Brand Strategy & Storytelling: Building a Growth Foundation
Brand Strategy Process
a. Establish Core Elements
Develop a deeper understanding of your offerings. Define the attributes and value of each product or service, both externally and internally. This forms the basis for future messaging.
b. Define Brand Pillars
A brand represents something. This ‘something’ must be evident in all communications. Choose two to four key words that capture your core brand attributes.
c. Commit to Your Brand Promise
A brand promise sets audience expectations. Consistency is crucial, as this promise will guide your brand’s evolution for years.
d. Define Brand Personality
Like people, brands have personalities. Establish your brand’s persona, whether it’s sophisticated, witty, friendly, or unique.
e. Tell the Brand Story
Once you’ve defined your identity, values, promises, and personality, narrate your story. This is your ‘reasons to believe’.
Storytelling within Content
Storytelling isn’t about inventing stories. Your business’s existence, products, and services are filled with stories.
You aim to meet needs, answer questions, engage emotionally, connect, and find your voice. Your solutions and value proposition are all stories. Even internal sales kits can become narrative books.
What is Storytelling and its Relation with Brands?
- It’s an approach in projects and content creation, linking personal and existing stories to the brand narrative.
- Not all good content is storytelling; sometimes, it’s purely informational.
- Good storytelling isn’t directly about your brand or products.
- It’s about emotions, experiences, needs, and the images associated with them, in relation to your brand.
Why Brand Storytelling is Key to Growth?
Company storytelling has evolved beyond advertising and journalism. Today, a brand’s narrative can be effectively shared through social media and crowd-sourced content.
A brand’s story should be the foundation for a future growth strategy, not just for marketing campaigns.