How To Author Your Brand Story!

Chapter 1:
What is a brand story?

When was the last time you were hooked into a story? Unable to put down a book, long after your bedtime? Or with your eyes glued to a screen, afraid to even blink for fear you might miss the big reveal?

When you’re enraptured by something, it holds your focus for you. It occupies your thoughts and makes you ignore competing stimuli.

But books are just squiggles of ink on deli-thin sliced trees. And TV and movies are just neatly organized light bulbs shining light in your direction. The medium itself is not enough to hold your attention — it’s what people do with it that counts.

And what people do with it is to tell you (and sell you) a story. They take something that is powerless on its own, and they use it to make you feel something powerful.

This is the biggest difference between a brand story and your individual branding elements. Whereas your branding elements (fonts, logos, colours) appeal to people’s senses, the brand story is only focused on their feelings.

So, your brand story is the plot that keeps people interested in the specific elements (like characters or locations in fiction, or your product line in real life).

Chapter 2:
Why a brand story is important

Even reality TV has a script!

And while it may have lots of room for improv, there still needs to be a sense of order and cohesion — the viewers need to believe that the plot is moving towards something singular, be it a climax, or a resolution, or a punchline, or an explanation of some mystery.

To tell you precisely why it is that humans crave a certain story structure, we would need a hundred more articles and a couple dozen literary and psychology PhDs. But for now, it should be intuitive enough to you that a good story resonates with something inside of us.

Think of your clients (and potential customers) as having little radio towers in their heads. All you need to do is attune your message to the right frequency, and they’ll be on your wavelength.

The system is already set up for you. People are hardwired to love a good story; give your brand one, and they’ll love your brand too!

Chapter 3:
Write YOUR story!

The wrong question to ask yourself when concocting your brand story is: “What SHOULD my brand story be?”

The right question is: “What IS my brand story?”

Too many businesses make the mistake of cherry picking what they think an ideal story should be, and trying to squeeze their brand into that narrative box.

You’ve more than likely heard this advice for authors: “write what you know”. And in the same vein, your brand story should be a reflection of your journey; more of a biography than a work of fiction.

Asking yourself why you’ve made all the decisions you have about your business is key to understanding your narrative. What is the experience your business provides that you can amplify and remind people about? Don’t try to build something out of nothing.

If you bake the best bread in the world, your story will focus on something like sharing meals with good company, or the touch of care that comes from humble homemade food. You definitely wouldn’t craft a narrative about feeling the rush of wind in your hair as you drive a sports car, or about the feeling of being admired for your fancy clothes and makeup. Because those are someone else’s story.

You know best what compels you to show up for your business each and every day. And that is the same feeling that will compel your customers to do the same thing.

Chapter 4:
Whose (plot)line is it anyway?

Almost every plot follows the same architecture.

Sometimes this is called the “hero’s journey”. Sometimes people break it down into smaller concepts, like tragedy or comedy. But it always consists of at least two very basic components:

Conflict, and Resolution.

In stories, the hero is presented with some conflict — either trouble has come to them or they’re heading out into the world despite all odds. We usually learn a bit about them to give us some context, but mostly we learn about something they want and what difficulties they would have if they tried to get it.

The distance between them and their goal creates conflict. That conflict NEEDS to be resolved. We, as audience members, desperately want a resolution.

And this is not just something you find in dusty old books or epic texts. This applies to any kind of storytelling. In stand up comedy, a joke will have a setup followed by a punchline. Or in sales, you can pose a problem then show how your product solves it. Even a photo can show you a scene and make you ask “what comes next”?

So when you create your brand story, there has to be a clear conflict. What obstacle does your business want to overcome? What dragons do you have to slay?

But here’s the twist — while you might set up the conflict, you are NOT the hero who will bring about a resolution.

Who is the hero?

Your AUDIENCE.

Every person is the main character of their own story. You can never create a brand story that anyone will care more about than their own. So your entire branding effort needs to be focused on making your story a part of theirs.

For example, if you run an eco-friendly home improvement store, you can set them up to become the hero that saves the planet (not you). Or maybe you manage stock portfolios — in that case, they can become the hero whose cunning financial savvy brought wealth to their family (even if you’re the one who actually does the work).

Your brand story should clearly show them something they should want, how they can achieve it, and what’s at stake if they don’t rise to the occasion and become a hero.

ACCESSIBILITY