Brand Storytelling Examples … the 6 Best We Could Find

We hear lots of talk these days about the power of brand storytelling—and why it’s so critical for businesses and brands as we continue to rush forth in the digital age. Check out these brand storytelling examples.

Stop interrupting what people are interested in, and be what people are interested in.

But like so much of this other stuff that is discussed in the marketing and branding realm, storytelling has always been important. It has been the essence of the greatest and most successful communications since the beginning of man.

It can be daunting for a marketer to plan out a piece of brand storytelling – and yet it looks so easy when it is done right. The 5 companies below range in popularity but the lessons in there apply to all brands; there is so much to be gained from examining exactly why the stories were so effective.

Guinness I

Guinness is no stranger to effective brand storytelling. This video reached three million views within four days of online release. This is another exercise in concise brand storytelling with a big heart – the concept sees a group of guys playing wheelchair basketball. A simple plot; a game of wheelchair basketball followed by a pint of Guinness.

The twist is that only one of the men in the group is an actual wheelchair user – the rest, it seems, are his friends who are playing wheelchair basketball so that they can all play together.

So what on Earth does this story have to do with Guinness?  It is when the voiceover kicks in that the storytelling really ramps up though: “Dedication, loyalty, friendship – the choices we make reveal the true nature of our character,” says a gravelly-voiced chap.

The choice the men in the ad make to play wheelchair basketball is a testament to their character, and so is the choice they make when they are at the beer taps. It almost tells viewers to be the best person they can be, and drink the best quality drink they can get their hands on.

You simply cannot argue with that as a memorable and evocative piece of brand storytelling – and the image of the group walking (and wheeling) away from the court will stick with you.

Guinness II

Have you noticed that the world of marketing is changing? And rapidly. Traditional media vehicles are losing effectiveness as people communicate in new and different ways. Mass audiences are fragmenting into small segments.

Developing a point of difference is harder than ever. This Guinness marketing story demonstrates that Guinness marketing has certainly noticed.

And Guinness marketing has adapted and come up with some cool new marketing stories. This new ad from Guinness proves that beer commercials can be so much more than guys and bars.

“Empty Chair,” tells the story of a bartender who leaves a pint of Guinness at an empty table every night amongst birthday celebrations and sports team’s victories. No one sits at the table, and the woman shoots a dirty look at anyone she catches eyeing one of the empty chairs.

Related: Would This Galaxy S5 Marketing Video Persuade You?

Without fail, the frosted glass is there each and every night. It’s a powerful image that serves as a sign of hope for the bartender. But we aren’t exactly sure who the beer is for until the very end. Everything comes together when a soldier finally returns home to claim his Guinness.

The spot finishes with the tagline “The choices we make reveal the true nature of our character.”

A simple yet powerful way to add meaning to the story.

Google

If you haven’t seen this Google story, you can watch it here …a short 3+ minutes.

The story is this: a man in Delhi tells his granddaughter about his childhood friend, Yusuf. He hasn’t seen Yusuf since the Partition of India in 1947 when India and Pakistan became separate countries and the two friends were forced to separate. The man’s granddaughter arranges for the two to meet again.

This story is about as emotional as it gets. Stories like this provide a chance to experience a variety of emotions without the risk of those emotions themselves. Emotions like wonder, fear, courage, or love can be tested out in the minds of those as they listen to a story.

If you really listen to your customers, like Google has, you can leverage their stories to drive your creativity. By analyzing their stories of how your products and services fit into their lives, you can gain valuable insight into their needs and desires, which can be hugely beneficial to other aspects of your business. Like product design and development and ongoing marketing strategy. The reunion has done that well don’t you think?

The story is simple and direct. It’s beautiful, and honest, and true. The photography is spectacular. The music adds to the very good acting.

Dawn

We recently viewed a Dawn Liquid Detergent story told in one of their advertisements that caught our eye for several reasons. An effective TV ad that combined traditional advertising with advocacy advertising and creative storytelling. Something you don’t see very often.

