“Your brand’s growth or decline will come down to your brand storytelling ability.”
When my dad was going to be a grandfather for the second time, he worried.
Having fallen head over heels in love with his first grandchild, he couldn’t imagine that he could possibly have enough left over for another one.
He confided his fear in a few of us, me being one. I offered up a sympathetic “oh don’t be silly.” Mike lovingly added an “um, yeah,” before changing the topic of conversation to hockey.
But his friend, Victoria, a grandmother of many took his hand in hers, looked him in the eye and lifted the burden off of his heart when she said: “Don’t worry Ian. They bring the love with them.”
Now, I know the difference between a baby and a good story.
I promise you, if your baby and a good story were drowning and I could only save one of them, I’d go straight for your kid.
But like your remarkably buoyant baby, a good story brings the love with it.
It makes friends of adversaries, it shifts perspectives, opens hearts and changes minds.
It can even make a hero out of a bookkeeper and change the heart of a crazed-would-be- school-shooting-mass-murderer.
Stories are that powerful. So maybe you’re thinking, “I get it. But we’re a big brand, not a person. Storytelling just doesn’t matter to us.”
It should. People buy from people. They donate to people.
Business runs on trust. Your consumers, clients and donors need to trust you. Trust in business has eroded to the point where most people no longer trust companies to give them honest or full answers on the issues that matter to them. And the truth is usually just a mouse click or two away.
Your brand story is both your moral compass and your bridge to your various stakeholders. It will grow your business or cause in good times and save it in times of trouble. Your brand story defines you. It tells the world who you are and reminds employees who they should be when faced with difficult choices.
Your brand’s growth or decline over the next ten years will come down to your organization’s brand storytelling ability.
That thought should either elate you or scare you to death. Either way, we can help.