How to build your brand story and why you should have one

What is a brand story?

77% of consumers say that they buy from brands who share the same values as them (Havas Group, 2019) and 88% of consumers say that authenticity is important when deciding which brands to support (Stackla, 2021). What this tells us is there has never been more incentive for companies to listen to the voice of consumers than right now.

It’s not enough to build it and think your customers will come to you; consumers want to be able to choose brands that help build their own identity and represent what they believe in. This is driving companies to look inwards at themselves to understand who they are (brand identity), and what they stand for (brand purpose).

Brand story is an emotive narrative of how your business started that has driven your brand identity, why you exist and what your mission is, which can drive your brand purpose. By crafting your brand story, you are bringing your business to life and making it easier for consumers to identify with you, ultimately driving growth and loyalty.

To give an example of how powerful a strong brand story can be, think about the three simple words ‘Just Do It’. Behind these three words lies a multitude of emotions for millions of people across the world. Nike have crafted their brand story and turned it into one of the most powerful brands that we have ever known. Using their tagline along with a very strong and consistent brand messaging and mission of doing ‘everything possible to expand human potential’ they have become very successful leaders.

Nike has crafted their brand story around their tagline but your brand story transcends everything that you do. From your business name, how your business is run to how you interact with your customers and all throughout marketing and sales content; it’s how you choose to present your business to your customers.

Why should you have a brand story?

The good news is that you’ve already done the hardest part without even realising it. You have a business, therefore you already have your brand story. What you should be doing is using this to your advantage and crafting your narrative to work for you.

But why is it worth investing time and money into something that you already have? Well because science tells us that emotive storytelling is powerful and can trigger emotional responses in consumers, engaging them and encouraging an interaction with the brand. Over the long term this drives up brand recall, loyalty and helps a brand become a part of the consumer’s identity.

Your brand story also helps to highlight your vision and mission, your brand values and your purpose because once you understand why your business started you can make sense of what it is you want to achieve.

You might say this is all fair enough for a large consumer brand but is it really necessary for small, local businesses. The answer is yes. Without a cohesive narrative behind your company it’s hard to get your employees driving your business in the same direction. Employees need to understand the vision and mission to help them, help you. From your customers perspective, they need to make a choice between you and your competitors and they want to know that they can trust any business that they are using to help them. With your brand story you’re making it easier to do all of this.

How to build your brand story?

Before going ahead and looking into your brand story there are a few key elements that your brand story must do…

1. Be meaningful to your target audience. It needs to speak to and connect with your audience and explain how you can change their lives or make some difference to them

2. Be emotive. We know that people choose brands because of the feelings they evoke so make sure that you are connecting with your customers on an emotive level.

3. Be authentic. Authenticity is what consumers are looking for and this will shine through what you do.

It’s now time to work on building your brand story and teasing up all of the early memories. Think about who you are and why you started the business and what your initial goals were. Work through everything that you think about your business and you should find that your story builds up around these answers.

Once you have done this you should now use it to communicate and connect with your customers through all of your customer touchpoints.

For help working through the process and how to communicate your brand story get in touch with me today.