I am often asked, "How do you go about needing a brand story?", noting that something incredibly complicated is expected as an answer. But: disappointment and relief. Brand story is complicated? - The opposite is the case!
The mechanics of brand stories are very simple and follow simple schematic principles. The flip side is: when you are looking for the content of your brand story, it becomes difficult - but still not complicated. Because there it's all about focus, reduction and precision, i.e. leaving out the superfluous. It's about the discovery of simplicity in Albert Einstein's thought furrow: "If you can't explain something simply, you don't understand it well enough.
The problem is, you often know your product far too well to understand it well enough. You are too close to it, too deep in it, love it with a hot heart. In this situation, good consultants bring a very important quality to the table that you cannot possibly have yourself: the sharp view from the outside, with which superfluous communication ballast can be cleanly cut away.
But what is superfluous in a brand? With your brand?
In any case, the facts are superfluous. Of course, facts are not superfluous, but in the end the so-called hard facts, the product advantages and performance promises are then again self-evident, as a rule quite interchangeable and hardly suitable as real decision-making and distinguishing features. Or they are copied sooner or later. Innovation is vital, but not a guarantee of survival.
The bottom line is that facts are not what we humans buy, even though we often like to claim and convince ourselves that they are. Especially when we have once again bought something too expensive that we don't really need.
Likewise, the small price is anything but the last word in wisdom, because there is hardly anything more expensive than shouting "Cheap!", and everyone can work out where that leads sooner or later.
Following Einstein, we must first understand something very simple: We humans seek meaning and significance in everything we do. Because in it we discover who we are. In doing so, we tell who we are, get feedback from our environment and in turn discover who we are.
We humans don't buy products, we buy meaning. Meaning makes relevant. Meaning is relative. Meaning creates resonance.
Because we define ourselves by many parameters, starting with gender, race, origin or religion, and in our so-called civilised, consumer-driven world also massively by what we buy. Or don't buy. That's where the meaning lies.
You can tell whether something is important to you by whether you are prepared to spend money on it or invest your time in it. This realisation is undoubtedly somewhat cynical, but such is the time in which we live. Function and benefit are provided by all, relevance through meaning is provided only by our favourite brands, which we use to tell people about ourselves.
Yes, it is true that products of high quality naturally have to be more expensive than those of lower quality, simply because more development work, more expensive material and longer production time are involved. But the real added value, which is also expressed in the price, arises in the meaning.
We even spend considerably more money on the significance of a brand than on what the product delivers in terms of functional benefits.
Unique products are very, very rare, even if the manufacturers of the products don't like to hear that. For every product there is a Me too somewhere. The distinction that brings success lies in the meaning, the values, the why - in the story. That's where the unique Made for me emerges. Relevant resonance.
Everything begins with the why. Friedrich Nietzsche once said: "Whoever has a why to live, can endure almost any how." Translated into marketing, this means: "He who loves the why of a brand can bear almost any price." Whereby the price cannot only be expressed in money, but is a synonym for countervalue. The why of a brand is so close and significant to me that I give something valuable for it: my data, my recommendation, my money - my time ... Time with Brand.
Over the course of almost 15 years, I have developed a multifaceted programme of methods for the development of a sustainable and powerful brand story. Hero Branding® - Brands make Heroes forms its core.
My method toolbox also includes a number of smaller, playful tools that are very helpful in the search for why, meaning, values and relevance. I use them in workshops with clients, as well as in sessions with my creative and strategy teams of all sizes, and sometimes all by myself.
As a reader of my blog, you get an exclusive best of here and can use it to organise a mini-workshop with yourself right now. Here are a few important tips as general instructions for use:
- These tools are playful tasks that help you change the direction and perspective of your thinking. They are seemingly naively simple, but when you try them out for the first time, you will quickly feel some effort. The effort is worth it!
- Do it in writing, on paper, not on a computer or tablet. Many experiences in creative processes show that the combination of brain/heart, hand with pen/paper bring much better results than digital writing. This has to do with the special magic of creative work, applies to art, design and every other kind of creativity up to writing concepts and strategies. I share this experience absolutely and without exception, although as a founding member of the Digital Bohemians I am anything but anti-technology.
- Do, don't think long and hard. Power, effect and inspiration come from doing. Trust the process!
- If you want to build muscle with push-ups, do ten and do ten every day, you will build exactly no muscle. If you can do ten, you have to do eleven, if you can do eleven, you have to wrestle a twelfth push-up out of yourself so that something grows. And then take a breath and do three more. That's exactly how you pump up your creative muscle. So when you can't do any more, keep going. And be amazed at the result.
- Often creative trick number 1 helps: Let's just try the opposite of what we are doing now.
