How To Use Brand Storytelling To Capture Your Target Audience
Stories connect and trigger emotions — human beings are social animals who instantly connect and relate with people and brands who have relatable incidents to share.
People come across a new brand, and a distinct ping in their mind triggers the question — Does this brand have a story I connect with?
Now — this brand story needs context and a solid point of connection that makes it memorable and implores the customers to at least try out your product/service once.
There is even a neuroscience study by Princeton University professor for psychology and neuroscience, Uri Hasson which proves this claim.
The inferences Uri drew are — “As you hear a story unfold, your brain waves actually start to synchronize with those of the storyteller.”
But — brand storytelling cannot be just a generic recollection of the events that led to the creation of the brand. It needs to have the perfect balance of drama, emotion, facts and triggers that tug at the heartstrings of your target audience.
Your brand is a separate entity, a brand story brings it to life. So, a good brand story starts with the recognition of your ideal clients/customers.
Rebecca Patterson at the Wealth Accelerator shares the 7 ways to identify your ideal clients. These are:
- Look at your current customer base
- Consider their current habits
- Identify their goals
- Identify their fears (That’s what you can use as a subject line for your brand story)
- Identify how they make their decisions to buy
- Ask yourselves who you would like to work with
- What do they need?
The Laws of Brand Storytelling
According to Ekaterina Walter and Jessica Gioglio, authors of the book “The Laws of Brand Storytelling”, there are 7 main laws (30 sub-laws) that you can use to create or “Build a Tribe” of your own! These are:
- The protagonist laws (Know who you are): This is the “Who” that you want to look for. Know that real identity like the Beast was a prince in that classic Disney movie, “Beauty and the beast”!!
- The strategy laws (Understand your goals): Paint the bigger picture. A story without a foundation and direction is like a ship sailing in the ocean without any sense of wind and direction — it can sink anytime. Hence, you need to focus on strategy, approach, and storytelling framework. This approach should at least be focused on — 18 months term.
- The discovery laws (Find your story): The best stories are where the customer isn’t aware that you are selling to him/her. Remember: Not everyone will like an emotional story, and it does not need to be a story that is full of twists but a true one — told in a beautifully messy and enchanting way.
- The story-making laws (Craft your story): Now you have — the base, title, and the goal! Time to whip up that mind-boggling and eye-numbing story — if you are going the emotional way.
- The channel laws (Share your story): Take a look at this brilliant “Taco Moon” campaign by Taco Bell. They did this on May 4th to celebrate the Lunar Eclipse Moon, which resembles the shape of a delicious taco. The reward — free tacos for everyone. The billboards were the proponent to let the people know about this campaign and it’s needless to say that it got people hooked! So, know the right medium to lure your audience and tickle their fancy! When the people looked up to see the moon, the billboards’ Taco moon also came into sight and prompted them to get their free tacos. Placement of your brand story on the right medium is a must to get a great ROI out of it.
- The laws of engagement (engage with your communities): Spark conversations, start discussions, be consistent, and be as courteous as possible. The golden rules of engagement by top marketers of the world are what you should lead your brand communication strategy with. Some effective actions you can take for flawless engagement are: Acknowledge, apologize, and act. Oh! And don’t forget the elements of “Surprise and delight.”
- Oh, and one more law (Create your own): Creativity and experimentation — the foundation for all laws. These laws are the standard, but who says that you cannot think out of the box?!!
Think of this as a mental practice where you notice the gaps, and assess the opportunities that arise. When you remove them; write a book, a blog, or just anything to share it with the world and implement it in your storytelling process.
3 Brand Storytelling Examples From Some Amazing Brands
To implement these laws and create a brand story that entices — read the stories by the big players in your industry.
- Just Water: From Childhood Realization To A Movement
Just Water was created by the multi-talented Smith Family’s son — Jaden Smith. It is spring water that is sourced from the Adirondack Mountains and delivered to people in a sustainable, and plant-based bottle.
More than a bottle of water — it is a movement towards consciousness and environmental impact.
The story behind this brand touches the audience and shows how a little incident can turn into one of the biggest water brands in the world.
Source: Just Water
Personalization plays a key role in this story. Jaden had been working on this brand for 7 years. This is his — “Quest to do better!”
