Your brand's values—its "higher purpose, philosophy, culture and contribution"—should be your story, says brand consultant Thomas Dawson in Branding Strategy Insider.
That's because stories about values resonate among customers who share those values; and when they do, "there is no need for selling, convincing, persuading and discounting."
But effective storytelling demands discipline many marketers lack:
Storytelling means ignoring many customers for a chosen few. Dawson reminds us of a line from Wayne’s World. "''Led Zeppelin didn’t write songs everybody liked. They left that to the Bee-Gees.' So it is with brand storytelling."
Storytelling means no more "marketing." Dawson defines marketing as the recitation of product facts. But facts are cold—and highly forgettable. Stories, on the other hand, "stir up intense emotions that are quickly and easily stored in our brains."
Storytelling means telling the truth. "Nobody trusts marketing anymore," Dawson writes. To earn back trust, you need to "feel authentic to customers." Authenticity is all about truth-telling and the avoidance of ad-like "tall tales."