Dawn detergent

Have you seen this recent Dawn story in their TV commercial? If not, you should invest 1 minute now and check it out. It will prove beneficial in reviewing their great story.

Interesting information, well presented, showing emotion, always holds attention, yes?  Keep in mind that people don’t watch ads … they watch what interests them. Your stories must be interesting to your target communities.

This story message certainly grabs and holds attention based on emotion, superb visuals, and great issue advocacy.

New Bell of South Africa

Have you seen the remarkable branding story from this South African business? It was created to market and build the brand. It is a very simple story. It advocates learning to read no matter your age or status in society.

To us, it creates pure magic with the story, the visuals, the music, and the emotion. If you haven’t seen it, watch it now, it is only 2 minutes and it will inspire you. It is certainly easier in our top 5 of all time.

What makes this story so remarkable? Of course, the whole thing was staged. Who cares? It certainly accomplished its objective to build on the brand. Over 1 million views so far for a business from South Africa that most of us have ever heard of. Of course, you can’t design a story for going viral. But you can target for being remarkable and engaging.

Lego Movie

There is no better story example I have ever seen than The Lego Movie. As I sat in the theater to a packed house along with 3 of my grandchildren, I marveled at what I was witnessing. Kids laughed. Everyone was thoroughly entertained.

All because a brand had managed to create a masterful story, using their product as the star, and at the same time created what is the most effective 90 minute commercial for a “toy” we’ve ever seen.

But the reaction of my kids is no surprise really. If one analyzes the film, it’s quite apparent what makes it so very effective:

It’s actually a good movie—incredibly well written— for kids and adults.

The product is the entire movie. Every scene is masterfully created with Legos.

There are deep messages happening within the movie, all of which are uplifting and easy to get behind:

-There is a “builder” within each one of us if we only believe

-We’re only as limited as our imagination allows us to be

-You’re never too old to create magic

The bottom line

Can you see why these brands have hit such huge home runs with their tales? They are quickly becoming the mecca of “storytelling done right” for brands big and small going forward.

So what’s the conclusion? The conclusion is there is no conclusion. There is only the next step. And that next step is completely up to you. But believe in the effectiveness of word of mouth marketing. And put it to good use.

It’s up to you to keep improving your creative marketing efforts. Lessons are all around you. In this case, your competitor may be providing ideas and or inspiration. But the key is in knowing that it is within you already.

All you get is what you bring to the fight. And that fight gets better every day you learn and apply new lessons.

When things go wrong, what’s most important is your next step.

Test. Learn. Improve. Repeat.

Are you devoting enough energy to improving your marketing, branding, and advertising?

Mike Schoultz is the founder of Digital Spark Marketing, a digital marketing and customer service agency. With 40 years of business experience, he blogs on topics that relate to improving the performance of your business. Find them on G+Twitter, and LinkedIn.  

Digital Spark Marketing will stretch your thinking and your ability to adapt to change.  We also provide some fun and inspiration along the way.

More reading on stories and storytelling from Digital Spark Marketing’s Library:

Guinness Marketing Strategy Shifts to Storytelling

Data Visualization: A Great Way to Complement Storytelling

Employ Great Storytelling to Improve Persuasion Skills

Why Powerful Brand Storytelling is Essential for Marketing

Powerful brand storytelling has become an essential part of an effective marketing strategy. So, what is brand storytelling, and why is it so important?

powerful brand storytelling
Powerful brand storytelling.

Storytelling is not intended to be a “selling” tool. It’s a method of building strong relationships with your customers and a thriving community of loyalists over time.
 A good story can tell people who you are, what you value, and what you do to have an impact on the lives of others. Your story identifies what your passions are and should serve as the foundation for all your future content developments.
Here are some reasons storytelling has grown in importance:

 

Powerful brand storytelling … marketplace has changed

Certainly, you have noticed the tremendous abundance of choice in the marketplace today. No needs go wanting, do they? Consumers have everything they need and therefore their decisions are based on what they want. And what they want is driven by what they believe.
Related post: Jaw-Dropping Guerrilla Marketing Lessons and Examples 
 

Why stories and storytelling

Facts often can be boring and overwhelming, can’t they? Stories, though, not nearly as much.
They are much easier to understand and much more entertaining. Therefore they are much better at spreading ideas.

