Everyone has a story now. Or at least most brands claim to have one.
But having a story is like having a product. It means nothing if it is not competitive as a narrative and personally relevant to each recipient. So, your story must be distinctive from the other reports that are in play in the market, and it must continue to be so.
That’s challenging in fast-moving sectors where there is always something new to look at, always another brand tale to try.
But that’s why you can’t set and forget a story. You CAN set and forget your business strategy. As your business adapts and responds to changes in the market and the initiatives of your rivals, your story must change, too, to remain competitive. What that means, in effect, is that your story is subject to eight ongoing forces, all of which influence what you tell in different ways:
Your story must be extended (in terms of scope)
You need a story that is capable of being told over an extended period, meaning it must have enough aspects (threads) for you to push your storytelling forward, developing, introducing, and twisting as the story goes to keep people involved and wanting to know more.
Your story must be deep
You need an account that allows you to delve into the details of different aspects to intrigue, prove expertise, demonstrate the fact, highlight a facet and deliver a backstory.
Your story must be competitive
There is no point in telling a story like that of your biggest rival or in telling the same level as the rest of the industry. It would be best to have an angle — a refreshing perspective that sets what you have to say apart from what others discuss. It must be more relevant to the people it addresses than the story your competitors want to share with them.
Your story must be social
It must be more shareable across social media. So, it must invite contribution and input. It must share ownership with the community that forms around it. It must take its cues through data analysis and analytics as it collects information on customer shopping habits, customer interests, and customer concerns in terms of areas of accent, aspects to explore further and ideas that need to be brought forward.
As you gather insights, you must find ways to inject those ideas into the conversation to immerse people further in the storyline.
Your story must be communal
David Berkowitz, the MRY CMO, recently commented that the marketing industry is obsessed with telling stories. Still, brands need to become story makers, not just storytellers.
“Do you think people get brands’ stories?” he asks. Great question.
“Think of a brand you love … Do you know what its story is? … The future of storytelling isn’t about telling anyone anything. It’s about story-making, where the brand facilitates and taps into the stories people create and share. Storytelling is the epitome of the old one-way, broadcast mindset that many of us in marketing are trying to leave behind.”
Your story must be respectful
The temptation with sharing stories is to increase social familiarity. Recent research from WPP’s Geometry Global suggests that many consumers would like a little more distance.
Commenting on the finding that 40% of Internet users across the world don’t see the point in friending a brand online, Cesar Montes, Geometry’s chief strategy officer for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, says, “There is not a real rejection of brands using social channels to communicate with [consumers] … The rejection is about brands using social as if they were my friends in the typical way that Facebook users would use [social].”
That same reserve can be extrapolated to stories. Brands need to cultivate interest and participation, but at the same time, getting too close, too quickly, or asking consumers to take a too personal claim is more likely to see them leaning out rather than in.
Your story must be protectable
In a dynamic and competitive storytelling environment, you need to be able to adapt your account to preserve its singularity. If others attack your story, you must have a response strategy. If others look to intrude on your narrative, you must defend your right to tell the story you do, take your account in a new direction or work with the community of people who are drawn to your story to evolve it.
Finally, every story needs a sequel
Your account must be able to run its entire course, but then a new story must take over, a story that takes its reference from who you were but somehow redefines how people will know you into the future.
Gary Begin’s website is Sound Advantage Media.
