Brand Storytelling: 5 companies that are a good example

By: CraterTM

14 Jun, 2021

Successful brands know how to tell stories to get their message across and they know that brand storytelling is a very powerful communication tool.

In this article we will look at some of the best examples of storytelling.
But first, why should we think about storytelling?

Because a good story is the best weapon we have to fight noise.
Because it organizes the information we want to get to the user in such a way that people want to stop and listen.
Because it is the most powerful tool in the world that activates the attention of the human brain.
Because it allows us to simplify the message and keep it just as powerful.

Stories make it easier for us to understand the world. They are the most effective way we know of transmitting and spreading an idea.

But storytelling specialists have not invented storytelling, they have simply adapted it to the current brand context.

Whether you run a small business or a large multinational, confusing your customers is costing you money.

How many people buy from your competitors because they communicate more clearly or in a more attractive way than you? How long will your business last if you keep telling your customers about aspects of your products that don’t matter to them?

But things can be different. To get your brand message across you just need to know how storytelling works.

Defining your brand storytelling allows you to organize your thoughts, reduce your marketing and communication effort, eliminate confusion and vague ideas, terrify the competition and, ultimately, grow your business.

Here’s the “formula” for almost every story you see or hear, in a nutshell:

A hero who wants something encounters a problem before he can get it.
At the height of his despair, a guide enters his life, gives him a plan and calls him to action.
That action helps him avoid failure and he ends up achieving his goals, resulting in his personal transformation.

Let’s take a look at some of the most famous brands and how they work their storytelling.

Then, we’ll explain how to tell a compelling story that resonates with your audience.

1. Apple

Apple really started to grow when Steve Jobs put the focus on branding and filtered each and every communication (internal and external) through the lens of brand storytelling.

Apple tells a story that makes your customer a hero, a creative individual who thinks differently.

The transformation in Jobs’ thinking occurred after working with (and partially creating) the genius story factory that is Pixar.

When Jobs returned to Apple after being surrounded by professional storytellers he realized that story was everything.

Apple was customer focused, compelling and very clear in its communication.

The first campaign it launched went from nine pages in the New York Times to just two words on thousands of billboards across the United States: Think Different.

When Apple started to make its communication simple and relevant, it stopped including computers in most of its advertising. They understood that all their clients were people, living, breathing heroes who wanted to live their own stories.

Starbucks

Starbucks is not a brand internationally recognized for offering its customers a cup of coffee, but for providing them with a comfortable and sophisticated environment to relax.

Starbucks tells a story that makes its customers feel more sophisticated and excited about their lives.

Starbucks also provides a place for people to gather and experience a sense of belonging, tranquility and well-being.

Starbucks has taken a product that we were used to paying fifty cents for and has managed to make us feel that charging us four or five euros per cup is a fair deal. How? Why? Because they understood how their customers wanted to feel. Those who buy Starbucks are willing to pay more for coffee because they perceive a greater value with each cup.

Tesla

When Tesla launched the Model S, its main goal was to tell a story that, for many luxury and car neophiles, would make them break up with their current partners.

Tesla positions its customers as early adoptersof technology, as bold and environmentally conscious people.

Tesla tells a story that breaks from the typical luxury car owner story on many levels, including performance. We talk about “breaking up” in the sense that it is no longer fun to own a luxury car and flaunt it. But if it is environmentally responsible…

Tesla understood that none of the first fifty thousand Tesla buyers needed a car: they all had one or more perfectly good high-end automobiles…. Then Elon Musk created a car that changed the story that group of people told themselves.

Now, owning a Tesla gives you the status of early adopter, tech geek and environmentalist: it makes you a “hero”.

4. Nike

Since its inception in 1971, Nike’s mission has been: To bring inspiration and innovation to athletes around the world.

Nike tells the story that everyone with a body is an athlete, you don’t need to be a star on the court or on the field to earn that label.

Nike sees sport as a universal language that transcends cultures, borders and barriers. And that’s how it approaches storytelling: the Nike story itself is based on the hero archetype. But instead of its audiences competing against external forces, Nike knows who we’re all fighting against: our inner selves.

The part of us that wants to sit on the couch instead of going for a run. The part of us that wants to push the TV or youtube button instead of going to the gym. It is something that we can all universally relate to and it reaches a point of very strong emotional pain for us. Are we going to pursue our dreams? – Nike’s legendary “Just do it” slogan captures that message perfectly. Nike inspires us to go out and perform, they make us feel the victory before we even start warming up.

5. Rolex

People always buy something that helps them survive and prosper. But buying a Rolex doesn’t make much practical sense in terms of survival, does it? Consider the importance of status in any remote or present-day tribe; for many today it remains a survival mechanism.

Rolex tells a story of abundance, the story of an exceptional human being with unlimited possibilities.

It projects a sense of status that can attract powerful people to your side or repel, like a lion’s roar, potential enemies.

And when we talk about status, fortunately or unfortunately, we know that having it is something that helps to survive and prosper. If we like superficial people, the status might even help us get a partner.

Rolex, and other luxury brands, sell more than just watches: they sell an identity associated with power, prestige and refinement. Status opens many doors, and associating a brand, and therefore its customers, with success and refinement confers that prestige. Is it worth it? It depends on who you ask.

How to tell your brand story?

The biggest problem with young brands is that they want to position themselves as heroes but don’t understand that the brand is simply the guide that helps the hero win, that leads them to their own personal transformation, not the other way around.

Why? Because human beings are always looking for a guide to help them solve their problems.

Your customers don’t want to see a hero, for that they would read the Iliad or watch Troy. Your customers want to be the heroes of their own story.

As storytellers and business owners, we must understand our customers’ stories and tailor our brand to connect and engage them. So the first thing to do is to define what our customers need in relation to our brand.

What does a hero want and need?

The hero of our story might want to “buy a house” and that would translate into “the need to feel comfortable and secure”. Or it could be staying at a luxury resort where you can rest “like a boss”.

Let’s think about the hierarchy of needs in Maslow’s pyramid: Am I helping my client to become the leader everyone loves or am I helping him to save money and live better?

To position your brand as a “guide”, roughly speaking, you can do it in two ways:

Expressing empathy. Ex: “I feel your pain and understand your problem” (Nike knows you are struggling with yourself).
Demonstrating authority. Ex: “We have helped over 2000 customers solve this exact same problem”.

The next element in the narrative is “the plan”.

Your brand needs to give the customer the possibility to solve their problems: a plan.

Here are a couple of very basic and simple examples:

Process plan: the steps your client must follow to work with you and hire your services.
Agreement plan: a list of agreements your brand makes with customers to alleviate fear and tension. For example, Starbucks promises to make your drink as many times as it takes until it’s perfect.

The next thing we should include in our brand story is the call to action (or Call To Action):

Call for direct action. E.g.: “Buy now”, “Book an appointment”.
Transition CTA. Ex. “Access this webinar”, “Download our free PDF”.

And finally in our story we have to deal with what is at stake for our customer.

What do you stand to gain or lose if the customer does business with us? What would failure look like in your life if you don’t work with us?

And, of course, what would be the success of having worked with us? why should they? This is how you create a complete brand narrative that people can understand and respond to accordingly.

This is how some of the most famous brands tell their stories.

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