There are 6 ways to create a brand story that will spark discussion

New Balance tells a story about Li Zongsheng's "To the Craftsman", which makes its brand style rise sharply...

Chu Orange tells a story about Chu Shijian who is still strong despite being old, leaving thousands of other oranges behind by who knows how many streets...

If diamonds themselves can be considered a brand, they told the best story in the 20th century. “Diamonds are forever” has since become a testimony to everlasting love. What could be more engaging and fascinating than telling a great story?

A popular word in English content marketing is storytelling, which literally means “telling stories” in Chinese. The essence of content marketing is to express your own story in a way that others like and enjoy, stimulate the audience's interest in reading, and build a bridge between the brand and customers.

The best companies tell two types of stories to build strong and lasting brands. One is the genesis story, which focuses on the company's entrepreneurial legend; the other is the customer impact story, which tells about the positive impact and changes that the company's products and services have brought to people's lives. A distinct theme, personalized characters, rich and conflicting plots, and empathetic details are all essential.

Good stories make good marketing

No one likes to listen to big truths. It has nothing to do with people's IQ or status. "Story Club" and "Zhiyin" have their own audience groups, and the financial magazines in the airport also rely on business stories to fascinate white-collar professionals.

Disney cartoons created Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck, which transformed the concept of "mouse into Mickey Mouse". The general impression of "rat" is not necessarily liked by everyone. But Mickey Mouse is different. Although it is still a mouse, it can bring happiness to people and gain the love and good impression of most people - Mickey Mouse has become a brand.

And this process of change is storytelling. Behind almost every successful brand there is a wonderful story. All successful brands are good at "storytelling". They know how to explain the brand's history, connotation, and spirit to consumers, and instill the brand concept in them in a subtle way.

So, good marketing is about telling a good story.

The following four key triggers and boosters are essential for a good story...

A vivid and positive theme: inspiration and dreams

This is a hot topic in today's society and it is also the spiritual food that losers use to comfort themselves. Dream-themed, inspirational, and even love-themed literary and artistic themes are the weak points of the entire human race.

Personalized Characters

Among the army of entrepreneurs, only those born in the 1990s and 2000s can still attract public opinion and attention. They are the envy of those born in the 1970s and 1980s and the focus of the media. Through the display of the characters' personalities, people will never miss a good show. The audience will cheer for their successes and will also be distressed by their setbacks.

Novel and visual forms of communication - comics, videos.

Compared with long texts, images are inherently intuitive and beautiful, easier to spread, and more suitable for fragmented time. The comic format itself is more readable and spreadable.

Video marketing is currently developing into three trends:

1. Brand videoization: Many advertisers present their brand advertisements through videos, and this trend is very obvious. Many advertisers hope to showcase their brands through video marketing.

2. The development of video networking has become a common trend in Internet marketing .

3. Advertising content When we watch TV, as soon as we see an advertisement, we pick up the remote control to change the channel and no longer watch the other party's content. But if we find that an advertisement becomes an important component of a TV program or video, or becomes a link in the plot, people will be willing to watch it. One of its main methods is product placement.

The core contradictions and conflicts of the story: persistence and individuality in growth and entrepreneurship

Another of the most exciting templates right now, the Genesis Story shows the motivation behind the creation of a brand or company. Just like Mercedes-Benz, people will think of the story of "the father takes the daughter's surname". Every great company is a response to a real and specific user need. And the Genesis story clarifies just that.

Common story types and case references

Here are six common types and case references...

Entrepreneurial story

In September 2014, when Alibaba went public, " Jack Ma 's business card" was widely circulated on the Internet. It turned out that before he established Alibaba , Jack Ma was just the assistant business manager and marketing director of an unknown small company in Hangzhou. When a company is successful, people seem to be more willing to "gossip" about its past events before the success.

When a brand is created from scratch, the entrepreneurial process is often the key to the success of the brand. The entrepreneur ’s personality and stories from the entrepreneurial period are also likely to determine the brand’s genes. When it comes to telling entrepreneurial stories, luxury brands are definitely experts.

The ultimate goal of all marketing is undoubtedly to increase sales, but the long-term goal of luxury marketing is subconscious brand placement. Whenever luxury brands enter a new market or launch a new product, storytelling is often their opening statement.

【Case Reference】CocoChanel's ChanelStyle

Chanel's entrepreneurial story is divided into 12 chapters and is played in the form of a video on its official website. In this kind of story, the founder's personality and major events are the protagonists. In the brand narrative, Chanel is not only the most important brand in the fashion industry, but Chanel Style has also become a symbol of elegant and fashionable taste of famous women in the social scene.

