Nov 19, 2019
A brand story is used to evoke an emotional reaction. By doing this, you engage the audience and get them emotionally invested in your brand. However, what many overlook is how integral design is to the brand story; the two elements must go hand in hand. It is this combination which enables creative agencies to build a powerful brand story.
Brand stories needn’t be complex. You’re not writing a novel or illustrating one. But they do need to be meaningful. As humans we are drawn to story-telling. This means that, with the right story, your audience become your champions – retelling your story for you. Another way to think of it is that the brand story is understanding, words, imagery and emotion behind your brand’s design. It links everything together for your audience. If you succeed in getting both an excellent brand story and excellent design together, then they become even greater than the sum of the parts – this is what a creative agency will aim for.
Start with the basics of who you are as a brand. Pick out a few elements to work with. Perhaps you are luxury, user-friendly, informal, community focused, or something else. Think about the roots of the business. Why did it start and why did it develop in the direction it did? Remember that passion because passion is rocket fuel for a good story. Think about what you value as a brand. Why are you different from your competitors? What is the character of your industry? Who are your audience? Remain true to your target audience and think about what motivates them.
A creative agency that succeeds in building a powerful brand story won’t do it in a vacuum. They understand that your business needs to find its own unique place within your wider industry. The brand story is the driving force of this and therefore cannot be created without taking a look at your competitors. Your story needs to be defined and different from others and it needs to appeal on an emotional level where they fail. A creative agency will therefore do competitor-analysis as they begin to formulate your story.
Don’t make the mistake of thinking that your brand story is simply a chunk of text under the title ‘Our Story’ on your website. It is so much more than this. Indeed, a well built and comprehensive story encompasses everything from fonts to your logo, and graphics to tone of voice. These become the channels through which your story really engages your audience. A simple but clever example of this would be for a business which creates handmade products. If you can include handwritten text in the logo, then the message of your story is far more than just words on the page. Add imagery of the making process on the site and this goes even further. You can think of this in terms of the look and feel of everything you do. This aids your story. So this will include things such as colours and photos on your website through to packaging or brochure design.
You are in possession of the facts about your brand. You know your audience. You know your history, values and objectives. An excellent creative agency is how these different threads can be pulled together, through design, to create a cohesive and emotive story. Indeed, brand storytelling is simply words on a page without creative design. It is the creative design which makes your story stand out from the crowd and gets your audience 100% invested in your business. Building a brand story is not an accidental process. Instead it is a conscious and directed process which requires knowledge of the business, the audience, the industry and marketing. Get it right by employing a creative agency and your business will be ahead of the game.
