The power of brand storytelling.
Creating a brand is complex.
It involves carefully selecting and assembling a series of component parts that will shape an enduring concept. It’s about truly understanding the needs and wants of now, but also having the strategic rigour to power ahead for the future.
Thriving brands master the art of storytelling. Stories have a unique power — they captivate, forge connections and pave the way for enduring relationships.
With storytelling, we don’t mean crafting a fictional tale, but a narrative that is anchored on reality and offers a genuine brand promise.
The start point should always be to understand what need the brand is fulfilling. Is it a radical rethink? Or is it to solve a particular moment in time? Should it conform to the current landscape? Or is it looking ahead beyond fleeting trends?
Often the storytelling happens at the end of the project, almost like a press release to sell an idea. This may work temporarily, but audiences are likely to see through this.
This is why the ‘why’ is fundamental in crafting a unique narrative.
How the story is then developed, directed and deployed to evolve seamlessly through the brand’s lifetime, is key to its longevity. We see it as creating a solid foundation to build further upon.
And this is where branding becomes exciting.
Be emotive
A brand’s strategic platform should explain the unique characteristics of the business, its personality, the backstory and its reasons for being.
Having a strong narrative will enable a brand to connect with audiences on an emotional level. This is extremely important since we tend to make decisions based on emotions rather than rationality.
Of all the emotions, love, respect and desire are the most powerful. Great brands will be aware of this and are able to create meaningful and authentic stories to stimulate these emotions.
We work with brands across industries — technology, property, manufacturing, finance and more. The consistent thread across them all, is that we use storytelling to ensure they have the clarity to be understood, and the charisma to be loved and admired.
Be practical
The world is navigating a complex web of communication channels. We see many businesses and brands hit the pitfalls of using the latest technologies and marketing trends because, “it’s what everyone else is doing” and “it’s the latest trend”.
Frankly, the old rules apply: Know your audience — who are they and how do they consume information. Then based on this knowledge, assess the mix of channels that offer the best outcomes.
For instance, an engineer who spends his working day out of office in a transit van is much more likely to be moved by a strategically-placed OOH or a radio ad, than the latest multi-platform social campaign.
Likewise, there are generational and cultural differences to consider. Understanding your audience, applying common sense and then thinking outside of the herd, will go a long way to providing the strategy for effective brand communications.
Be ambitious
We can’t advocate enough for great brand storytelling. When applied coherently across language, photography and design, there is nothing more powerful for a business than its brand.
Just look at some of the great business outcomes we’ve achieved for our clients.
Like helping Richemont International’s startup intelligence ecosystem Enquirus, achieve over 172,000 signups within the first three months of launch. The rebrand programme for Amman Minerals, powering them towards becoming the first Indonesian mining company in the Global Top 50. And the brand creation for DIRT, the revolutionary neuroscience research platform, where we helped them achieve Series A funding.
Your next challenge may be aiming to achieve similar results. So, as a start point, ask yourself the following questions.
Is your brand clear and easily understood by all of your stakeholder audiences?
Are you and your people proud of how your brand presents itself and is perceived?
Is your marketing communications driving deeper levels of engagement and commercial success?
Are you building a tribe that wants to shout about you from the rooftops?
If you’re answering ‘no’ to any of these questions, perhaps its time to collaborate with a results-driven brand and design consultancy.
