Most commonly a brand story will be presented in a brand document ('brandbook'). A cohesive slide-deck which tells your story in the way it is meant to be told. It details the key pillars of the brand, the driving ambition and promise and of course the way this story can be conveyed to your users/customers.
This slide-deck can be the start of a new design project to either refine or redesign your styleguide, or be used 'as is' to show anyone who cares to listen.
Telling a story is more than having a pretty text on the about' page of your website or app. The real story your users/customers/clients will remember is the sum of the interactions with your brand, and how this experience aligns with their own goals and ambitions. Did it meet, exceed or fall short of their expectations? Did it show remarkable empathy and understanding for their situation or a lack thereof? Is it clear how tomorrow will be better with the aid of the digital product or the company that it represents?
Addressing these questions in a consistent and persuasive manner is called storytelling. This story should align the goals, expectations and needs of your audience with those of your company. It should be understood and read equally as appealing by those within the company, as those who the company is trying to sway to their side.
Writing a brand story is a process of getting to know both the company (or product), and its intended users. Detailing their individual motivations and weaving these ambitions together in a story, a brand promise. As a final test, the story should be captured in a single line that represents this promise to see if its simple enough to stick.
To find the promise you make as a company to your potential customers it's important to know what drives 'you'. What do you want? What do the people that work at the company want? What would go wrong if you stopped what you are doing today? It's not only important to find these promises, it's equally important to find how aligned you are as a team in delivering on these promises in order to keep the story authentic. A disingenuous story is no story at all.
Next is understanding who we are reaching out to. Who do they listen to? What do they want in life? What are they worried, frustrated, optimistic and energised about? A story can be told many ways and it's important to meet your clients or users where they are at, using the words they would consider their own.
During the third act we align the findings of step one - our promise - with the goals and ambitions found in step two. There is a point where these two meet in a way that is equally exciting for those within the company, as to those our story is trying to reach. This story is then captured in the words and images the images that should accompany the story in order to convey it effectively and consistently.
In the final step we define 'the shift' - the difference between the brand as it is, and a brand which adopts this story and wants to convey it effectively. At some companies, this usually means a close inspection of whether their corporate styling still fits the story we aim to tell, but can also directly influence more operational procedures such as changing the way teams work, create new products or features or a change the way customers are welcomed in the app or as a client. Either way, your story should never just rest on a page or powerpoint document but should become a renewed way of looking at the brand, app or website which conveys your unique brand story.
Want to see if your brand, app or website could benefit from storytelling? Or do you want to design a new brand and build it on the principles of storytelling? Let me know, I'd love to talk about it!
Questions, curious or think we should work together? Call me via 06 42 11 95 38 or drop me a line using the form below!
