A guide to writing a brand story

What is a brand story?

If we look back, very few sources know how to explain exactly what a brand story is and why it is needed. So without further ado - this is a framework for business. Background - real or made up, that puts an image in the customer's mind in which the business can be placed and remembered. The brand story answers the question "What is the point of the business?"

How would you explain to your friends about a new business that has opened a business that you want to tell about? Here are some examples:

• "It's a place opened by a chef together with a waiter he used to work with, he actually came from a project for youth in need! They make sandwiches and every time there's a surprise inside in the form of a different fruit!"

• "This bakery is in the middle of nowhere, but everything is ready by hand and at that moment! She even studied law but decided she wanted to be a pastry chef!"

• "This consulting company? It's two partners, they've been working together for 25 years, they have clients from all over the country, but they insist on staying in the Negev"

Therefore, a brand story is not per se marketing material, it is not an elevator pitch. It's marketing material indirectly, it later helps to dress up the marketing material in a clear context. The relationship strengthens the feeling of recognition and customers like certainty and reliability. Customers wonder "why buy from you"? And if you can answer that question with a believable story, you've built trust with that customer.

Customers like to know what is behind a brand and especially if there is something personal behind it - a real or invented character that can be related to. Therefore, it is also recommended that a brand story be told in the first person. However, personality is what drives the story, but it is not necessarily a biography of someone. This is evolution, the development of the business.

Where do you "put" the "story"? Where it will be clear. About on the website, video on Facebook. To make the story believable, it is recommended that all branding and advertising materials reflect it later - in language, wording, graphics. An incoherent story loses its potential benefits.

How do you start a brand story or "what can you write about"?

First of all, scribble on a page what comes to mind according to the following lines:

Basic background questions

You can use the five mms: you can tell how the business was established, who the owner is - a special characteristic of them, why the owners decided to enter the field, when was the decision made (if it's interesting, say with the move abroad), what happened? Has a hobby turned into a thriving business?

Background questions are a bit more complex

What ideological idea is behind the business? what dream what's the point? We would like to define the mission or vision - how the business and its values ​​make the world/specific experience of your customer better. What mark do you want to leave on the world? It's a good simulation to be emotional and play on strings.

Ask yourself, why do you deserve to sell what you sell? What makes you professionals?

Why are you different from any other business that does the same thing (it's better to stay positive and not talk about competitors)

What do you have that can create a personal and direct relationship with the customer? Why is it worth listening to you?

Of course, the answer to each question can be a whole world, but it also depends on the business. Not everyone has an anecdotal story. Sometimes you have to invent it from scratch and if it is not anchored in reality, you can also invent a fictitious character through which the desired story will be told.

Arranging data in a simple schematic structure

You can use the "structure" of a beginning, middle and end to make the story flow:

Start: The problem. What problem does the business aim to solve?

Middle: Solution, how the business solves the problem

End: success, and excitement for the future. Everything that is being done to him and how the customer fits into this future ("Let's go with poison"!)

In any case, after the story is formulated, it is useful to back it up in a one-pager so that it outlines the way, a sort of strategic plan that will be in the offing.

Highlights

• Tell the story so that the audience can identify with you/the business. Create a feeling that you understand them, that you are like them.

• Depends on the business, but the story can be creative, funny, sad, fascinating - everything to make it interesting and memorable! The customer goes through a journey, make sure that he becomes the ambassador of your story (and this will happen if the story touches him on a personal level or is memorable for some other reason)

And an important point to conclude - the brand story builds the foundations of trust, but only the customer's personal experience will formalize this story into something that stays with the business.