These are my all-time favourites:
The status update.
We humans constantly want to update our status, not only on Facebook, but in everything we do. This is programmed into our operating system. Please do not interpret "status" linearly in the sense of "social class".
As a result, we post things on our social profiles that we hope will get likes and shares, i.e. recognition for our status. In doing so, we tell people about ourselves: Content that we feel is relevant to us and that we use to define ourselves. Take a look at the streams of Facebook, Instagram & Co. What topics would your audience like, comment on or share? What would your brand like, comment on or share? What would your brand have to post for your audience to like, comment on or share?
The WhatsApp test.
Let's say your brand is new and has just been discovered by your audience with enthusiasm. An insider tip, so to speak. What would someone write to their friends about it in a short message, starting with: "Look what I discovered: …”
The eulogy of the saving angel.
This tool comes in two variants. The macabre variant B) usually works better in my experience, but I have no idea why.
- Imagine that your brand is new. The saving angel appears to us humans and announces the good news. "People of the earth! XX has come to you today, and your lives will be no more as before. For at last ..."
- Imagine your brand has died and we are standing around the open grave. It's your turn to give the eulogy to your badge. "We are gathered here in this hour of farewell to mourn an irreplaceable loss. For with XX we lose ... No one else can give us ..."
The Rocky Method.
Every story describes the development of the main character in a so-called character arc. In films, this is very visible because the opening image is the opposite of the closing image . In between there is something that the main character has achieved. Something is not in balance, the main character has to bring it into balance through a special achievement. I call this the Rocky method because the mechanics are particularly visible in this story.
Imbalance - Opening Image: Rocky roams through life as an outsider.
Balance - Closing Image: Rocky is cheered by the masses.
Achievement: On the surface, Rocky has put up a heroic fight against the heavyweight champion of the world, Apollo Creed. In fact, he has defeated an even more powerful opponent, his lack of self-esteem. Rocky has learned: I am worth loving.
This is the simplest dramaturgical scheme of a story and at the same time shows the core of storytelling as it must be properly understood. It is about a value that is in danger if the hero of a story does not deliver a special performance - factually and emotionally. That is the schema of an effective brand story.
Take the test. Your audience is Rocky - what longing do they have that they can satisfy with your brand? If you know that, then you know what business you're really in and you've started the engine of your brand story. Read more here .
The Hollywood Combo.
In the vast majority of cases, new things are nothing more than the unusual, paradoxical combination of what is already known, which produces an astonishing new result. In essence, this is how one can describe the essence of creativity.
When new films or series concepts are presented in Hollywood, the phrase "It's like Story A meets Story B." is often heard and everyone has an image in mind. For example, Emergency Room meets Sex and the City . What comes out of that? That's right: Grey's Anatomy, whose working title was Sex and the Surgery .
Try the Hollywood combo for your brand story. Which two (maximum three) well-known (brand) stories can you combine?
Our Rebel T-shirt.
The best trick of the trade of new thinking in marketing communication is to see your brand, the brand story and what you do for it from the perspective of a movement. What would you do if you didn't have a product or service in stock, but wanted to create a movement? That's how you can spark enthusiasm and commitment. We humans want to belong to something that is bigger than us and that creates meaning. On a large and small scale. And even the small supermarket checkout employee, often abused as a cliché, wants to find meaning in her work. Just like the brain surgeon. Meaning means something different for everyone, yet the same for many.
What would be written on the T-shirt of this movement? This can be your brand's claim, but it doesn't have to be - if only because not every brand necessarily needs a claim. But it helps. So: What would be written on the T-shirt of your employees so that they wear it with pride? What message would have to be on it for your audience to wear it? Read more about the rebellious power of brands here.
If you don't find themes and values in these tools, but stop at the level of product facts, then you don't have a brand story, but a problem. Then you have to do something urgently, because otherwise you will soon only have one topic of conversation left, and that is the price. Don't do it!
Inspire your audience with things that will benefit their lives. Then you don't have to desperately pursue them with adverstalking, but people will come to you. The prerequisite is that your brand activates the simple principles described above.
Yes, simple! And once again Albert Einstein: "Any half-smart fool can make things bigger, more complicated and more violent. It takes the touch of genius - and a lot of courage - to move in the opposite direction."
So let's be ingenious and bold, not just talk about the prize, but respectfully engage with our audience. Let's engage people with relevant stories. Whether it's a multinational mega brand, B2B, B2C or solopreneur. Let's do story instead of advertising. Advertising only creates echo, story creates resonance.
For all those who say, "You can't do that with my brand!" I remind you of the simple phrase that Albert Einstein envied my grandmother, old Story Dudette, all his life: "No Story. No Glory."