The single most valuable asset a business can thrive on today is trust from its customers.
When your customers trust that you are out to solve their problems, they won't just be customers, but lifelong loyal advocates.
Building trust with customers takes time, and includes constantly identifying needs and solving their problems.
Connecting with customers and tapping into their natural hunger for a great story is also an effective way of building trust with them.
Story telling has been around since humans first walked the planet.
They have always been an intrinsic element of human society. Our aspirations, desires, fears, hardships and the retinue of experiences we have as a society and a culture have been translated to stories and passed from one generation to another.
We simply love stories, they grab our attention, and trigger emotions we sometimes didn’t even know we could feel.
Marketing Guru Seth Hiding once said marketing is no longer about the products we make, but the stories we tell"
Brand storytelling aims to build connection and trust with consumers.
By telling genuine and interesting stories about your brand, you can capture your audiences attention and keep it.
People love being taken on a journey. They love exploring the world in their mind through the power of story telling.
Storytelling cuts through the clutter and the noise, evoking emotions and feelings which consumers can then begin to connect with your business and products.
In this era of global digitalisation and content creation, reaching your target audience in record time has never been easier.
However, people are also having lower attention spans and are becoming "resistant" to certain paid ads.
In light of this, the mega brands around the world have begun to tap into the power of storytelling in reaching and connecting with their audience.
Guinness’ 'Made of more' campaign is a prime example, telling us the story of John Hammond, a white jazz enthusiast born before the civil rights movement. He defies the racial standards of society at the time to get black jazz musicians to play on his radio show which not only is a great story, but it also positions Guinness as a brand who are doing their part to bring people from different racial groups together.
Brand stories have always had their place in the world of marketing, but many businesses don’t use them because they are scared of thinking outside the box.
Having a brand story reaffirms the purpose of your enterprise, the hurdles you have faced and overcome, the culture you are keen on cultivating, and the ultimate vision you are aiming for.
Brand stories don't just help retain and build trust with customers.
They can also elevate your brand’s culture and positioning to a whole new level, giving your brand a distinctive advantage over your competition.