Brand Stories Define Us

By Karen Hegmann

Just as a good Hollywood movie can draw us in as willing participants into the depths of its plot, so too can a good brand make us feel as if we’re part of something much larger than ourselves. The best movies are often defined by great characters – characters who spend their time facing challenges and overcoming obstacles in an effort to find that special someone or something that will bring meaning to their lives. Memorable movie characters are often ruled by emotion and are driven by an underlying need to make a difference in the world.

The classic movie hero is the one that attracts us the most, and makes us feel as if we want to be part of something great as well. Truly great brands have that same effect on us. They have the capability to put our lives and experiences into context if they tell a great story or remind us of a situation in our lives which held significant meaning for us.

Famed scientific researcher and marketing innovator Louis Cheskin was one of the first people to realize that, to be effective, communication had to reach consumers at both the conscious and subconscious levels. To sell product, it was necessary to appeal to consumers at both the rational and emotional levels, since it was emotion that stimulated interest and created desire in a product. Americans bought Mustangs because they associated themselves with the brand traits. The name implied “rugged” and “fast” and conjured up emotional meaning in their minds. The Mustang story wasn’t just about a car, it was about being part of something “real.” You could drive the Mustang across the country. It was wild, yet gave the owner the feeling that he could control it.

In a sense, we are the story of the brands we use. A brand is a reflection of how we want to be perceived by the world. It sums up our hopes and expectations as to how we want to interact with the world. If I consider buying your brand, I’m choosing to enter a conversation with you, and that conversation better tell a story if you want to keep the conversation going. The brand better be of high quality as well, or the conversation will stop right then and there.

If it was possible to package our lives and categorize brands that had meaning to us at specific points in our lives, we could design a brand map that would give others insight into who we are as human beings. In the world of brand story, our lives are the sum of the products we choose to engage in, or the places we choose to visit at key points in our lives.

In the preface to the book Make Your Voice Heard by acting and vocal coach Chuck Jones, Katie Bull said that “In theater, stories wake us up to what we care about, or might not have realized we care about.”

When we buy a BMW, a Harley-Davidson, a Coke or a can of Campbell’s Chicken Noodle Soup, is it really the product we’re buying, or the feeling we get from using the product that makes us buy it? Is it the car or motorbike we’re buying, or the thought of us using them on the open road that fuels our purchase decision? Do we want to be perceived as the entrepreneur or the rebel – and which products will help us tell that story to the world?

The best brands enter the conversation through the heart and soul of the consumer. The brands that win are those that are able to break through the clutter by telling a better story. They relate to us at an almost primal level, and are able to claim a spot within our psyche.

Consider Campbell’s chicken noodle soup. Besides being of great quality, I buy Campbell’s chicken noodle soup when I’m not feeling well because that’s the brand my Mother gave me when I was sick. In choosing the Campbell’s brand, I’m not so much buying the soup as I am buying the “feel good” and “wellness” factors associated with its consumption. I relate to Campbell’s because it’s a story of nurturing and warmth. No other brand can relate to me on that level.

If I choose to take my winter vacation at Mont-Tremblant, it’s not only because of the quality of the skiing, but because the resort invokes such positive memories in me that they transport me to another place and time. The Tremblant brand evokes a story that engages me, and I feel compelled to live the experience over and over again.

In the marketplace of the future, story will be the new currency. Customers who choose to play a role in your company’s brand will be able to buy story shares in it. Imagine if the world’s stock exchanges reflected this new trend and became known as the Toronto, New York or Tokyo Story Exchanges? Instead of CEO’s, what about creating new positions as Chief Storyshare Officers?

The global brand stage of the future will be ruled by companies who are able to engage and retain customers that continue to play a character role in their storybrand. Just as interactive media is able to engage us through its ability to provide ongoing narrative, so too can a good story make us feel as if we’re willing participants during each stage of a brand’s lifecycle.

Great brands tell a story, and the ability of a brand to bring consumers into a magical dimension will become increasingly important as more and more companies turn the competition for market share into a quest for mind share.

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Karen Hegmann is a marketing communications veteran with over 20 years experience in brand strategy/promotions, business development, public relations and business writing. An exceptional writer and speaker with the ability to tell a compelling story, she has been published in numerous national and international trade publications.

As principal of K-Vision Communications, Karen provided strategic communications advice and web content to clients such as Alliance Atlantis Communications, Canadian Securities Institute, Habitat for Humanity Toronto and Toastmasters International.

She believes that advertising and business in general could better connect with their target audiences by adopting storytelling and narrative techniques currently being used to move audiences in the film and entertainment industries. Her blog ‘Narrative Assets’ tells the story of how Art, Science and Technology impact Brand Communications and Marketing. In her past life, Karen was most likely a cinematographer or film director. She is proud to be a ‘graduate’ of Hollywood legend Robert McKee’s Storytelling seminar.

