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By Rohi Mhere
BRAND story telling has always been part of the Brand’s mechanism, you cannot separate story telling from the brand because they drive each other, they co-exist. A brand story is more than just a narrative, a brand story is felt and experienced, it evokes feelings about your brand and it builds up the consumers’ perspective and confidence towards your brand.
It’s a shame that to most brands story telling just happens and in the end it normally yields a disastrous result for the brand. You as an entrepreneur should be able to control your Brand’s story, because when you don’t tell a story ironically you are actually telling one, simply meaning that you have no control to the story that your Brand is forming for itself. Stories define brands, they help connect with the consumer emotionally, and it makes the consumer relate emotionally to your brand.
Great brand stories are those that connect with the society at large bringing into play social and cultural relevance in almost all the touch points of the brand. Branding should not be convectional, it should not be something that you take for granted, it’s a building block for your business, if you want to build an iconic brand then branding to you should be serious business hence being able to control your brand’s story.
A brand story can also be defined as a complete picture made up of facts, feelings, and interpretations, meaning that part of your story isn’t even told by you, but you have to control the story by sending the right signals to the consumer. Below are some of the steps in building a great brand Story.
- Be able to define yourself as a company.
Knowing who you are as a company is on its own a great compass that guides you in telling a good story. When you know yourself you are able to define who you are to others, in other words you able to sell yourself and influence the way other people think about you. One of the best steps of defining yourself is having a Mission statement that defines who you are and who you are for in a few sentences. A mission statement gives purpose and purpose defines a company. A good example for this is Apple’s mission statement which is “to bring the best user experience to its customers through its innovative computer hardware, computer software, and services. “, that is why Apples story is so clear because they had a clear Mission Statement first before having a story, after having a clearly defined Mission they then started building a story around that. These days when someone hands you an IPhone you just know, the story translates itself to you, you don’t need to be told.
- You have to be Authentic
Authenticity is not merely claiming that you will be able to deliver what you said you will or maybe just saying that you are the best in the market, being authentic is just being able to walk the talk, be able to deliver what you promise. By maintaining a level of consistency in your authenticity you build trust between the consumer and the company hence consumers becoming active participants.
- Think about the essence of your brand
Every iconic brand story is created out of a need for being something more than just a brand. Think about Disney, for example. The essence of Disney is happiness, adventure, mystery, and joy. In short, the essence comes down to what your brand is all about, your reason of existing in the first place?.
- Be able to align company values with Customer values to create a connection
If you craft your story around a challenge or values that resonates with the audience, it’ll create what’s called a “mirror experience”. The mirror experience occurs when the audience can put themselves in the shoes of the main character. It occurs because they’ve either had that experience before, or they can easily see themselves having it. An audience will replace the main character with themselves. It’s that empathetic feeling of “like me”. Creating a mirror experience within the mind of the audience is the secret to why storytelling is the best approach to driving the consumer behaviors you seek.
It’s so easy for customers to miss your company’s messaging if your marketing doesn’t have a brand story. Like a television screen overcome by static, the image may be there, but buried beneath the distortion. Having a brand story brings clarity, letting a company’s messaging unfold in full colour. Brand stories offer conclusions that solve a customers’ problems. But these stories aren’t wrapped up at the very end. Rather they should mean a lifelong journey, with your brand helping them through all of life’s challenges.
Rohi Mhere is a Pan-African Brand Designer and Consultant with a demonstrated history in the industry, he is also the founder of Drop Studios a Brand Design and Consultant Agency based in Marondera. He can be reached on mhererohi297@gmail.com or on his WhatsApp number: 071 682 0699.
