A Brand Story: Jackie’s Pearls
From “The Million Dollar Brand” — By Marc Posch. Order here
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In 1996 at Sotheby’s in New York, a pearl necklace was up for auction.
Nothing fancy, a strand of pearls made out of plastic. A pretty piece of jewelry, something one could buy at any department store. But then, people at the auction were shocked when the necklace sold for $212,000. The pearls belonged to Jaqueline Kennedy-Onassis, bought by her in the 1950s at Bergdorf-Goodman for $35.
Now why am I telling the story, and what does it have to do with branding?
Branding is something that adds emotional value to a product. Most people, when you ask them, describe a product as something that serves a purpose. Nothing more, nothing less. What is a hammer? A tool. Period. Back to Jackie’s Pearls. The product here was a $35 mass-produced necklace, made from plastic, metal, and a fishline. Material value: probably a handful of dollars. What made it outrageously expensive was the former owner, the First Lady of the United States, Jackie Kennedy, and her story. She was seen wearing that necklace on trips all around the world. She wore them when she greeted world leaders and when she was looking after her children. Countless photos are in the public domain that shows here wearing the pearls. It was that story, the brand story, that turned an ordinary product into a brand. It was the story that created value.
(By the way, the story doesn’t end here. The necklace was later offered on Franklin Mint as “Jackie's Pearls Replica” and sold more than 130,000 copies, which grossed the owners over $26 million. Not bad for a strand of faux pearls. Later, the owners donated the original necklace to the Smithsonian Museum, where it is now part of the permanent collection).
The magic of storytelling
We live and work in Los Angeles, CA, a city famous for the stories that are created here. Hollywood is synonymous for storytelling that not only can bring magic to our lives, mesmerizes us, makes us laugh — it’s also big business.
But it’s not Hollywood alone that has discovered the magic of telling a good story. Let’s look at some of the greatest success stories of the past 20 years, not in film, but in our economy:
Starbucks, Apple, Zappos…
…the new billion-dollar brands. What do they all have in common? It’s not that they offer the world’s best coffee or the latest sneakers, yet many of us love buying from these companies, including myself. Often, we even pay a premium price. Hey, venti latte no foam anybody?
But if they’re not the best, why do we love associating ourselves with some brands? And ignore others that may be almost identical. Ask an Android phone owner about iPhones, or vice versa. You will get interesting feedback and very likely comments that defy logic. The reason for this is: it’s the brand story the products come with.
Storytelling is a powerful technique for building relationships. It’s a concept as old as mankind that brings people together and keeps them engaged. Religions are built on stories, legendary brands like Harley Davidson or Levi’s wouldn’t exist without the myths they have created over time. (Harley Davidson is also a good example that brand stories don’t last forever and need to be re-examined and recalibrated from time to time). Even food brands often have a story “baked” into, like Pepsi’s “New Generation” spirit that makes Coca Cola look old school, or McDonald’s magic Big Mac sauce that gives an otherwise average food product an aura of mystery. Stories make brands interesting and relatable. For example:
…the Google story where the company gives its employees paid time off to care for their children…
… or when Patagonia encourages customers to buy less and reuse, return or recycle worn garments, and on top of it donates all of their profits from Black Friday to environmental groups.
…or the latest I just read about: IKEA, the Swedish furniture giant, has developed a shelter system for Syrian refugees, and delivers thousands of housing units to neighboring countries. Those are the kind of stories that resonate with today’s consumers and make them affiliated, even attached to a brand.
“The stories we tell literally make the world. If you want to change the world, you need to change your story. This truth applies both to individuals and institutions.” Michael Margolis
Good stories also give big voices to small ventures. And it’s even an advantage for start-ups to show their banner with their purpose front and center. That’s why it’s mission-critical that companies take the time in the early stages to develop their approaches to storytelling, to invest in building an authentic, a transparent brand. It’s a down payment into long term success.
The big paradigm shift
The continuing rise of social media and additional online platforms has triggered a big paradigm shift. Consumers are no longer buying from big corporations that have established a presence simply by having a large product portfolio and being in existence for decades. That’s how brands created trust in the 20th century. With limited media exposure, the brand that showed the most market or media presence was also perceived as the leader of the pack, as the better brand. Exposed to 24/7 media today and an abundance of online options, the consumer can pick whatever information outlet he or she wants, even creating her “custom” reality wrapped around her beliefs and interests.
