to tell and I can show you how to tell it.

Once upon a brand

Your story begins with the connection made when the customer hears your name for the first time, when she sees your logo, visits your website, reads your about page and experiences your interactions on social media. The signals you send about not just what you do and how well you do it, but about what you stand for, build the complete picture of your brand. Marketing often happens when you are not listening and your customer is telling a friend how your product changed her life.

It’s your job to give your customers a story to tell.

Through consultation with you I explore your brand’s mission and vision. I work with you to identify the attitudes and beliefs that shape your brand’s culture. We evaluate your unique value proposition and emotional selling points and shape the way which you would like to be perceived by customers and clients. Our job is to work on communicating your essence, craft your brand identity and shape perceptions that will reflect all of that.

I WOULD LOVE TO WORK WITH YOU TO CREATE:

• A COMPELLING BRAND STORY STRATEGY
• BRAND NAMES, PRODUCT NAMES, BOOK TITLES & TAGLINES THAT HELP YOU STAND OUT FROM THE CROWD
• YOUR UNIQUE MARKETING STRATEGY

CONTACT ME to talk about your marketing and brand story by
FILLING IN THE FORM BELOW.