5 EASY STEPS TO MASTER BRAND STORY TELLING
Branding is an art form. Every brand has to have an identity the people are able to recognize form a mile away. So how do you personify your brand in a way that makes it memorable? Check out the following 5 steps below that will push your brand ahead of your competition.
1. KEEP IT SIMPLE STUPID
The brand story has to boil down to a tagline, idea, or a mascot, symbol. What do you think of when you think of Apple? The answer is probably intuitive technology. What do you think of when you think of GEICO? Something about saving 15% in 15 minutes…, the lizard, and of course the caveman.
The best tagline requires the best copywriting. Check out our guide on writing headlines that convert by clicking here.
The point is that you need to associate your brand with an idea that people understand instantaneously. If it takes more than 20 seconds to understand what you are talking about you’ve already lost.
All this boils down to a simple word – positioning. Your brand has to have a position in your customer’s head. Check out the book Positioning by Al Ries, Jack Trout, and Philip Kotler by clicking here. Some even call it the Bible of advertising. I highly recommend it.
2. EMOTION
Emotions are universal. So if your brand story appeals to a certain emotion you are guaranteed to affect 99.99% of the people seeing the ad. There are a ton of emotions to choose from but if you want your brand story to be truly effective you have to choose either happiness or sadness.
The best way for your story to be impactful is to make sure that the characters of the story also have a predisposed emotional response. Just think of what people like to see the most? You don’t have to think hard to have figure out an answer to that one. Check out the most popular videos section on YouTube and you will be pleasantly surprised that people like to watch animals and babies.
Here is one of the past Super Bowl commercials to demonstrate a point:
3. YOUR TRUTH
They say that there are 3 truths – my truth, your truth, and THE truth. If my truth is stronger than your truth then my truth is THE truth. Get it? You have to make a case as to why you are better than your competitors. Knock down their truth with a series of emotional and logical arguments to make your truth come to the forefront.
Just think of this quote as you think about the truth of your brand “Brand perception is a brand’s reality.”
4. REAL TIME EXAMPLES
Remember show and tells in elementary school? Well this is basically the same thing. If you show me something worthwhile I will tell others. Use case studies, visual cues, videos, etc. to make your customer understand what your product does and how they can use it.
The best example for this are the infomercials of the 90’s and 00’s. One memorable example is the P90X infomercial. It became the longest running infomercial to date and sold a TON of their fitness programs. Check out the short version below:
5. MAKE IT RELATABLE
All best copywriters say that the best way to write a copy that speaks to everyone is by writing a copy that speaks to only one guy. And the really best copy is the copy that speaks to the person writing it. It sounds counter-intuitive but it’s true. It turns out that when you write for everyone you write for no one and the same thing holds true for your brand story.
In a nutshell to make your brand relatable figure out who you are relating to. The more specific the better.