Who doesn’t love a good story? Every year millions of dollars are spent on movie tickets just so that we can be entertained by brilliant story tellers. It then makes sense, that to engage and capture the imagination of your customers, businesses should do the same. So why do so many businesses ignore this essential step to building a brand?
People remember stories far better than they can recite a list of attributes or benefits. Wrap what you want to say into an engaging story and your audience will remember you forever.
6 steps to create a memorable brand story
1. Know your personality
If you understand your brand personality, it makes it so much easier to develop a story. If you are the Hero brand for example, the pace and tone of your story will be far more energised than if your personality is that of the Seducer, which would be indulgent and intimate. Find out what your brand personality is.
2. Clarity
Make sure you know what your core values are. Take time to structure what you want to say and how you want to say it. This is the mainframe of your brand story; who you are, what you do, who you do it for, why it matters to them, and how it’s different from anyone else in the marketplace. Make sure that your tone and language match the brand personality of your business as this will add to the authenticity of your story.
3. Create believable characters
A story is highly dependant on the characters within it. Developing believable characters is essential to a good brand story – one that people can relate to. The rags to riches type stories of the common man making good is one that everyone loves, as it gives them hope that they might be able to achieve something similar in their lives. Your characters need to be very human and ones that your target audience can relate to.
4. Consistency
To ensure that the message comes across effectively, you need to ensure that you say it (and show it) in the same way ALL the time. By being consistent in all of your communications and actions your message will start to come together, creating a brand presence for you in the marketplace.
5. Tone
I touched on tone under Clarity. This is really important to set the tempo of the story. You can’t have a nurturing story told with strong, dynamic language as it won’t be believable. The tone needs to be gentle and flowing. If your story is being told in a TV ad, video or even on the radio, it is critical to find a voice over that will match the tone of your business.
6. Keep it moving
People these days are very time poor, so it is essential to keep your story on point and moving quickly. Everyone has hear of an elevator speech. If not, it is the ability to be able to explain to someone in an elevator trip what your business is all about. It’s about 30 seconds long and is concise and to the point. Your brand story does not need to be this short, but it does need to be to the point so that you don’t lose your audiences’ attention.
Writing is not easy to do, but getting your brand story right is an essential element to helping you build a strong and believable brand. If you find writing a challenge, we encourage you to find a copywriter who can write in a style that is going to compliment your brand.
For brand development, contact our WRD team to see how we can assist you.
Written by branding specialist Debbie O’Connor
Consultant, Strategist, Keynote Speaker
