Your Brand’s Story: The Ultimate Cheat Code to Audience Hearts - tell Brands Uganda (telltheagency.com)
Today, let’s dive into the enchanting, mind-bending but honestly confusing world of storytelling for brands. Let’s first put aside our corporate high-heels and board room decorum finely polished with ‘IPSOS’ reports and fancy Philip Kotler lingua and accents (some even speak all seven languages of marketing!) and we focus on what is real and realistic.
Picture this (and I hope it is a selfie!): The Bible, and the story of Jesus, could easily be the world’s oldest and most influential brand story (ignore the Santa Claus and Coca Cola story for today). Bite that thought hard and chew on it for the next few seconds.
It’s got drama, heroes, villains, miracles, and a narrative that has shaped human history.
The story of creation, the entire good journey until Jesus’s resurrection and the fear of the all-scary 666 is one story that has made religion, Christianity and spirituality a whole new thing. I mean, you’d ‘literally’ go to war, or even stop reading from here, if I told you it is a lie (…and I am not saying it is!). Even in contextual aspects, you would give me that Anita Among look, if I boldly say that ‘Omuzimu’ is the same as spirit, and that Yeesu muzimu. (Yep, that’s the look!)
How good a narrative must it have to be to get to that level? For you to give me that look before going back (like right now) to analyze the entire statement…!
We’ve got a very good case of brand ‘faithfuls’, loyalists, die-hards, ambassadors (ba street preacher gyemuli?), distributors, evangelists, teachers, fraudsters, and even customers. If religion was a product, the story of Jesus has sold this amazing product all over the world…for eons.
Now, if you’re thinking, “Bonny, have you lost it?” kindly hold that wild thought and stay with me. There’s method to this madness.
Why Brands Need Storytelling: The Bible as a Blueprint
Do brands really have to tell their story? Well, if you asked me, I’d randomly and off-head simply mumble a ka easy NO, and argue with myself (in my head) that, “Brands are simply not human anyways!”. But we all know how our dear marketers love the eight-wonder of their brand book – the brand persona. We have mastered the art of brand personification, identity, and the beautiful boardroom “Shifrah is our persona”. And I must admit that it does work. We will get our basic marketing targets and objectives with a few tweaks here and there.
But what if you copied from the main ‘brand bible’?
Yes, just as the Bible has captivated hearts and minds for centuries, your brand’s story should resonate on a deep, emotional level with your audience. The most powerful brands in the world—Apple, Nike, Coca-Cola—have mastered this art. They don’t just sell products; they sell narratives that tap into our emotions and desires.
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