I’ve seen a lot written about storytelling and its importance for brands new and old. I can’t agree more. It’s what I do and love, but a lot goes into building a good story – and it’s these fundamentals that are often overlooked.
Strong brand stories are built on strong foundations. In order to influence your target, you must know who they are and what drives them. You can’t define that: you have to ask them or analyze the data you have. Without this knowledge, your story crumbles.
Sometimes, great ideas lead to quick growth and foundational work gets neglected – and that may be OK for a while. But as your brand grows, you’ll realize you need that foundation so you have a strong story – whether it’s to pitch investors or just have your employees singing from the same songbook. The best brands out there have it and use it as their north star. Their foundation is at their core – and all actions and decisions are based on it. Take these for example:
Product Development – Your business has a core and then can have evolutions and you can introduce new products or brands. To do that, you must consider if it aligns with your true positioning or falls in line with your principles. Know your lane and how you can evolve and these decisions become much easier.
Creative Decisions – Know your voice? Have a tone? Are you funny or serious? Helpful with tips or factual and direct? All answers you should have before any creative brief is written or story board created.
Scaling Opportunities – When you are ready to scale, the foundation of your brand is important to keep it simple. It is much harder to develop materials in 25 languages when you don’t have a strong foundation to build off of. How do you ultimately make certain decisions without having a guiding light?
I’ve been fortunate to partner with companies recently that are experiencing this growth and am excited to help them develop the consistent string that should thread through all aspects of their business. This could be a core customer service element or language that simply allows them to refine the elevator pitch.
What’s the takeaway? Spend the time to build a strong foundation and you’ll be able to build your brand much more easily and make quicker decisions when you expand it.