Updated: October 23, 2017 12:00AM
Most of us have grown up loving different stories from our childhood. It may be of Disney princesses, comic book superheroes or even your favorite morning cartoons. Can you still remember the excitement when you eagerly shared your favorite plot points with your best friends in school the next day?
As we grew up not a lot has changed when it comes to our fondness for compelling stories. And brands have been using stories to connect with their target market and create affinity. Do you still remember Jollibee’s “I Love You Sabado” Campaign; where children looked forward to Saturdays because that means mom and dad taking them to Jollibee (this actually got me hooked as a kid). There is also Dove’s “Real Beauty” campaign which sought to break the negative perception of beauty towards oneself, saying “you’re more beautiful than you think.”
Great brand storytelling elevates the conversation to more than just the showcasing the products or services being offered. It takes the customers into a realm of experience and emotion. Stories that your customers can relate to strengthen affinity with your brand and could help win new customers too.
Here are some elements that can help you craft your next great band story:
Put the Customer at the Center
Stories that resonate with your target audience are usually narratives that they can relate to. Hence, it is quite important that you are in tune with what your customers care about; their habits, tendencies, how they interact with your brand or even consume your products. Customer insighting plays a big role in knowing them and is actually the first step before crafting your story.
In the absence of an in-depth marketing research, here are some things that can help you:
- Simple social media listening: Listen to what your customers say about you online through social media. Look at what’s trending, follow hashtags and see the conversations your customers are having. Pay close attention to how they perceive and interact with your brand. Tools you can use are Radian6, Sysomos, ThoughtBuzz, Quintly and Sprinklr.
- Do a quick survey: Shoot a quick survey to your mailing list or post a link to it on your social media (preferably with an incentive) to get a snapshot of your customer’s preferences and perceptions.
Do Not Lose the Message
In telling your story, always keep in mind the purpose of your efforts. In all your communications, be sure to impart your brand’s core values and unique selling proposition. But try to veer away from focusing too much on brand, product or services, instead show your audience what your brand stands for.
Here’s a great example by Cebuana Lhuillier where they promote their remittance service. They highlighted relationships and the connections between the people who send money through the service. Focusing on the people aspect of the service.
Choose the Best Medium
When the times comes to share your story, choose the medium and platform that will most appeal to your audience. The narrative can be in the form of a video, pictures, tweet and other forms. With a menu list of available platforms out there like the emerging Snapchat, the favorite Facebook, and many others, be sure to keep your customer’s media consumption habits in mind.
Here’s a great example of storytelling targeting millennials. FWD Life Philippines wanted to promote financial literacy to the young market without off-putting them with industry jargons and numbers that come with the traditional approach. FWD opted to craft relatable and engaging stories subtly infused with the financial lessons.
Be on relevant platforms where your target audience can discover, share and converse about your brand story. The important thing is to keep the experience cohesive across selected channels. And of course, there should be a consistent effort to optimize brand content storytelling performance through data analytics. Tweak materials and communications as needed to get the most out of your campaign.
Let’s create brand stories that will captivate your target audience’s attention. Drop us a line at newsletter@adspark.ph or click here to contact us.
