The Science Of Telling Stories That People Love
A Great Story Does All The Work And Here's Why
“Identify the worldview of the people you need to reach. Describe the truth through their worldview. That’s your story.” — Seth Godin
The key to building an audience and turning a reader into a member of your tribe is your ability to build trust through the stories you tell.
Every organization is a tribe, a collective of people that can relate to and identify with the core beliefs that define what each organization is about.
Employees seek more than pay, they seek to be apart of something much bigger than themselves — they seek to be apart of a brand that can clearly communicate who they are and what they represent to the world.
Customers seek more than high quality merchandise at a reasonable price — when they make a purchase, giving away hard earned dollars that took 40 hours plus a week to earn, they’re exchanging their dollars for something that makes it all worth it.
We’re all story tellers, which is why we have close bonds with the people that we call friends, and intimate relationships that are built on trust.
Building an audience is more than drawing them in for the sake of converting them into followers or potential “customers”.
Nike, Apple and Coca Cola have one thing in common that is foundational to each of their success.
Their ability to gain the attention and the trust of their audience by telling a great story simply, and in a way that wins the hearts and minds of their audience — yet, they tell an open ended story that allows their loyal customer base to write their own stories into how they each can relate to the brand.
The Foe That Lies Within
“Nike advertising uses the emotional branding technique of Heroism to inspire incredible customer loyalty all over the world. The hero starts from humble beginnings, challenges a foe greater than he, and against all odds, prevails.” — Graeme Newell, Branding and Marketing Specialist
We all can relate to facing opposition. Whether it be unfortunate circumstances standing in the way of our ability to chase our dreams, the limiting opinions of those around us that make us fearful of taking action on our ideas, or sexism in the work place that keeps you from getting the position or the raise that you know your work performance deserves — we all have opposition that we must overcome.
Opposition comes in different forms but Nike made sure that they didn’t single out one form of opposition, by building a brand story that focuses in on one enemy that every human being on the planet can relate to having.
“They (Nike) know that while some people may identify with an external foe, all people identify with an internal one.” — Graeme Newell, Branding and Marketing Specialist
Our biggest battles take place within our minds, against ourselves. Regardless to the external obstacles standing in our way, it all comes down to how we mentally process those obstacles to decide if its possible for us to move forward or not. This is where Nike comes in with their slogan “just do it’.
Cristiano Ronaldo, Serena Williams, Michael Jordan and even Kobe Bryant are known for facing external factors outside of their control , prior to their success, and on and off the “big stage” where they defined who they are — but what makes each of their stories so special is that they narrowed the “internal foe” down to themselves.
They knew that if they faced outward toward the obstacle, they would fail but they also knew that ultimately, they had the final say and that if they were going to win and achieve their crazy dreams of being the very best at what they do, they had to do what ever it took to be the very best that they could be — and stories like these create customer loyalty, because its a story that all of us can directly relate to at this current moment in our lives.
Be Crazy Enough To Believe You Can
“What we have is something that I am very moved by, it honors those people who have changed the world. Some of them are living, some of them are not — but the ones that aren’t, as you’ll see, you know that if they’ve ever used a computer — it would have been a Mac.” — Steve Jobs, Founder of Apple
From its inception, Apple has stayed consistent with telling an open ended story that their customer base could write their own stories to. Steve Jobs instilled in the brand story of Apple that passionate people can change the world for the better.
From creating their very first computer that enthusiasts could build and sell their own programs with (the Apple 1) all the way to where the iPhone is today, Apple has made their products customizable and user friendly to each individuals specific needs, by conveying one message —to “Think Different”.
Steve Jobs wanted to place the power in each loyal customers hands, by giving them a product that they could use to flesh out ideas that could ultimately make the world a better place.
Pause, And Capture The Moment
“We are no longer the only narrator of our story. Our fans and the content they produce are chapters to our story as well.” — Kate Santore, Coca Cola Content Excellence Lead
At the core of Coca Cola’s brand story, you find people. From it’s very first branding campaign, Coca Cola has completely taken the backseat and allowed the customer to write their own story to define the companies brand — with “A Coke and a smile”.
Throughout its years of dominating the beverage industry, it has encountered many triumphs and many seasons of under performing sales in comparison to its competitors — but where Coca Cola continues to excel and out perform all of its competitors, is in its brand story that has always been centered on the story that the customer is telling.
“Taste the feeling” is Coca Cola’s current brand slogan that points directly to the customer and where they are now. Although its slogan has changed several times throughout its history, Coca Cola has proven that throughout every generation, that it can reinvent itself to stay relevant in a way that defines each current time period — by beginning the open ended story with a subtle slogan, that allows each customer to fill in the blank with their own story.
“Coke no longer wants to be about “fixing happiness” with “high-level” idea. Rather, the new campaign is “very much about living in the intimacy and simplicity of … moments.” — Rodolfo Echeverria
Coca Cola aims for their loyal customer base to frame moments in time that defined where they were in life, when they were having a coke.
Now Its Your Turn
Instead of pointing to ourselves or the product we’re selling, our single most valuable tool in telling stories that captivate people is to understand who they are, where they are in life and to tell our story from their shoes.
People want to be apart of something that they can relate to, and people choose to follow influencers and brands that represent who they are, their core values and where they want to go in life.
Great story telling is authentic and valuable, but above all it leaves the story open for others to add to it — because at the heart of every great story is the listener.
At the heart of every thriving company is people, and their own unique stories.
“A worldview is a lot like the strings on a piano or the cables in a bridge. When it hits something that is of the same frequency, it resonates. The cause and the effect embrace each other and the story sticks, and spreads.” — Seth Godin