He saw a plastic bottle surf along with him when he was 10 years old — this image burned onto his mind. He doesn’t want to imagine the mass plastic and its harmful impact on the Pacific Ocean and is doing everything to prevent it.
This brand story is intuitive, instills emotion as climate change is a global problem, has a personal touch, and makes the goal clear.
From the story, you can conclude — “Plastic and negligence” is a monster that pollutes the world. Just Water is here to eradicate it or at least draw some attention to the problem.
The brand story of Just Water stands out because it positions itself as something driven by an experience. It humanizes the brand and shows that this is not just an attempt toward more sales, but an opportunity for each customer to contribute to a mass movement.
It includes all the elements: Why was it started? How are people connected with it? And a solid mission and vision. Checking boxes of all the laws of storytelling.
- Rare Beauty: A People’s Brand
In the book by Ekaterina and Jessica, they’ve made it clear that consumers are aware. Your brand is not what you say it is, but what they say it is.
In this context, Rare Beauty has stood victorious as it receives glorious reviews for its noble mission of making people feel comfortable and confident in their own skin. Rare Beauty by Selena Gomez is a cruelty-free and sustainable makeup brand that aims to break the unrealistic beauty standards of the world.
The word — “Rare” is the focus here. She believes that everyone is unique, and should feel confident in their skin. You can hear the echoes of rare in her albums too.
Source: Rare beauty
Some names from the Lip Soufflé Matte Lip Cream range are: Daring, Inspire, Energize, Heroic, and Transform.
All synonyms empower the customer base of Rare.
“I think Rare Beauty can be more than a beauty brand — it can make an impact. I want us all to stop comparing ourselves to each other and just start embracing our own uniqueness.” — Selena Gomez
The brand story is very clear about its mission from the start: Advocating self-confidence and mental health (It’s an initiative to donate 1% of all sales towards mental health.)
Rare’s brand story is different from other brands because its focus is not on the brand but — The People.
They are sustainable, have a mental impact, and create products that lead people towards self-development. They know who they are (The Protagonist Law) and market their story like a pro (The channel law).
Why Rare stands out: The people are the brand (Know who you are), clear goals (The strategy laws), a simple and enticing brand story to do something good (The story-making laws), derived from the personal experience of the founder in their own life.
- Frank body: From a cup of coffee to a scrub
Frank body narrates their brand story like you are living in it — The use of 1st person on their website. With Frank Rowley acting as the CEO/ Co-founder of the company, their sole focus is creating clean, vegan, and cruelty-free skincare products in a naughty and delicious way!
The story is an idea tossed around by a couple of friends over a cup of coffee that turned into a multi-million-dollar brand.
The owners — Jess Hatzis, Bree Johnson, Erika Geraerts, Steve Rowley, and Alexander Boffa leveraged the channel laws to take stride in the skincare industry with an aggressive word-of-mouth marketing strategy. Needless to say — the people resonate with the idea behind the brand a lot.
The flirtatious persona of Frank Body makes the story more personal. Hello! — The protagonist’s law, and personalization factor.
Source: Frank Beauty
The persona of the brand — Frank, believes in bagging babes (customers) left and right through fun and clean skincare.
This story is fun and reels the audience’s attention with the unique personality it has. Just like stories have the main character — a protagonist if you will, Frank leads the story here.
Hence, you need to find your brand story’s lead character and deliver the story around it. Give your readers a digital yet alive presence to relate with. Write the main character that knows all about your audience, and their sweet spots to take away the limelight in a good old brand storytelling fashion.
“People think in stories, not statistics, and marketers need to be master storytellers” — Arianna Huffington
The Best Types of Brand Storytelling in the Post Pandemic Recovery Era
The COVID-19 pandemic had a satanic hold over more aspects of lives than explainable. The stories that people narrate about it are eye-drenching and heart-throbbing. Emotions overpour and words touch both reader and the listener.
How will your brand use this to create an immersive storytelling experience full of emotional and happy renditions of the events of a pandemic?
Here Are The 5 Best Types of Storytelling in the Post-Pandemic Recovery Era That You Need to Know About
I followed the 7th law in this section (create your own laws). To brew up some personal ideas for you to create an exquisite brand story in addition to the standard ones.
- Emotional storytelling: Your audience loves a peek into your personal life. If your brand story stems from — agony, a painful experience, an uncertain event, or a happy moment shared with friends “Use it”. Some examples would include when you create a brand to pay tribute to someone you were close to. Remember — there is a difference between emotions and feelings. You can feel hungry, but there is no emotion such as hunger.
