How Brand Storytelling enhances Brand recall

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This blog is part of #Brandhorizon business talks – Leading the present, Shaping the future

#Brand Storytelling is a highly effective tool   to drive connect and loyalty towards brands. Today,  unlike in the past , we are blessed to have Social Media and Content Marketing platforms to  share brand stories . But the challenge is to achieve the objectives without  being perceived as a sales pitch. In fact, it is not meant to be one. It should be aimed at creating an honest and emotional connect with the customers  by crafting  the story carefully to reflect the deep values, ethos and the core essence of the Brand.

Here we look at some aspects that can make brand story telling really impacting to the consumers and enhance brand recall.

·   The structuring of a brand Story should  revolve around  the plot as in a fiction story  .  The purpose for which the brand exists  or the key problem that the brand attempts to address should be the essence of the brand story . It should be weaved well enough in a setting that  can  keep audience engaged by highlighting how the brand intends to be different from other options available in the market . Some of the examples of well narrated brand stories that comes to mind immediately are Apple and  Nike.

      ·  Story telling should involve stakeholders and influencers  along the journey of the brand .  It should reflect their  experiences because they  are the characters who have helped the protagonist , as in a fiction story ,to   realize  brand’s goals and ambitions and overcome hurdles along the way . Here is a classic example of how Tata motors involved the general public by crowdsourcing the new name through Social media, while reacting to the brand  crisis for the erstwhile “ Zica” following the outbreak of the deadly virus Zika.  The name  later got christened Tiago .  A quote from the Tata spokesperson says -  “ We thought that was a cool way to have our well wishers join us on an innovative fun journey to find the most appropriate new name” . Bringing in an element of non human character could also help weave the story line but they should be memorable and pleasing characters that audience can easily relate to  emotionally.

 ·   Honesty is an important element of brand storytelling. Some the most popular brands that have driven  robust revenues through effective brand story telling are not necessarily the ones that have not had any bad experiences or bad patches. But what engages the  consumers and builds loyalty will be the honesty behind the experience and the commitment of brands to   do  things  differently and improve customer  experience. Fedex  is a good example of  how  a negative incident was used as an opportunity to reaffirm a brand promise . When a video  appeared on Youtube,of a courier marked fragile being thrown over a gate, the brand owners immediately reacted not just with an apology but also a reaffirmed brand promise about how the negative video would be used henceforth for internal training and betterment of services.

·        Finally #Brand storytelling should have a futuristic approach and not just focus on the past or the present . It should  reflect on the future aspirations of the consumers ,brand’s deliverables and how they intend to carry forward their brand promise consistent with the Brand identity. Here Market research  plays a key role in identifying customer needs and facilitate decision making about the brand promise in the brand story . Consistency and alignment  with brand stories told elsewhere is very important to make sure that audience do not get confused with what they can expect from the brand.

Brand storytelling can thus be carved into a cohesive blend of  several brand elements such as #Brand Identity, #Brand personality ,#Brand promise and #brand communication , all delivered in a package that strengthens #Brand integrity.

#Brandhorizon is a Unique platform for #Strategic Brand Management and  offers an ROI Centric Brand management service . We can help you

·         Position or reposition your brand
·          Integrate traditional and digital marketing campaigns
·         Content publish what your customer wants to hear
·          Monitor the metrics for your  Brand investments

For more details, email - reachus@brandhorizon.net