"Storytelling reveals meaning without the error of defining it." Hannah Arendt
"Storytelling is the most powerful way to put ideas into the world today." Robert McAfee Brown
"A story should be remembered for its soul, and not for its bells and whistles." Bernajean Porter
"If you talked to people like advertising talked to people, they'd punch you in the face." Hugh Macleod
I've found in my experience over the last 4 years running a word of mouth firm, one of the toughest challenges is telling stories about brands that are not only authentic but compelling and human. Finding copywriters who don't have the temptation to throw in flowery adjectives and a jingoistic roll call of benefits is maddening.
Search high and low and if you scan 100 websites, you'd be challenged to find one good story about the company or brand it supports. Even the good ones in my recent search, can hide themselves behind the trivial stuff. A good story should be there smack dab on the front page attracting you like a mosquito to the nightlight.
Here are some of my faves (beyond Apple's clarion call to Think Different pictured above):
Lululemon - a manifesto for healthier, longer, more fun lives
Innocent Drinks - little tasty drinks, trying to do the right thing
Moleskine - a history of artists and big thinkers
Icebreaker - the Kiwi performance sustainable athletic apparel and the BAAcode
Trader Joes - the indulgent neighbourhood store
Soup Peddler - the mobile "soup is love" purveyor of fine broth
Kiehl's - the too good to be true skin care company
Nike - who says big companies can't tell great compelling stories (and their new campaign)
Dos Equis - keeping your friends thirsty in a J. Peterman meets superhero manner
Here's David Vinjamuri telling Ben McConnell (plucked from Brand Story) on the one thing entrepreneurs and companies should get right:
"Learn how to tell your story really well. I call it ‘building a myth’
because like a myth the story has to be easy to remember and share,
dramatic, and it has to have a lesson contained within it. That
shareable founding story is what consumers use to convert people to
your brand."
What common threads do great stories have in common?
- They're human - they avoid the PR and marketing jargon and articulate conversationally what they're about
- They stand for something - half of the battle is not standing for everything and using words and phrases that don't make people yawn or worse puke from their over-reaching and beigeness, that's why big brands suffer in building them -= they're always worried what the other half thinks - get a spine and declare your mission
- They're simple and clear - they pass the subway ad, I can draw a straight line between what you say you are and what I think you are
- They're visual- if a picture is 1,000 words than maybe you can tell your story in 15 words with a picture
- They're never fully told - great brand stories leave room to explore and discover and provide a bit of mystique or mystery
-They're consistent with your experience - nothing hurts more than we're the greenest company ion he world printed on non-recycled paper
- Unless otherwise justified, they don't overpromise - in fact, some of the best ones are self-deprecating and don't take themselves too seriously
- They are repeatable - they are memetic in nature and simple enough to be remembered and conveyed to others
- They are empathetic - they are as much about what you can do with the brand than what the brand stands for
- They root themselves in a cause or mission larger than themselves - they are so much more than the functional attributes of the product and vest people in a world view and mission that is impossible not to accept
Of course, as Amazon's Jeff Bezos accurately states "a brand is what people say about you when you're not in the room." But a good brand story can help seed how people think about you before they enter the room.
Curious to know, if any of you have run across great, no -truly great brand stories? Please share.
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