BRAND COMMUNICATION: STORYTELLING AND THE POWER OF BELIEVABILITY

by Kurt on May 5, 2012

What makes a brand “story” stick is its believability, i.e. the answer to one single question: Do people buy the (brand) story ?

 

Why is this important?

Well, first of all: a brand story tells the story of the brand, it evokes associations. Your consumers need to “get it”. If your story is unbelievable, there will be more questions than answers.

Secondly, a powerful and consistent brand story clicks immediately, is memorable, and will push you up on ToMa and into the evoked set!

Third, if consumers buy your brand story it means it has a unique quality. It is differentiated from your competitors. It stands out.

Last, but not least: credible brand stories create advocacy. Your consumer like what they see/hear, and will do the (word-of-mouth) for you…

 and…people L-O-V-E stories! it is one of the most HUMAN things, and that makes it powerful for brands.

A friend, marketer, and storyteller made a wonderful presentation on this very topic:

As a marketer, you need to OWN the brand and its story. The issue of weak or disjointed brand story comes from brand stories being “dreamed up” too often in C-suites or by agencies. The result being: brand stories that look very shiny on paper but don’t touch base with the consumer. They might come across as ‘fake’, too far from the core or too big to be real … some of them sometimes look like mission statements!

So. Vital = do people buy the (brand) story?

One of the most powerful brand stories ever is Harley Davidson: they have been telling the very same story from the start: Harley stands for individuality, rebellion, different , fearless, bold and brave, free spirited, wild and adventurous. The brand is all about ESCAPISM.

 

Another great and  consistent brand story is from McDonalds. Their global I’m Lovin’ It campaign is a perfect expression of what McDonalds stands for:  a simple everyday pleasure, a treat for the whole family. This campaign is running in over 100 countries. And…they are even taking it to I’m Lovin’ It 2.0 now!

And then there is MTV. A brilliant brand. Inspiring youth to change the world -that’s BIG.

 

Here my 5 check points to make sure that your brand story is powerful and grounded in believability:

1-Make the story around your brand as simple as possible. Play back consumer words. When, as a consumer, you hear something that already makes sense in your own mind, you immediately go: “yep, I get that”. That’s exactly the reaction you want!

2- Make it true. Don’t BS. Whatever promise in the story you can not meet, will weaken down believability and in the end crush your whole proposition.

3-Make it “sound” close to consumers hearts. A powerful brand story is highly emotional. Grounded in product facts but with a nice emotional sauce on top. Let the brand personality shine through.

4-Use “elevator speech” principles. Differently put: if you can’t convince your grandmother in a split second, you’re probably off in the wrong direction.

5-Make the WHOLE story consistent: communication…pack…activation…engagement… it all has to tell the same story

Over-and-above that, your brand needs to be as consistent as possible. The absolute KILLER for your brand story is changing it every year. That just leads to consumer confusion…and…disbelief!

 

Thank you very much for reading this blog post,

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{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }

Karim Baraka October 11, 2011 at 4:29 am

very intersting and inspirational Kurt ,,, Thanks for sharing

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Janine November 7, 2011 at 7:47 pm

Lerannig a ton from these neat articles.

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Prabhat Shah November 15, 2011 at 11:34 pm

I really believe this works. I have read up some case study by John Sadowsky. Check it out !

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Sneha November 23, 2011 at 1:52 pm

Hi. very nice and useful article. :)

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Kurt January 6, 2012 at 10:13 am

Here’s and incredibly useful site that gathers massive amounts of useful information (and stories!) about storytelling and the power of narrativity for brands: http://www.scoop.it/t/story-and-narrative

this page is quoted in http://www.scoop.it/t/story-and-narrative/p/938556859/brand-communication-storytelling-and-the-power-of-believability

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Kurt March 2, 2012 at 10:33 am
Kurt August 9, 2013 at 5:14 pm

Iconic brand campaigns always told stories – and those stories were always human >> http://networkedblogs.com/NPRxp

Reply

Kurt August 24, 2013 at 1:12 pm

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