And finally, we come to the point of building your brand story , where you will communicate your promise and benefit through a narrative. You may not be able to communicate your brand story through a video, but it helps to think of it as phone number list trailer. Movie trailers don’t give away information like who stars in the movie or what topics it covers, since finding out these facts would not only be boring, but it also doesn’t give you an idea of why you should go see a movie. Instead, a trailer tells you the story of the movie in a shorter version of the story, in order to create an emotional experience that stays with you and keeps you watching the movie when it’s over.
Brand stories work the same way. The story you tell helps your audience identify with your brand . For organizations with a clear purpose, their brand story is the most powerful expression of who they are and what impact they have on the world.
Coming back to Nike, a good example is the series of ads for Nike Women that they launched last year. The ads could have simply shown their audience their new line of women’s sportswear. Instead, the ads tell a story, a genuine story told from the consumer’s perspective, which is also aspirational. At the beginning of the narrative, the women in the story are insecure, doubtful and apprehensive, but by the end, they are confident, strong and proud. The ads demonstrate the benefits that women can experience when they embrace the brand promise . And that’s exactly what a customer gets when they buy Nike Women’s leggings: the promise of an athletically inspired experience and the benefit of being associated with a respected group.
Bottom line: Always remember to show, not tell. In Nike’s ads, there’s never any talk of equipment, nor does it feel like someone is trying to sell you something. Good stories don’t talk about products or services. Instead, they show them in action, being used, from the customer’s perspective, in an emotionally engaging story.