Comments

[Dave Saunders]

Great article. The emotions we associate with a brand seem so much more important than the rationalizations we come up with for why we buy or do not buy something.

[Lewis Green]

Karen,

Great post! In many instances, our purchases have more to do with emotions than logic. These purchases meet our wants and desires. When it comes to needs, emotions still play a role but a smaller one.

[Karen Hegmann]

@Dave - Thanks for your comment. Emotions do play a key role in brand purchase. It's a tough thing for marketers to quantify though, as a brand can mean different things to different people. That said, there's usually one main storyline that's embedded in a brand's history.

@Lewis - Interesting point about "wants" vs. "needs." I recently bought a new iPod Nano. I didn't really need to get an iPod, but my "want" was to get something cool that went beyond just practical use. It's what Apple meant to me that made me buy the iPod.

Thanks for contributing to the conversation!

[Cory]

Very good information here. I think it works both directions. While conversation has become important in defining brands it is only due to the ability of brands to define us. We just want a closer relation.

Worked a couple years back on a project that is kind of in line with this topic. A website - YouRankIt - that allows individuals to define themselves through affiliations with anything. Project has changed considerably, but the ideas still remain.

[Karen Hegmann]

@Cory - You're right about the conversation working both ways. One of my original concept drawings had the two way arrows in it, so thanks for bringing that point home.

The YouRankIt project sounds interesting. Imagine the marketing power if we could build a website that actually pointed us towards a particular brand - based on our emotional (and rational) needs and preferences? Something that would align us with a particular brand based on its importance to us as a story?

Thanks again for your comment.

[Sara]

it's actually deeply true... the best lessons always stem from the simplest words...

Thank you Karen !

Sara

[Karen Hegmann]

@Sara - It's true! Sometimes the best lessons come from the simplest words. Stories are able to bring back an element of simplicity to an otherwise complicated industry.
Thanks for your input.

[Mayank Dhingra]

Great and Interesting post. Never really thought on the lines of brand stories as conversations.

I too feel emotions have an upper hand when it comes to making such decisions and just as in relationships with other people we tend to unconsciously find an image/reflection of our inner self/emotions in brands.

Stories are a great way to get your messages across as they are easy to understand, remember and share with others(virality). Also, I loved the idea of a website that could gauge your emotions and direct you to relevant brands.

[Karen Hegmann]

@Mayank - Thanks for your comment. I liked the way you described our relationship to brands. We do (somewhat unconsciously) find a reflection of ourselves in a brand. That's what creates the connection that marketers try so hard to tap into.

If you find any websites that are able to connect emotions to a brand, please let me know!

[Peter]

Karen,

Thank you for your post. I've wondered about it today.

It's rare that the intellectualisation of a proposition is mirrored in the moment it is read.

The story projected by your post made me nostalgic for what it might once have meant to be human.

Where, in the small world in which we existed, there was no proxy for character or identity. Our person bare, judged by the virtue we practiced. In which we "owned" our sense of self bought through a labour of mindfulness and reflection.

Of course, this is just me.

Another image I get from your post is that of my local pub on Saturday night. They play the same songs and the crowd rides the music, through the night as they connect to the music to a time or emotion. You can predict, pretty much, the audiences reaction to any song.

The final image, is how a brand map differs from a punch card.

I am thankful for your post. I admire the clarity of your writing and your ability to project images so clear that it draws out utopia in some and a sense of urgency in me to get out into the sunshine and tend the orchard and plant some vegetables knowing, like my thoughts, these I can call my own.

Apologies, I know this is supposed to be a forum on brand and don't mean to distract. It's just that brand is like concentrated modernity. You don't need much of it to get the flavour of the times.

Peter

[Karen Hegmann]

@Peter - Thank you so much for your inspirational comment. You must be a writer, because you have a gift that makes people want to read more.

Your comments about the subject are right on and you've tapped into the key concepts highlighted in my post. "Connecting the music to a time or emotion" - isn't that a great feeling when you're somewhere (perhaps at a pub or rock concert) and not only do you feel a sense of connection - but everyone else does as well?

Sometimes I long for childhood where, as you suggest, our only identity was that of our very selves...just a natural way of being in the world without the need to be "someone else."

Your insight was well versed and I thank you again for making a contribution.

[eustaciaK]

this is a wonderful article on branding and your insight is spot-on.
thank you!

[Karen Hegmann]

@Eustacia - Thanks for your positive comment. I took a look at your home page and like the way you incorporated the importance of story into what you do. Best of luck to you!