“Storytelling is the most powerful way to put ideas into the world today.” —Robert McKee 

Storytelling is a lost art, yet it is one of the most critical components of a company, personal brand, or organization. Think about the last time you came across something “new” on your social media timeline, what’s the first thing you did? Shared it with a friend? Screenshot the content for future reference? Visited the company website to learn more? Whichever action you took, it started with the desire to collect more information.

As a consultant here on Giselle Ave. I’ve had the pleasure of helping multiple brands across industries  get their stories told. Among these brands include the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Procter & Gamble’s My Black is Beautiful campaign, and Intecoo— a digital marketing agency, with millennials in mind.

Surprisingly, there is still a ton of confusion about why brands need a story. I’m here to share why pairing persuasive storytelling and beautiful content is the secret formula to a winning brand!

3 Reasons Why Your Brand Needs A Story

Purpose.

It’s not the product, it’s the story behind it. Purpose is a word constantly being thrown around in today’s “find your purpose” market, but there’s a lot of validity in this statement. When a brand has a story–and tells that story; it allows customers to connect and become apart of the brand itself. The why is the driving force that turns a person from a spectator to an avid supporter of your brand.

Take a good look at Tom’s shoes. Here’s a company that sells shoes. There are a lot of companies that sell shoes. But, Tom’s Shoes focuses on their purpose and mission-driven company values to attract and retain new customers. It’s not the shoe, it’s not even that fashionable or expensive. It’s the story.

They sell their story first, and product second.

Value.

Telling a good story about your brand helps add a tremendous amount of value! Value is the most critical component in business because without value, how will you know if what you’re selling is even worth anything? We have to go a step further than posting a cute picture on social media. The next step in this processes is sharing your story, so your potential customers know you’re a valuable brand.

Let’s examine the music industry right now. There are several artists on the scene, coming out left and right. How can we look past the music to really become fans of these said artists? We dig deeper to see if their story adds value to the very reason why we liked their music in the first place. Kanye West, for example, was introduced to the hip-hop scene over a decade ago after his single release, Through the Wire.

He has grown so much since then, but how did he land his place in everyone’s top 5 music artists of all-time? He shared his story. Kanye successfully introduced himself to the global rap scene as a music artist whom writes and produces most of his music–and wrote Through the Wire soon after an almost fatal car accident. Today, Kanye West has emerged into a household brand name–whether you agree with his stance on politics or not.

Growth.

Have you ever seen a rumor spread from start to finish? It spread quickly! Surprisingly, it increases the value of the brand once the rumor runs wild. All publicity is good publicity and every chance you get to share your story, there’s an immediate increase in brand value. Need more proof? Just look at the growth of Amazon over the past five years.  Every year, the shipping giant soars in sales, and Amazon Prime subscriptions. All thanks to the power of their solid brand and ability to share their story of how Bezos started the company in his garage, and built it into a billion dollar company.

There you have it, three reasons why your brand needs a story. Marketing is great, but authentic brand storytelling is what you need to get to the next level.

Contact us to learn how we can help you craft your story!

Until next time,

Belle in the City

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