The Art of Storytelling in Brand Strategy: Where’s the heart in it?

‍

The world of marketing and communications has become inundated with soulless ads, driving awareness with money as the marker. The message seems to have gotten lost, somewhere between AI tools and where humans were meant to connect.

We live in the age of instant gratification but automation seems to have skipped a beat… the heartbeat. The true art of storytelling humanises a brand, uncovering real-life experiences on both the seller and the buyer’s side. Why should they cross paths? How can they serve one another? 

Often people connect to the back story over the product. Think about it: Most of the time, every product or service on the market has a competitor. It’s not that they can do it. It’s how they do it, or why… Other examples like “supporting local” come to mind. In those instances, it’s about community and a sense of support or belonging that can override what’s trendy.

Brand strategies have been developed and applied, in copy-and-paste style for what has been believed to work. And while trial and error has informed these strategies, every new client has the opportunity to be new, but only for their story. It is likely that like the rest of the industry that they find themselves in, has already seen someone just like them. They might even have done it better. But the opportunity to be elevated is in how well they are able to communicate and connect. 

So we ask you, fellow strategists… What’s your story?

‍