The value of a good story is priceless
One can be forgiven for asking “Why should I even bother to write a story with my brand?” but human beings will instinctually assign a story to your brand, whether you like it or not. The question you should be asking, then, is “Do I want to control what that story will be?”.
Here are five reasons why storytelling is very important when it comes to your brand.
Focus on what’s important
When a company sits down to create or update its brand an integral part of the process is sifting through all the ideas and getting rid of those that don’t resonate with and reinforce its brand. You can’t afford to have your target audience associate things with you that do not speak to who you are.
PwC’s soft rebrand, The New Equation, involved, at some point, executives sitting down and evaluating how the firm wants the world to see them. They wanted the world to see them as a firm that is trustworthy and delivers on its promises of the impeccable level of quality of work. This resulted in The New Equation’s new purpose of PwC: to “build trust and deliver on sustained outcomes”.
Develop a relationship
No one likes a faceless corporation. Neither does anyone want to be sold to like a faceless number in a crowd. TV and radio, with their substantial advertising segments, are slowly losing their audience to ad-free platforms like Spotify, Netflix and Amazon Prime. When a consumer does indeed want to buy a product or a service they don’t want to waste time listening to the advertisements of every Tom, Dick and Harry on the market, but rather gravitate to those that share their values.
With the paradigm shift in the business world in the past decade, people expect greater transparency in companies and that they fight for what is right and proper. PwC’s Environment, Society and Governance (ESG) is high on the list of its priorities and its Corporate Social Responsibility, Diversity & Inclusion and transparency initiatives help strengthen its brand as a firm that cares about both the society it finds itself in and about its people and clients.
Stand out in the crowd
Brand storytelling will allow you to distinguish yourself from your competition. In a crowded marketplace, brand recall will make or break a business or organisation, and it’s those that take chances and aren’t afraid to stand out that will succeed.
Locally, one way how PwC Malta tries to set itself apart from its competitors is through its relationships with local educational institutions such as the University of Malta and the Malta College of Arts, Sciences and Technology (MCAST), for example. The firm strives to portray itself as a place students can learn and study on the job while also finding themselves and their passions. Apart from the usual recruitment campaigns, the firm also organises a number of student events which are both meant to challenge and engage the students but also give them an opportunity to have fun and make new friends.
Gut instinct and intuition
When a customer is inundated with ads in a crowded marketplace, there’s a high chance that they will just go with their gut instinct or “what feels right”. Busy and harried customers tend to make decisions based not on rational analysis and logic but rather on how things make them feel. How a customer will feel about your brand will depend on your storytelling, and a brand that has made the effort to form relationships and attachments with its target audience will end up in an advantageous position.
The environment and its protection have been big issues for the past two or three decades. In that time, world economies have expanded 25-fold and half of the world’s GDP is moderately or heavily dependent on nature, but global wildlife populations have decreased by nearly 70%. Modern humans care about the climate and the environment. PwC’s launch of its Centre for Nature Positive Business is not only a step in the right direction to solve this global issue but also has the added benefit of adding “the firm that is actively fighting to save nature” to the story of its brand. This addition to PwC’s brand story significantly increases the chance for a prospective client to pick it based on how they feel.
Let’s make a connection
With so many superheroes in so many different comic books, who do you think is the most popular (at least according to Google Trends) and why?
When not fighting crime as “Your friendly neighbourhood Spider-man”, Peter Parker is a high school student who struggles with everyday problems like school, work and relationships. It makes him exceptionally relatable to a large portion of Marvel Comic’s target audience: adolescents who also struggle with everyday problems like school, work and relationships.
Likewise, a relatable brand story is memorable. It will make people more likely to prefer it over other colder and more distant brands. The development of common ground is important because it allows the audience to trust your brand.
PwC includes its Diversity & Inclusion agenda in its brand and shows that its people are made up of all kinds of members of society and that anyone can find a home in the firm. Are you an analyst? A student? An IT technician? An accountant? A single parent? A person with a disability? You have a home at PwC.
The days of a brand being simply the company’s colour scheme, font type and company logo have long since passed. In a world with 8 billion people, everybody wants to feel like they’re not just a number in a sea of people. By establishing your brand as one that cares and that makes connections with its client base you are more likely to stand out and be kept at front-of-mind during instances of brand recall.
It's important to give your brand a story … after all, who doesn’t love a relatable protagonist and a happy ending?
This article was written by Dave Cachia Marsh, Senior Communications Executive
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