‘Brand Storytelling is all the things you talk about to shape customer’s perceptions of you’ (Dan Nash™️️)

We’re going to talk about myth #2 of storytelling. That storytelling means always telling epic stories. Confused? Don’t worry, so was I🤷

These days throw a bitcoin into the internet and you’ll hit a quote on why storytelling is so important. Some quotes from good people I respect:

“Storytelling is the most powerful way to put ideas into the world today.” Robert McKee

“Marketing is no longer about the stuff that you make, but about the stories you tell.” Seth Godin

Etc etc...

BUT WHAT DOES IT MEAN?? Because Im not seeing much evidence of this happening with food brands.

On this mail I’m going to break down what classic storytelling means and how you can use it in your every day communications to get results without losing your shit.

The classic story definition

You may be familiar with the classic structure of storytelling aka the Hollywood three act structure, the hero journey, dramatic narrative etc. Very brief summary:

• Normal person is frustrated in life (eg they hate their job and dream of launching a muesli brand that's not full of sugar)
• Something happens to turn their life upside down (they get fired and launch a new muesli brand)
• They overcome challenges (their oat supplier runs off with all their money, their expensive brand agency does a crap job, they spend 6 months living in their car )
• There is a guide that helps them through this (a dashing food brand storyteller)
• They succeed (muesli brand becomes Gwyneth Paltrow’s daily breakfast)
• Their world is changed forever and they learn a fundamental truth about themselves. The more universal this truth the more powerful the story (follow your dreams and keep going whatever gets thrown at you)

Why it works

This mail is about the how not the why of storytelling. But this structure has been in place since cavemen have been painting on walls and the most enduring stories of time follow this. From the Iliad to Dickens to Star Wars.

We are primally wired as humans to remember stories not facts. They flood us with dopamine and cortisol which lights us up and makes information stick. A story about a brand changing an employee’s life can make you cry. A post listing your food ingredients or team event can make you cry with boredom.

Most food brands have amazing stories full of the drama of overcoming adversity. Even McDs and KFC started somewhere. As long as you’re in business there is a never ending narrative of where you’ve been, where you are now and where you’re going. Even the bits outside of work.

So please do use all the stories you have.

• You’ll look way more like a human than a brand and stand out from all the me too competitors
• Your audience will emotionally connect with you
• They’ll remember more about you
• They’ll share it next time they leave a review/tell their mates/share on social

But we need to go beyond this to tell a consistent story your customers want to hear.

The problem

There’s a lot right with telling stories and using drama and emotion in your communications. But where I get frustrated is the gurus of the world telling you to ‘use more stories’ and leave it there.

But it’s us, the shmucks in the trenches who have to do the work every day that think ‘Hang on Mr Seth Godin, do you mean I have to post an Oscar winning screenplay five times a week or what do you mean??”

It’s not manageable and probably not that interesting for your customers either.

But by dropping in a bit of emotion and drama using the story structure you can make your communications so much more powerful and your customers way more likely to take action.

Let's make it real

Now we can stop the theory and show how you can use the story structure to make your comms way more powerful without losing your shit. The key here is micro stories - just taking 1-2 elements of the story structure rather than having to create an epic narrative every time.

Intro - a lot of the best stories drop people in the action, grabbing their attention from the get go. I start every LinkedIn post with an attention grabbing headline to make people read it. Attention is short in ADHD TikTok world. If you can’t grab someone from the first sentence you’ve lost them.

Emotion - this is the secret that transforms you from a faceless brand to a real human your tribe can connect with. Talk about your feelings/emotions related to the subject and use details to make it come alive. Eg ‘The anxiety launching this food brand made it hard to breathe’, ‘The anger I felt when the supplier let me down made me want to put my fist through a wall’.

The challenge - you face challenges every day in every aspect of your biz and personal life. Talk about them and don’t forget to bring in the emotions. Remember how popular food shows are on Netflix. People love these adversity stories.

The guide - talk about the person that helped you on your journey and what you got from it.

The universal truth - If you’ve launched a food biz there is more you have learned that can help others than you realise. The difference between bragging and inspiring? By sharing what you’ve learned from your wins. The more universal the learning, the more powerful it is.

The one thing

I’ll leave you with some examples of how you can put this into the world

Launches - launching anything new (eg new store, products) are incredible ways to tell an ongoing dramatic narrative over a period of time and build the hype. Most people completely waste the opportunity to make these dramatic and thrilling for your audience. Don’t waste it.

Product development - alongside launches, developing new products are absolute story gold and yet so criminally underused. Share your process and make it dramatic and interactive. Get your audience involved - it's fun and their feedback can be incredible. People LOVE this.

Calls to action - adding drama and emotion makes people WAY more likely to take action. Whether it’s an event, signing up to your newsletter or taking a customer survey. Look at ways you can add some drama and emotion before asking someone to do something. Even swiping up on an IG story. For example ‘Take our customer survey to help us hit our goal of being x which is so important to us because of our mission to do y’.

Vision - is there something you want to achieve with your business that’s really hard? Probably. Do you want to be more sustainable, build a better work culture, change your menu/product offering? Talk about why it’s important and the challenges you face and don’t forget to say how it makes you feel!

Think about your comms for Feb and just pick one thing you can add some more drama and emotion to. Add to a call to action and see the difference.

Is that it?

This is the point in my earlier mails I would have kept going and turned this into a 3000 word blog post no-one wanted to read. I’ve already gone on too much and should end it here. But like the scorpion in the story of the scorpion and the frog, I can’t resist, it’s my nature.

I feel like I’m leaving you hanging a bit. There is so much more to telling a consistently compelling story than narrative journeys. Im going to get into this more on one of my next mails but here are 6 key ways to tell a well rounded story your tribe want to connect with:

• Show your expertise
• Talk about your journey
• Share your beliefs
• What are you interested in?
• Give value through inspiration or practical advice
• Have fun and make people smile

Over and out😘

PS This was a deep subject to condense down into an email. I sometimes wonder if I should tackle these deeper subjects on email or save them for the blog posts. Whether you found this valuable or too long for a mail, any feedback on these kinds of mails would be gratefully received🙏

PPS 2022 is feeling a lot more positive than the covid drenched shit show of last year. If you want to make this your best year yet it all starts with a brand that clearly stands out from the noise and a story your tribe HAVE to engage with. If you’re feeling overwhelmed already book a call with me and let’s brainstorm some ideas to make this the best year yet for you.