I’m not saying an idea can’t survive without a Brand Story, but It can help on many many levels. Over the next few weeks I’m going to showcase my 50 Favourite Brands with Amazing Stories, but today I’ll set the wheels in motion by offering 5 reasons why YOU should have one.
A business of any kind – whether it’s large, established, a startup, or one-man show – is full to the brim with paperwork, plans, and models that play little role other than to make the bank manager happy. A Brand Story is not one of these!
Simply put it’s YOUR story set out in a way that not only demonstrates what your business is about, but helps you learn more about your product, customer, and message as a whole. When you start trying to gain exposure and communicate with this vast world we live in, it certainly helps. Trust me!
5 Reasons To Create A Brand Story
I’m one of those sad individuals that’s always on the look out for a brand that stands out. I may have no interest in the product, but if the message they preach is outstanding, well, they’ll more than likely catch my eye.
I’m going to offer my 50 Favourite Brands with Amazing Stories in the coming weeks, but first I’d like to set the foundation by sharing 5 reasons you NEED a Brand Story (or should at least consider one). Let me try twist your arm:
1: It Organises Your Thoughts
If you’ve ever come up with an idea for a new business or project you’ll know that it can be tricky translating it from your head into the working world. A Brand Story helps because it forces you to go back to the beginning and consider the true essence of what you’re doing.
Before long all that chaos begins to ease, and you soon have an organised set of thoughts that makes sense. All those blanks get filled, and all it took was taking a few steps back and evaluating where you are.
2: It Teaches You About Product & Customer
I’m always under the assumption that people understand their customers fairly well, but not REALLY WELL. I discover that they’ve met many of them, but they still can’t offer simple information such as what their hobbies are, whey the go to relax, and what they desire more than anything.
A Brand Story develops these characters, and in doing so you’re able to improve the product, service, and process. It’s not simply about the product or the customer, but creating a package that brings the two together.
3: It Helps Define Your Message
If there’s one thing a Brand Story does above else, it’s a well defined message. If you approach things properly, the message you NEED to spread will form automatically, and trust me, what you thought your message should be, will probably be a little off course.
The more learn about your business, your products, your process, and customers, the better the message will be. Without the right message it doesn’t matter whether you use Twitter or Facebook or a SuperBowl Ad, impact will be lost. Message is key, and a Brand Story helps you find the right one.
4: It Evokes Emotion
As you probably know I’m not one for clinging to the past. I embrace the future and what stands before us today. The modern consumer desires a connection, and this can only be had if you evoke their emotions. A well defined Brand Story helps you achieve this and gather some loyalty.
Most successful brands have a legion of loyal fans who support them like people support sports teams. This has to be your goal, and no, you don’t have to create some ultra-groovy product to make this happen. All businesses can achieve this.
5: It Has Few Rules To Follow
I approach a Brand Story like a novel: it needs a beginning, middle, and end.
The great thing is you make the rules. It might be a booklet or magazine or series of videos or set of webpages or an animation film or flipbook or PDF document or…well you get the point. Your goal is to create a story that reflects what you’re doing.
It’s because of this why a Brand Story is a practical part of your business. It isn’t built to appeal to bank managers, but to everyone – be it an employee, customer, investor, or potential client.
Hopefully by now you see the potential of what a Brand Story holds. Over the next five Monday’s I’m going to release my 50 Favourite Brands with Amazing Stories and demonstrate how companies are connecting with their audience.
Some of these brands are large, others very small. I don’t care for size, rather the amazing story they offer.
With that I say goodbye, but not before I offer you a chance to learn more about Brand stories. This week I’m going to keep three 30 minute slots open to help you discover your own Brand Story. These are FREE and first come, first served, so if you’d like to learn more about what a Brand Story can offer, email me at: matt@turndog.co
Turndog Millionaire – @turndog_million
