Your Brand Is Your Story
If a business is inseparable from its brand, it’s important to understand how customers form emotional impressions of the companies they encounter. Our work consistently reveals that one form of communication triumphs above all others in the human mind: storytelling.
The power of narrative is well-established: We’re drawn to stories compulsively and recall them with more accuracy than isolated bits of data. To distinguish themselves in customers’ minds, brands must harness the potential of their own stories.
Unfortunately, many companies neglect this approach altogether, assuming the simpler path is to assert single facts. “Lasts twice as long!” or “25% more free” may catch the eye momentarily. But these statements reveal nothing about a company’s character, aside from its eagerness to sell.
But when a customer and company are joined as characters in a single story, a brand connection can form. In these cases, the customer surmounts some challenge with the brand’s assistance, achieving a desirable outcome.
Consider the child’s comment about McDonald’s: In explaining why she felt warm about the brand, she automatically adopted the mode of storytelling. The customer is the protagonist of the narrative (“Everybody likes you”), but her experience reveals the power of story to cement positive brand associations.
Your Brand Is Your Values
Your brand elevates your product beyond the realm of indistinct commodities, providing a basis for customer identification. But that connection must consist in shared ideas rather than transactional benefits.
The modern consumer has a vast array of options at his or her disposal – and more tools than ever to evaluate choices critically. The internet enables us all to investigate the companies with whom we do business and choose differently if we don’t like what we find.
In this climate, a brand’s principles are paramount. We care less about the particular product being foisted upon us and more about the values espoused by the company in question. After all, given the vast availability of alternatives, the brands we choose reflect something about who we are as well.
Notably, brands don’t demonstrate their values by practicing arbitrary acts of charity. If an altruistic endeavor seems inauthentic or exploitative, “cause marketing” can backfire publicly. Additionally, some studies suggest charitable missions can be counterproductive to internal employee morale if they feel it’s merely symbolic.
Authentic values emerge from the intersection of a brand’s identity and the convictions of customers. But when this alignment is achieved, the expression of these values becomes more intuitive across new channels and other opportunities.
Consider the example provided by Zappos, a brand beloved by customers for its commitment to care for customers – an ethical devotion in its own right. To achieve this distinctive reputation, the company employs a set of “omni-values,” core principles that permeate every element of the business’ operations.
These principles ultimately improve the experience of customers, but they’re really encouragements to do meaningful work. Employees are urged to “pursue growth and learning” and “build open and honest relationships with communication.” When earnestly followed, these values are a path to purpose.
To achieve the results that Zappos has enjoyed, however, values must be practiced rather than merely preached.
Your Brand Is Worth Building
For the marketer willing to engage them, these concepts reveal real opportunities. But every possibility comes with its attendant challenges, and the nuances of the human mind should not be underestimated.
With a new understanding of your brand’s constituent elements, you’re likely eager to move toward strategy. But more rigorous exploration must come first. Any plan worth executing will be rooted in real truth, not the shaky ground of assumption.
Our team brings extensive research experience to the table, permitting deep exploration of your most vexing business challenges. Our methodologies avoid the frequent pitfalls of other market research methods, so you’ll enjoy a level of insight your competitors lack.
Once we define the human truth at the heart of your brand’s potential, we’ll move to provide strategic recommendations as well. Insight is only as valuable as its eventual application, and our experts can aid your brand with both.
Once you acknowledge the complexity and opportunity inherent in your brand, you can’t simply resume a superficial approach. We’ll help you grow a brand with purpose and potential that goes deeper than mere symbols.
