Stories are as old as humans. From the flickering flames of prehistoric campfires to the pixels on our screens, storytelling has been the cornerstone of human communication.
Storytelling isn't just about sharing tales; it's also a powerful business tool.
A brand story helps solidify the brand's identity. Sharing your brand story with people helps them understand who you are, what you stand for, and what makes you unique.
In this article, I'll cover what is a brand story, why you need to share it, and how to write one.
What is a brand story?
A brand story is a written narrative that articulates a company's origins, values, and mission. In short, it shares the 'why' behind a company.
It tells your customers why your brand exists.
Common responses to this question include becoming the industry leader, disrupting the market, or offering excellent service. Although these goals are useful for competitive positioning and business objectives, they don't help in building customer relationships.
For that, you need to go beyond providing a product or service and connect with them on a personal level.
A brand story can help you achieve this.
It is the reason why customers spend a bit more on a particular brand, click their ads, or renew a subscription. They might continue buying from the brand even when they goof up.
Think of how a Chanel bag is technically just an object for storing and carrying material. Still, people spend a lot of money on it because the brand is synonymous with timeless elegance, luxury, and sophistication.
Chanel's brand story of how its founder, Coco Chanel, revolutionized women's fashion by rejecting the restrictive clothing of the early 20th century in favor of simple, elegant designs helped shape it as a symbol of luxury. This is what draws customers to the bag despite the expensive price tag.
Why is a brand story important?
Stories are incredibly powerful. This is so because they can help us form connections with others, feel emotions, take action, and even change our attitudes or thinking.
Neuroscientists at the University of Cambridge have been studying specific parts of the brain when people read stories. In conversation with BBC Ideas, Dr Olaf Hauk, Cognitive neuroscientist at the University of Cambridge, says that mirror neurons make us feel the same emotions that a character in a story feels. For example, you might feel sad when a character is sad in the story.
This impact of stories highlights the importance of having a brand story for any business.
Here are other reasons why it is worth creating a brand story:
1.) Differentiates your brand
In a sea of competition, where businesses compete for attention from the same customers, a brand story can help differentiate your business. Your competitors can offer the same set of features you are offering and copy your marketing tactics, but they can't borrow your story.
A brand story shares a company's history, challenges, successes, and values, which creates a distinctive brand identity in customers' minds.
Take for example Apple's brand story. It is about challenging the status quo and thinking differently. From its early days, Apple has positioned itself as a brand that disrupts industries and creates products that enrich people's lives through technology and design.
2.) Creates emotional bond with customers
The brand story taps into customers' emotions, values, and dreams.
It triggers emotional responses in them. When customers connect with a brand's story emotionally, they feel a sense of affinity and belonging, which fosters a deeper bond with the brand.
Women's activewear brand Oner Active is an example of building emotional connections with customers through a winning brand message.
The brand inspires and empowers women to push their limits and become confident in the gym through its content.
3.) Builds trust
A compelling brand story is authentic and genuine. Customers who feel that a brand is transparent are more likely to trust it.
For Krissy Cela, creator and founder of Oner Active, gaining trust means being honest about her experiences. For example, in the Oner Active Documentary, Krissy talks about her childhood experiences that shaped her. She also takes viewers through the highs and lows of her business, which builds transparency and trust.
Another aspect of building customer trust is putting your customer at the center of your story. This helps them realize how you are working towards the same goals.
At the beginning of the documentary, Krissy says, "You are the reason Oner Active even exists. You are the reason I am here today sharing my story."
How to write a brand story?
Every business—no matter how big or small, has a story. But writing a story that makes readers feel emotionally invested in your business is what many business owners struggle with.
So, in this section, I will share how to write a magnetic brand story that readers feel connected with.
1.) Answer the three WHYs
Writing your brand's story can feel overwhelming, considering the amount of responsibility on your shoulders that comes with accurately representing your brand identity.
The process of distilling your brand's origins, mission, and values in a coherent narrative can work up a sweat.
Hence, start with answering the three WHYs—who, what, and why.
Who your brand serves?
Define your target audience in detail, to not just understand their demographics, but also their needs, desires, and pain points. What makes your customers happy? What keeps them up at night?
What does your business do?
Here, you get to define the essence of your brand's offerings. What product or service do you offer? What sets them apart from the rest? What unique value do they bring to the table?
Why does your brand exist?:
Like every good story has a 'why' or purpose that fuels the hero to fight monsters and save the world, your brand story must also answer—why does your brand exist in the first place? The answer to this question can be anything: a gap in the market, a pain point of customers, your passion, or an experience.
Let's take the example of Aumio:
- What does Aumio do? It is a sleep and relaxation app for kids.
- Who does Aumio serve? It caters to parents and their children.
- Why does Aumio exist? It wants to support mental well-being among children from an early age.
2.) Outline your brand's history
Your brand's history is more than just a chronological sequence of events; it's the story of its evolution, challenges, and triumphs. Sharing insights into the backgrounds of your founders humanizes your brand and provides context for its inception. Understanding the inspiration behind the brand sheds light on its driving force and the problem it set out to solve.
Answer the following questions:
- Who found the business?
- How was the business founded?
- When and where was it founded?
- What inspired the founder to create the business?
- What are the core values that have guided the brand throughout its history?
- Are there any personal stories from key figures within the brand that can add depth to its history?
