The Story is The Brand Strategy
A compelling brand story is not a driver of marketing campaigns, but rather the engine underneath all successful companies.
Brand Narrative
Authoring a compelling narrative is an essential and foundational step for an organization – implementing it effectively is even more critical to unlocking the true power of storytelling. The applications for stories in sales and marketing are obvious, and in many organizations, the marketers serve as chief storytellers to external audiences only, which is a disservice to every stakeholder: customers, employees, partners, and investors alike; great organizations see each external and internal interaction as an opportunity to communicate and validate their brand promise.
The mantra “Hire for culture, train for skills.” speaks to the premise that you can hire people with the skills and experience for any role in your organization – the key is attracting people who believe what you believe, so you can empower them to advance the organization.
As a company grows, senior leadership has less direct interaction with company employees. Consistently communicating the story provides the framework for knowing everyone is moving in the same direction and that the company culture is customer-focused. When the story isn’t well defined, others will step in to explain it, often with destructive results.
Reinforce the brand promise
The story exists to reinforce the brand promise made to customers, so when they hear it in marketing and sales materials, they rightly expect it will be fulfilled in their relationship. Great organizations use all interactions as an opportunity to reinforce the story and affirm brand loyalty.
From Good to great
Once you craft the story, then outline where and how it will be shared through all communication touchpoint and with each part of your organization – let employees use it as a framework for crafting their own company stories, once it is the DNA of the organization, the impact will transform your company from good to great.