The playing field is wide open now, fragmented and cluttered as it is, but it offers perfect opportunities for smaller brands to find and connect with their target audiences. Legacy is not a prime asset anymore, sometimes even a liability. Big brands have a hard time to sell a human-centered, authentic story, to communicate purpose — which is often essential to stay relevant to today’s consumers.
Who saves the sea birds?
Thirty years ago Procter & Gamble was able to turn a tragedy into an empowering mission, crafting a story with real impact. It was shortly after the Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska in 1989 when sad images of birds and turtles covered in crude oil showed up on the news. Countless animals died. Procter & Gamble jumped in and furnished the rescue teams with Dawn dish detergent to clean the oil infested animals and thereby saving thousands of them. It made headline news all over the world. To this day, the bird-rescue saga is attached to Dawn as a wonderful story that turned a challenge into an opportunity. It was a brilliant move. Nothing could have better demonstrated the oil and grease removing agents of dish detergent.
Consumers want to know about your story
And they want to fall in love with that story. Like Dawn and the seabirds. They want to explore why your company does what you do, and how they can participate in the journey with you. Sometimes literally. Just look at Uber or AirBnB. Hanging out with those guys is considered hip. When was the last time you heard someone saying the same about a taxicab or a business hotel?
Transparency is the new black
With the abundance of information available online, consumers have also become abundantly smart. What’s happening behind closed doors is suspicious. Transparency is the new black. This means if you’re not able to bring your customers inside what’s happening in your business — whether you’re a small shop owner or a 10,000 employee company — you’re behind the trend.
More importantly, if your competitors are building transparency in the market, you’re already in a disadvantage with your customers. We now live in a world where we are only 140 characters away from destroying our carefully crafted reputation. Let’s not forget that. (Yes, you can tweet this)
So what does all this mean? What can you do in order to start building this authentic relationship with your audience? Here two remarkable success stories I would like to highlight.
Put a face to your brand
Steve Jobs wasn’t just the founder and CEO of Apple. He was able to create a cult around his persona. His presentations made headlines all around the globe. He was the de facto face of the company that started from humble beginnings and turned Apple into the most valuable brand on the planet. While he was often portrayed as a difficult person and a challenging entrepreneur, his charisma as the engineer with a grand vision was always seen as aspiring and instrumental for Apple’s meteoric rise.
Same with Tony Hsieh, the charismatic founder of Zappos. Tony’s management style and philosophy have created a Billion Dollar Brand that stands for a very human and respectful corporate culture and excellent customer service (Powered by Service). His lectures about business culture attract thousands of people around the globe. Here’s Zappos’ mission statement:
“Customer Service isn’t just a department! We’ve been asked by a lot of people how we’ve grown so quickly, and the answer is actually really simple… We’ve aligned the entire organization around one mission: to provide the best customer service possible. Internally, we call this our WOW philosophy. “ —Zappos
Features define the product, but stories define the brand
No one cares that your software loads a few seconds faster than your competitor’s, or that you have 5 blades instead of 4. People buy on emotions, on stories they can relate to. It’s why people pay $5 for a Starbucks coffee or wait in line in the rain outside the Apple store.
Rather than talking about what each of your features does better, expose your “why” and become bigger than the product and service you’re selling. What are your values? How can you resonate with your customer’s problems in order to serve them better? Most importantly, how are you providing a solution to a problem? How do you understand me as a customer? “What” makes the product, but “Why” creates a beloved brand.
The neverending story
Be willing to put everything on the line to build your brand’s reputation and serve your customers with integrity. This can mean sacrificing some short-term gains, but it will pay off big time in the long run.
Brand building is not a sprint but rather a marathon. It is something I personally had to learn the hard way. I’ve completed several actual marathons in my life — and what I found the most challenging — and rewarding part — was to learn to slow down, to manage resources and expectations in order to handle the long distance.
Moving forward, there will be two types of companies that exist. An honest brand with a compelling story and the potential to grow into a billion-
dollar brand, and.. “what was their name again?” Don’t be a Kodak story, be like Google instead.
Brand stories are created either by default or by design. Choose your story wisely, and it better be a good one. …and keep running.
This article is an excerpt from “The Million Dollar Brand — Building A Million Dollar Brand For The Information Economy. A Step-by-Step Manual.” By Marc Posch, Creative Director, and Brand Consultant. To order click here
Opus Creative Group — with partners in Munich and Paris — offers the combined expertise and firepower of a well-calibrated team of experts, and with it a broad spectrum of creative services, from Brand Consulting to Brand Development and Digital Branding. With 20+ years of experience in the tech and manufacturing sectors, we help our clients define their brand story, and we help them achieve success.
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