The rise, fame, achievements and experiences of founder Gabriella "Coco" Chanel throughout her life have brought her endless creative inspiration. The story of Coco Chanel is the story of the brand, and the story of the brand is also her story. Customers' fascination with the Chanel brand is largely a tribute to Ms. Coco Chanel and a projection of her spiritual outlook.

Historical stories

Time is sometimes also a part of brand assets. Over the long years, only excellent brands can remain timeless and fresh through the test of time. Water heaters are a category that is difficult to show their "personality". Many people born in the 1980s may still remember a local water heater brand - Macro and Lewanjia. Back then, this slogan was spread to thousands of households through television, but we only remember this slogan and still know nothing about this brand.

Another American water heater brand is much smarter, with the same advertising slogan: My AO Smith water heater has been in use for 52 years. But the amount of information expressed is much greater. In one sentence, the quality of this brand of water heaters is immediately conveyed, and the historical depth of the brand is vividly expressed.

【Case Reference】Patek Philippe, “Passed Down from Generation to Generation”

The famous advertising slogan of high-end watch brand Patek Philippe, "Create your own tradition", has long become a clear brand identity. The strong emotional expression is the main reason why this advertising campaign has long been highly regarded, and it also combines the life values ​​​​believed in by Patek Philippe customers with the ideas upheld by the fourth-generation head of this family watchmaking company.

Patek Philippe once launched an advertising film that vividly showed how a watch became an emotional bond between father and son, telling a story of "passing down from generation to generation." Regardless of cultural background, this sincere emotion can be relatable to every father and son. The classic advertising slogan “No one can truly own Patek Philippe, it is just kept for the next generation” expresses the brand’s lasting texture in a simple and noble way.

Spreading story

Some brands may ask: I am not a big brand, and I don’t have as long a history as Chanel and Patek Philippe. Do I have no stories to tell? Old companies have their own way of telling stories, and new companies and new products can also have interesting stories. It all depends on how you approach it.

For a new brand, a good story can save a lot of advertising costs and make the brand stand out quickly among similar products. The story of Chu Orange is a typical example. With Chu Shijian's legendary life as the clue and his perseverance in sharpening his sword for ten years, many people were moved by this story first.

“The measure of a person’s success is not how high he climbs to the top, but how strong his bounce-back is after he hits the bottom.” After seeing Chu Orange go on the market in Beijing, Wang Shi quoted General Patton’s words and commented on it on Weibo. This was a heartfelt tribute to Chu Shijian and Chu Orange from a man who once climbed Mount Everest.

Not only Wang Shi, but also some well-known people such as Pan Shiyi, Liang Dong, and Yang Jinlin posted on Weibo to support Chu Orange. Therefore, this story is no longer Chu Orange’s own story. In the process of story spreading, Chu Orange is attached with a halo - inspirational and progressive.

【Case Reference】Vigidani focuses on "Farmer Stories"

Some brands rooted in Taobao often win by telling stories. For example, there is a well-known agricultural product brand on Taobao - Weijidani. "Weijidani" means "conscience" in Uyghur. Whether in Weijidani's Taobao store or on Weibo and WeChat , entrepreneurs hope to integrate farmers' stories into the products. Each product contains a story.

At the beginning of the store's establishment, Weijidani posted several Weibo posts using the farmer's real name, which were reposted by celebrities such as Yao Chen and Zhou Hongyi. The newly established Weijidani's popularity increased rapidly, and Weijidani was built into a warm and sentimental brand.

Related Stories

If a brand has good enough capital, it can tell its own story, making the brand itself the focus and attracting more consumers. If not, you might as well start with "relevance", closely integrate brand identity with consumer needs, strengthen two-way communication between the two, and achieve brand goals by establishing connections.

Compared with B2C brands, it is more difficult for B2B companies to establish connections with consumers, but good B2B companies must be those that can tell stories, such as GE and SAP. Take SAP as an example. It is a B2B software company and its “relationship” with general consumers seems to be quite distant. How can we tell its story well?

SAP used Easter, a festival closely related to people's lives, to tell the story of SAP: on Easter Day, children can get a lot of chocolates, so children like this festival very much. Because 85% of the world's cocoa companies use SAP software to maintain their operations. If SAP software disappears, these cocoa companies will not be able to operate, and children will not be able to eat chocolate.

Through this story, people realize that SAP is so relevant to people's lives, not just dealing with cold machines.

【Case Reference】Let IKEA help you renovate your kitchen

Swedish furniture brand IKEA is also good at storytelling. In collaboration with MEC Entertainment, IKEA launched a reality show called "Fix this Kitchen" on A&E TV in the United States. In each episode of about 30 minutes, the production team will select families suitable for renovation from the audience who have registered actively, and observe their schedules and interests. The host and the well-known chef will then create an exclusive kitchen for this family within five days.

