Humans need stories. Good brand marketing gives them meaning.
We all remember stories. We invent stories. We have to explain why. Some scientists say that humans are different from all other primates because we need explanations, reasons — the why?— to understand the meaning of what happens in our world. We primates live in a way of seeing our past and future; the stories give us reasoning to feel comfortable moving forward.
We remember stories and brands that explain why they matter.
— Levis were originally made from the sailcloth of the ships that were abandoned in San Francisco Bay in the gold rush of 1849.
— Intel Inside creates meaning because it’s about the power behind your computing.
— Apple: two guys who revolutionized the world of personal computers with the goal of making you, the user, feel unique and special.
— Jeep is the iconic vehicle brand that at its core is American — with its roots in the history of World War 2.
Risk and problem-solving connects people and meaning.
Anthropologists and sociologists both say stories are a way of organizing patterns in our world, events that occur over time or sometimes in our daily experiences. They get us to conform and focus on how to move forward, avoid disaster, create moral value — do the right thing (from our internal perspective) for our family and community or the world.
Often we can ingest explanations on how things work, how the mechanisms in machines function and it feels like a vague meaningless, unrelated thing but when we create a story around it, perhaps about a person who has something at stake, it changes the game. The drama and emotion of the story provide impact.
We take action or see why things happened. We need to know. Knowing gives us a sense of the future and where we can go with less risk and more certainty — we can test the waters and move forward with security and confidence.
Building value into brands and marketing comes from the stories we tell.
- People identify with who they see and the problem. And, they remember what the solutions were. You keep their attention.
- In creating stories, defining personas, focusing on the brand, the market and what customer problems need to be solved is essential.
- This is why stories are at the heart of brand creation and marketing.
- Every brand has a story. Tell it well.