What Story Does Your Organization Tell?
Stories emotionally connect us. A good story makes us think and feel, speaking to us in a way that numbers and data just can’t. It speaks to our collective values and our shared beliefs. It’s the reason behind our decisions, whether that’s deciding whom we consider our friends or deciding to pledge our loyalty to a particular brand or business.
In recent years, businesses of all shapes and sizes have accepted that storytelling must be a foundational part of their marketing strategy. In a world that’s oversaturated with content, it’s too easy to get lost in all the noise. Regardless of whether or not your product or service is better than a competitor’s, your target customer is still going to make their decisions based primarily on emotions, whether they realize it or not.
So, is your organization ready to tell its story?
The Importance of a Brand Narrative
A brand narrative is a concise, streamlined story that’s foundational to all of your company’s marketing and communications, both internally and externally. It’s not a script or set of words that are repeated verbatim, but rather a messaging framework based on your company’s reason for doing what it does best. In other words, it’s your company’s “why” statement.
As a leader in most things, Apple has been driving brand engagement thanks to its powerful storytelling campaigns. Rather than simply explaining why the iPhone is believed to be the best phone available on the market, they release campaigns that communicate their brand’s passion for creativity and foster a connection between human beings.
Similarly, Subaru is well known for using their television commercials to communicate the emotion of love instead of just focusing on the vehicle’s features and functions. In some, they’re portraying a family who over the years has had many different adventures in their beloved Subaru as a family until it’s time to say goodbye to their son, who’s ready to go off to college. The gift they give him to keep him safe and show their love? His very own Subaru for his next adventure in life.
Both of these brands understand the importance of creating a path of connection for the customer, allowing them to decide on the company and its product or service, all based on a story that emotionally affected them.
When it comes to weaving storytelling into your brand’s marketing strategy, remember that the goal is for customers to walk away with a solid understanding of your organization’s story, why it matters and why they should want to be a part of it.
Defining Your Brand
When it comes to correctly telling your organization’s story, there are a few questions you need to ask yourself to develop a strong brand narrative for your business.
The What
Work together with your team to brainstorm the following:
What are your business and your team passionate about?
What types of services or products do you offer?
What can you as a business be the best at?
What makes your company great?
The Why
Based on the answers you came up with for each of the questions above, it’s time to ask, “Why are these things important?”
Why is this important based on what we’re passionate about as a business?
Why does what we offer matter to the world?
Why are our products or services essential?
Why do these products or services matter to the world?
Why is it essential that we’re the best at X?
Why does it matter that we’re the best at X?
Why is it important that we’re a great company because of X?
Why does it matter that we’re a great company because of X?
Based on all of this, why do we as a company do what we do?
The Who
Now, it’s time to figure out who our ideal customer is:
Using the questions above, what are our ideal customer groups’ age, gender and general economic status based on what we’ve uncovered?
What are their personality traits, buying habits and online or in-person research habits before making a buying decision?
Is there a common theme among each of these target groups?
What’s their common pain point or challenge?
How does our product or service fix this pain point?
Answering each of these questions will help your organization to achieve brand clarity about its story and understand why it’s compelling for customers to support. As a byproduct of this, you’ll also be successful in aligning your organization, building community and, in the end, growing your business.
Not sure how to get started? Download HAVEN Creative’s free guide and workbook to Defining Your Brand Story. You can also contact one of our HAVEN Mavens™ today to learn more about our workshops and pivot sessions.