Crafting Brand Stories

There is a basic format for brand stories: they begin with a character (the customer) who has a problem, introduce a hero (the brand) who can solve their problem, then tell the story of how the hero solves the character’s problem, leading up to an ending where happiness is restored. 

It’s a fairly common plot, told by virtually every brand – and what’s more, it’s the kind of story a brand must tell to win the customer.  It’s hackneyed, but necessary – psychologically, people recognize and know what to expect when the story follows a pattern.  When an advertiser attempts to break from the pattern, customers don’t understand, and they are confused by commercial messaging that deviates from the expected pattern.

The basic elements of the story must therefore follow in the tradition: there must be characters, a situation, a plot, a sequence of events, and a resolution.   However, not all stories are good stories, nor are they interesting and compelling.    To gain attention and credibility, the story must have a few additional qualities:

1. Relevant – The customer is able to identify with the character, to feel that “this is something that could happen to me.”
2. Significant – The bigger the problem, the greater the impact.  The hero slays a dragon, he does not step on an ant.
3. Credible – The story must be realistic.  It must be story about which the customer thinks “this could really happen to me.”
4. Empowering – The story must seem achievable.   The customer must believe that it is something they are capable of doing.

The degree to which the brand story demonstrates these qualities is the degree to which the customer will be interested in engaging with the brand.   They are convinced that the brand offers them something of value, and that they are able to obtain that value by engaging with the brand.

Once a customer is convinced of the story, it becomes difficult to dissuade him.   People cling to their beliefs and defend them – so if someone else comes along and tells the customer that there is a better solution, he will view that alternative with a jaundiced eye because it is a threat to his beliefs.  In that way, a good brand story forms a strong connection.

It does not, however, mean that the customer feels the need to take action.  The story may be interesting and credible, but this does not give the customer the desire to act on it immediately.   He may be interested in acting on it eventually, but there is no sense of urgency, which is a much trickier problem, and which has been considered elsewhere.