Founder Bipin Patel's childhood experiences and family were integral to the founding of the Tipu's Chai business.
In 1997, Bipin Patel served his grandmother Kashi's chai in his Montana restaurant. The chai was so popular among customers that Bipin decided to sell his restaurant in 2007 and focus solely on sharing his grandmother's recipe with the world. This is how Tipu's Chai was born.
The brand's story would be incomplete without mentioning its history. It reflects the core beliefs of the brand: sharing, giving back to the community, quality, and sustainability.
Bipin's decision to preserve and share his grandmother's cherished recipe honors his family's heritage and embodies a commitment to authenticity and tradition.
This narrative helps customers connect on a personal level with the company. Also, learning about its history evokes a sense of tradition and heritage, making customers feel like they are partaking in something genuine and culturally significant.
3.) Define your brand's mission and vision
Mission and vision statements define the core identity of a brand, encapsulating its company values, beliefs, and unique selling proposition.
The mission statement is like an elevator pitch. It states what a brand wants to achieve. While, the vision statement acts like a North Star, guiding customers on what their journey with the brand will lead to in the distant future.
While your mission articulates what you are doing right now, the vision statement discusses what change you want to make in the world.
Examples of mission and vision statements from popular brands
Tesla
- Mission: Accelerate the world's transition to sustainable energy
- Vision: To create the most compelling car company of the 21st century by driving the world's transition to electric vehicles
Whole Foods
- Mission: Our purpose is to nourish people and the planet. We’re a purpose-driven company that aims to set the standards of excellence for food retailers.
- Vision: Quality is a state of mind at Whole Foods Market.
- Mission: To connect the world’s professionals to make them more productive and successful.
- Vision: To create economic opportunity for every member of the global workforce.
4.) Highlight the challenges you overcame
Challenges are an important part of any story because they create tension, drive character development, and ultimately contribute to the narrative's depth.
Successfully overcoming challenges provides a sense of catharsis and satisfaction for both characters and audience alike. It's immensely gratifying to witness characters triumph over adversity, reinforcing themes of hope, redemption, and resilience.
Vocal Video's founding story is a great example of how you can showcase the challenges that led you to build your business.
A video testimonial platform, Vocal Video's story is written in a detailed blog post, discussing the founders' early challenges when gathering video testimonials. They self-produced video reviews using Final Cut and iPhone, worked with an in-house team, and even paid $20K for one video shoot. All of this was time-consuming and expensive.
These challenges led them to form Vocal Video. Look how they aligned their challenges with customer's pain points. Then, the blog post explains in detail how the product solves these pain points.
5.) Explain your brand values
Your brand values serve as the compass guiding your business decisions, messaging, and interactions with customers. They define what you stand for and what you refuse to compromise on.
To effectively craft your brand story, delve deep into your core values. Ask yourself what principles are non-negotiable for your brand. Are you committed to sustainability, innovation, authenticity, or perhaps inclusivity?
Understanding your target audience is equally crucial in this process. What values resonate with them? Conduct market research to uncover the beliefs and priorities of your audience. By aligning your brand values with those of your customers, you not only foster stronger connections but also increase brand loyalty.
However, it's not enough to merely state your values; your brand must embody them in everything it does. Whether it's through your product design, customer service, or corporate social responsibility initiatives, demonstrate how your brand practices its values in tangible ways.
Glossier is a popular beauty brand. Its brand values are clear: freedom of expression, individuality, and inclusivity. These core values are evident on their website and consistent across other marketing platforms.
Glossier shows a commitment to its values through its Glossier for Good program.
Through the program, it invests in underrepresented founders and communities, which shows their devotion to its core values.
6.) Add customer success stories
Few things hold as much power and authenticity as real-life customer success stories. You can add a testimonial, a detailed case study, or a video.
By sharing these success stories, you highlight the value your products or services bring and establish a sense of trust and credibility with your audience. Potential customers are more likely to connect with your brand when they see real people benefiting from what you offer.
Moreover, don't limit yourself to just one format. Embrace multimedia storytelling to amplify your message.
7.) Use a consistent voice and style
One of the key elements of crafting a compelling brand story is ensuring consistency in your voice and style throughout all communication channels. Your brand voice is like your personality—it defines how you communicate with your audience and sets the tone for your brand's identity.
Whether your brand voice is formal, casual, witty, or authoritative, it should remain consistent across all platforms, from your website copy to social media posts to email newsletters.
When customers encounter your brand messaging, they should immediately recognize it as yours, regardless of where they encounter it.
To maintain consistency in voice and style:
- Define your brand voice: Determine the characteristics and tone that align with your brand's personality and values.
- Create brand guidelines: Establish clear guidelines for language, tone, and style to ensure consistency across all communication channels.
- Train your team: Educate employees on your brand voice and style guidelines to ensure everyone involved in creating content understands and adheres to them.
- Regularly review and refine: Continuously monitor your brand's messaging and content to ensure it remains consistent with your established voice and style.
For example, Buffer, a social media management platform, describes their brand voice as relatable, approachable, genuine, and inclusive. This is evident in their copy.
Start writing your brand story!
"Companies that encourage psychological ownership can entice customers to buy more products, at higher prices, and even to willingly promote those products among their friends." - Colleen P. Kirk, Assistant Professor of Marketing (Source: Harvard Business Review)
This is why it is important to create your brand story. So craft your narrative with care and share it with passion.
