A powerful brand story captures the attention of the audience, touches their emotions, and inspires them to be and do better.

Brand storytelling has long been a skilful art in creative marketing.

In a world of information overload, several brands have taken to inventive storytelling to infuse brand awareness and recognition.

Why brand storytelling is powerful

An honest marketing story is undoubtedly a powerful way that differentiates a brand and connects at a deeper level, with the right prospects. How often do you use Google to find a friend you lost touch with, decades ago? Does that happen every other day?

Maybe not!

But when Google India launched its reunion story of two friends separated during the partitioning of India and Pakistan, people could easily relate to the strength of the search engine. The story was dramatic, emotional, and informative and connected the audience through tears of happiness! That is a great way to let people know how your brand can make a difference in their life.

A good story does not only teach people something new but dives deep into the inherent beliefs of customers and makes them feel smart and confident about choosing your brand.

Another content marketing example, is when Starbucks launched its “Meet Me at Starbucks” video, they managed to take the brand to another level. The audience from over 28 countries could relate to at least one moment shown through the video and thus Starbucks successfully built its credibility with a wide range of customers.

 


How to Craft a Successful Story
Every story is worth sharing. Before your brand is ready to share its “once upon a time” element with the world, ensure you have the following essentialities of storytelling in place.

• Understand your brand
  A good story starts with an honest analysis of the brand. To understand your brand, ask yourself how the brand has been positioned and where do you want to take it. Starbucks repositioned itself from being a premium coffee seller to a place for important moments in people’s lives through its brand story.
  
  

• Stay clear and consistent
  Stories emulate a certain set of attributes that attracts people. Ensure your brand message stays consistent throughout your ad campaigns. Havells launched a series of commercial videos for its various appliances but it made certain the powerful “women empowerment message” was consistent throughout.
  
  

• Have a strong start and finish
  Whether your story is the new Mills and Boons version or a serious social message, it must have a stimulating start and a satisfying finish for the audience.

Talk about your audience

A story starts to get pushy when you are only talking about your products. But instead make your audience the hero and tell them why they would be so right about choosing you. The world leader in cosmetics L’Oreal has weaved its success story by letting customers know that “they are worth it.”

Remember…

Coca Cola did not ask you to open their bottles but instead said “Open Happiness”. Dove did not use testimonials from top models but spoke about the stories of regular women and their experience with the brand. Tanishq established its brand power through a ground-breaking video about remarriage.

Stories penetrate deeper than facts, figures and features. They enable the brand to position itself in the hearts of the audience rather than the precarious edges of their mind.

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views, official policy or position of GlobalLinker.