What is a brand narrative? How does having a brand narrative lead to better marketing strategies?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A brand narrative is the story that your brand follows. You can create a brand narrative that confuses customers on the unique elements of your brand, or give your brand a character or a background. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Read more about how you create a brand narrative.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
The third of the seven story elements<\/a> is the guide. In a brand narrative, the guide is a character who helps the hero solve her problem.<\/strong> (Shortform example: In The Karate Kid<\/em>, the guide is Mr. Miyagi, a karate master who teaches hero Daniel how to fight.) Your guide is essential in having a good brand narrative. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In branding, the guide is your brand, which will help the customer solve her problems and get what she wants. <\/strong>(Shortform example: if you sell hand soap, your brand offers customers the tools to get their hands clean.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n First, we’ll discuss the dynamic between the hero and guide. Then, we’ll discuss the two characteristics you should demonstrate as a guide, and how to write evidence of these characteristics into your brandscript<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You might be wondering why the brand is the guide rather than the hero\u2014after all, heroes get things done and the story revolves around them. However, in stories, the hero is never the most capable character\u2014heroes are self-doubting, reluctant, and inexperienced. Additionally, heroes are never capable of solving their own problems. <\/strong>If they could <\/em>fix their own problems, there wouldn\u2019t be a story. (Shortform example: At the beginning of the Disney movie Hercules<\/em>, Hercules can\u2019t do anything right\u2014he has super strength, but all he manages to do with it is accidentally destroy things.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n The guide, on the other hand, <\/strong>is <\/em><\/strong>the most authoritative, qualified character. <\/strong>The guide has already done whatever the hero needs to do and can help her achieve it herself. Therefore, if you position your brand as a guide rather than a hero, you\u2019ll demonstrate an air of authority and competence which will appeal to customers<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Tidal, a music streaming service, is an example of a brand that failed because it miscast itself as the hero. Tidal was owned by musicians and aimed to solve musicians\u2019 problems (whoever\u2019s problems are being solved is the hero). <\/p>\n\n\n\n Tidal was supposed to both: 1) do away with middlemen who take a huge cut from the artists, and 2) discourage people from illegally downloading music. However, Tidal\u2019s customers were listeners (artists weren\u2019t going to buy each other\u2019s music). Tidal not only completely left the customers out of the story, it villainized them for paying the middlemen instead of the artist and downloading music illegally. Few people subscribed and the company went under.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Brands acting as guides need to be both:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Demonstrating these two characteristics is how a brand makes a good first impression. According to Amy Cuddy, a Harvard Business professor, when people first meet someone, they subconsciously try to find out if they can: 1) trust them and 2) respect them. Empathy wins trust and competence wins respect.<\/strong> This will allow you to build a strong brand narrative. <\/p>\n\n\n\n There\u2019s a fine line between demonstrating competence and bragging.<\/strong> Some marketing experts say that brands shouldn\u2019t express any authority at all because it could be misconstrued as bragging. However, this would be like going to a personal trainer, asking them for advice on bench-pressing, and having them respond, \u201cI\u2019m still figuring it out too,\u201d which doesn\u2019t inspire confidence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You can hit the balance between bragging and appearing incompetent by sparingly and subtly displaying evidence of your competence on your marketing material. Here <\/strong>are four suggestions:<\/p>\n\n\n\nHeroes vs. Guides<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Characteristics of a Guide<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Demonstrating Competence<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n