Everyone wants a brand story. They do – trust us. We get asked for it all the time…

“We need a brand story!” they’ll say.

But very few people actually understand what that means. 

Luckily for you, we do. That’s why we created SuperBrand. Here’s what a brand story is…from our perspective. 

Most people think their brand story is an origin story. Like Kentucky Fried Chicken, or Tom’s Shoes… A hero founder, fighting against all odds and breaking all the rules to build their business. 

An origin story is great. And we all have one. But an origin story isn’t a brand story. 

A brand story is actually a story that lives in your audience’s minds, and it’s usually a story they create themselves as a result of coming in contact with your business at different points. 

Here’s an example of how this works in another context:

v1

Imagine you’re at a party where you don’t know anyone. You see a woman putting food on the table and you immediately think she’s part of the catering staff (yeah it’s that kind of a party!). But then 20 minutes later you see the woman again, only this time she’s mixing it up with the guests. Catering staff wouldn’t do that – she must be one of the hosts. Now she’s someone you might want to know socially because, well, she throws good parties. 10 minutes later, she’s signing a book with her photo on the cover – as an aspiring writer, suddenly she’s more than the host, she’s someone that can help your career… 

v2

Imagine you’re at a party where you don’t know anyone. You see a woman putting food on the table and you immediately think she’s part of the catering staff (yeah it’s that kind of a party!). You think, “I should remember her in case I need some more caviar on my crackers.” But then 20 minutes later you see the woman again, only this time she’s mixing it up with the guests. Catering staff wouldn’t do that – she must be one of the hosts because she’s socializing and organizing. This might make her more valuable because she obviously throws great parties. But 10 minutes later, the woman pulls out a card deck and does an elaborate mind reading trick for one of the guests. You, as an aspiring magician now realize she’s a professional magician and perhaps someone that can help you with your career.

We encounter situations like this all the time. We make up stories about things until we receive specific information. With each piece of information, the story becomes more complete. 

When we encounter any brand or business, we do the same thing. We see them on social media, we see their ads, we go to their site… and we make up a story of what we believe they’re about. 

That’s just how people think and how we create an image in our minds that helps us make decisions. 

v1

If the woman in our example wanted you to know her story, she could have put a big poster at the front of the party with her photo and the name of the book and you would have immediately known who she was… it would have helped you with context and made her story more clear from the get go.

V2

If the woman in our example was a magician’s coach looking for clients and wanted you to know her story, she could have put a big poster at the front of the party with her photo and the name of her Magic Coaching Business and you would have immediately known who she was… it would have helped you with context and made her story more clear from the get go.

This is a silly example – but the point is simply that branding is about actively creating a story in people’s minds. It’s about sending out the right signals so people quickly and easily understand the value you bring to them.. 

These signals must be:

Congruent and make sense

Interesting and breed curiosity

Valuable and make us feel like we need them

For businesses, we do this through messaging, copy and design. Our website, our social media, our products… When all those things tell a story that seems to provide us with value, we engage. 

Doing this is actually rather complicated (it’s why we created a business around it).

But knowing this is free, and you should look at your own assets with fresh eyes and assess – are we, as a business or project, telling the right story?

Remember, if at any point something feels off for the audience, they question whether or not you’re being honest or if you’ll uphold your value proposition. How many times have we encountered terrible customer service at companies that preach the importance of customer service?

Your brand story is not something you just decide upon and write on an about page. It’s the total effect of all the things you do across every audience touch point. 

The more you work on creating a great brand story, the better experience you create, and the more audiences will want to learn about you and engage with your business.