In each episode of the program, the production team uses IKEA products to bring about a radical transformation for a family, and also carefully introduces the product features that can make life more convenient. Even though the audience knows that the program is sponsored and produced by IKEA, the practical information still meets the urgent needs of consumers.

According to a survey by LatitudeResearch, 60% of viewers who have watched the show believe that IKEA provides high-quality products, and as many as two-thirds of people would consider visiting IKEA when remodeling their kitchens. The show has also directly increased the usage of IKEA's online kitchen design software by 30%.

Style story

Some stories are meant to create their own style and take a differentiated route. Whenever people think of a certain style, they immediately think of this brand. This is most evident in the beverage industry where product homogeneity is prevalent.

For example, the wine industry has formed a set of standard procedures. The origin, brewing process, history, flavor, and even the food pairing all determine the connotation of the brand and even the price. Even for adjacent wine estates, the elements of these stories are different and the prices are also different.

For example, there are many types of Chinese liquor, and different liquor brands have different characteristics. Yanghe has a mellow taste, Gujing has a vintage taste, Zizi has a soft taste, Kouzi has a cellared taste, Yingjia has an ecological taste, Jingzhi has a sesame-flavored taste. All the brands you can think of have a unique taste, and the clearer the taste experience, the better the brand's development tends to be.

【Case Study】 Starbucks applies “geography is flavor”

Suppose we are in a coffee shop now, and you need to describe your favorite coffee flavor to the waiter, is it a refreshing sour taste, a mild taste, or a subtle nutty taste - in fact, most consumers are not very clear.

In 2005, Starbucks decided to use coffee packaging to reflect the origin logo to guide consumers to distinguish the subtle differences between coffees and help them discover their favorite flavors. Starbucks coffee beans are mainly produced in America, Africa and the Pacific region. The coffee beans in each region have a unique flavor. The tasting process is the process of discovering the flavor, acidity, body and smell.

Detailed story

Small details can also be turned into big things. Some start with small details, which are very fragmented, but can achieve the effect of seeing the big picture from the small details. When others see this detail, they can feel your corporate image.

【Case Reference】 Google’s “change that 99.9% of people didn’t notice”

Many people must not have noticed that Google quietly changed its LOGO. The changes in the new logo are very subtle and difficult for ordinary people to see. The G and l in the original logo have moved slightly, with G moving one pixel to the right and l moving one pixel to the lower right.

The title of this story is "Changes that 99.9% of people didn't notice", but it actually aroused everyone's "interest" in discovery, and everyone is vying to become that 0.1%. Thus, a change becomes a story, and a story becomes a communication. By telling this story, Google also presents its brand as one that is meticulous and strives for excellence.

Why do story marketing?

Never expires

The time limit was broken. An advertisement published in a newspaper may be read today and thrown away tomorrow, and may disappear from this world in about a month. However, a childhood photo posted on the Internet will not become a yellowed old photo when you have gray hair.

This time advantage allows brands to build their own stories online step by step, allowing the stories to connect the past and the future. As the stories accumulate, the accumulated thickness will become a kind of content asset, which can be exchanged for brand exposure, trust and loyalty.

Penetrate every hole

In the era of traditional media, you can choose to avoid advertisements, you can change channels on TV, and you can turn pages in magazines. In the Internet age, especially after the large-scale advent of mobile Internet , is there nowhere to escape?

Advertisements always come uninvited. Multi-screen interaction and fragmented catalysts provide numerous possibilities for storytelling. You can also add more variety to your story, such as cross-media narrative, cross-screen interaction, etc.

Speak whenever you want

The Internet has unleashed the long-tail economy, which is the power of the grassroots. Every company should also be a self-media . By outputting valuable content, providing help, gaining goodwill and trust, business will naturally come.

Therefore, the emergence of the Internet has brought about an era in which it is most convenient to tell stories about your own business, and it is an era in which you have to tell stories.

Social Needs

Advertisements on social platforms are no longer “advertisements” but “stories”.

Because all kinds of precision, interaction, recommendation, comment and forwarding in the relationship chain will be accompanied by socialized netizen behavior at all times, under the premise of accuracy and effectiveness, traditional dry advertising has been minimized, and story-telling marketing information will freely travel through the information links of interactive social users who need them.

The integration of user relationship chains and the social reconstruction of online media will stimulate advertisers' enthusiasm for social marketing .

The author of this article is @CMO Training Camp and it is compiled and published by (Qinggua Media). Please indicate the author information and source when reprinting!

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