Rather — you will be agitated or sad because of the hunger pangs in your stomach. In the same way, a brand story that has some relation to the beliefs, culture, values, desires, or personal life of the audience, arouses emotions like happiness, anger, and sadness if you tell it in a way that keeps them hooked.
- Sparklines: What would the world look like without pollution? This approach includes a scenario of “What is” and “What could be”. Comparing a utopian world with the current world that is tainted with problems.
Take the example of the ad campaign by Apple TV+ (Experiment by Sir David Attenborough). How they depict the swift wave of climate recovery started by the pandemic lockdown. Seeing those animals wobble along the footpaths without any worry makes the heart so happy, and shows how a simple step can create a perfect world.
A perfect storyline of your brand looks towards a sustainable future and a clean and green environment. A story of how things escalate with small actions.
Hence, sparklines spark action towards the betterment of the current conditions and give your audience a result to look forward to.
One more example — coffee commercials that show how you will be more energized after a hot cup of joe!
- Petals story structure
This is the culmination of different stories that lead to a central idea or result. The context and conclusion for each story are the same. Pandemic brought a lot of similar stories to light.
Petal stories attract a good audience for your brand because the people are a part of it. Just like the Rare Beauty example that I took.
Or have a look at any wildlife conservation campaign to get an idea of how multiple stories bring together your brand — their brand.
A petal story is good if you want to show your audience if you focus on their needs. They leave the audience in anticipation of the reveal and build goodwill for you in advance.
Your brand story campaign should be the mirror for the audience to look at the ideal situation. It helps your brand create a strong image with a visual identity that instantly clicks the buying trigger for your customer.
- The Problem Solver
Your brand impresses your customers more with the solutions for various problems in everyday life and business. Like the pandemic was a problem, and vaccines solved it. Find a problem, and show how you can eliminate it.
Zendesk solves the problem of efficient customer support interactions through monitoring, tracking, and a priority road map.
Source: Zendesk
Take a look at how Zendesk jumps right to the problem in their story and ends it with — a solution. A straightforward, simple, and no-nonsense brand story. This follows the “Simplicity Law” in the story-making laws.
You must have heard — “We have a shorter attention span than a goldfish”. Well, it’s true according to a study by Microsoft, a human can focus up to 12–8 seconds on something, and then — Poof! The attention is gone.
Source: Microsoft
According to Ekaterina and Jessica — You have to resist the temptation to overshare and overcomplicate your brand story.
Your storyline should be succinct, and more memorable, rather than lengthy. It should be so well thought out that even a small glance over the first line delivers your motive quickly.
A quick outline for this type of storytelling:
a. Problem
b. Solution
c. Glue the story together with a long-term goal
d. Tell how it can stand out/uniqueness
- Quest storytelling
Quest storytelling means you are on the path to doing something, experiencing, something, or discovering something new with your brand.
Take the example of Blueland and its owner’s journey of becoming a mother and then realizing her goal to make the Earth more sustainable.
Source: Blueland
Her story isn’t just about the audience, but her realization of the mistake by her and many others. Her initiative and innovative products have helped save over 2,696,424 pounds of carbon and many other environment-related resources.
Why her story is inspirational: She saw a problem, made it a quest (a goal) to solve that problem, and made it her destiny to give people the solution for it.
Why do I emphasize giving an identity to your brand — humans connect better with humans. You can use the power of your brand story to create targeted ads that instantly bring customers to your lead pipeline.
How to build your brand story?
Your brand has something to say? Make it a story. No matter how minuscule or critical the problem is, there is always someone — eager to listen to it.
- Find your problem — The monster your brand will fight.
- Connect it with a story — You can take inspiration through assessment of surroundings, research, life experience, or an incident that you witnessed. If your creative juices are flowing — create one that is simple, catchy, and effective.
- Connect your story with the big picture — An ending is crucial for any story. What is the conclusion that the audience achieves with your brand?
- Be authentic — People need facts, this is not a fiction novel. These build trust, provide more personality, and keep you away from allegations of false interpretation.
Combine these factors, and you have the perfect brand story to share with the world.
Remember — “Storytelling is the most powerful way to put ideas into the world.” — Robert Mckee