 

Change your life

Wonder if stories can change your life? They can if people believe they can.
Facts are mostly non-relevant. What matters is what people think and believe.

 

Story/storytelling characteristics

Awesome stories and the storytelling used to tell them:
Are authentic and people should never question this.
They make a promise that has some meaning to the community.
Are targeted to a particular community.
They make subtle points … and are not overwhelming.
They are a trusted marketing tool.
Stories and storytelling appeal to our senses and not to logic.
And most importantly they are told with a heart to appeal to emotions.
 

The choice

Keep this in mind about consumer choices. They are not purchasing a physical product or service.
They are purchasing feelings associated with those products and services.

More Social Commerce: A Winning Case Study to Share

 

Secrets of success

To be most successful, stories and storytelling must play to these secrets:
They must reinforce existing popular views.
Call attention to something new.
Focus on first impressions.
Tell only what YOU believe.
 

Be authentic

Business brand storytelling combines five essential aspects.
Let’s look at a piece of content that exemplifies each of these aspects:

 

Who you are

Use your story to communicate with your customers and potential employees exactly who you are, what got you to where you are and what is important to you.
When people feel like they know you, they become emotionally invested in your company. Your goals become their goals. They share a sense of pride in seeing you succeed.
One great example of this is Harpoon Brewery. Harpoon tells the story of who they were in the very beginning and how they have grown into who they are now.
Everyone loves an origin story. Harpoon does a great job of telling theirs, which is one of friendship and passion. Then they take it a step further by inviting you to become a part of that friendship and joining them for a beer.
Instantly you feel a personal connection with the company and its founders.  This comradeship is even apparent in their employee ownership program.
 

How you solve problems

Your story should explain to your customers exactly how you create solutions that meet their ever-changing needs. It isn’t enough to show how you can solve one immediate problem.
You need to tell them how you continue to work to anticipate and create solutions for potential problems.
99designs is committed to their community of designers and customers, which is apparent in every piece of content they create.
They do a great job of using their story to communicate how they solve problems by highlighting the creativity and ingenuity of their community.

 

 

What you specifically do

Using your story to tell what you specifically do communicates what your product or service is. Beyond that, it also communicates your commitment to that product or service.
You can emphasize the impact you are trying to make in the lives of your customers and the larger community.
FTD Flowers does a great job of this. This company has been around for over 100 years.
They have services around the world and their commitment to excellence is constantly evident. FTD communicates their understanding that flowers are an expression of love and must be of the highest quality to accurately represent those feelings.
And they not only make this apparent on their about page. It is on their sales pages as well.
Learn from their example! Your story should be evident across all your sales and marketing assets.

 

 

How you add value and care

You can use your story to quickly communicate how you care about your customers, their needs and our world.
At the same time, you can explain how you add value to the lives of others.
Poo-Pourri has done an excellent job of quickly, and with a lot of tasteful humor, explaining that they care about you, your family and our planet.
They communicate all of this and give you a sense of who they are, what they specifically do and how they are solving problems, all in just one quick paragraph.

 

 

How you engage

Take your story a step further to help your clientele understand how you engage with the community around you and those that you serve.
You can do this by discussing issues you and your company are passionate about.
Another way is to focus your story on the members that allow your organization to thrive.
Mesa Rim is a local rock climbing gym and is deeply committed to their members and the community they call home.  Their storytelling includes monthly member spotlights, which allow their members to voice their story through the brand.
Additionally, they host a monthly volunteer event for both staff and members to attend. This serves as a way to promote through their website and social media channels.
Consumers are becoming more socially conscious. And by integrating these endeavors into their story, Mesa Rim can connect with their customers on an even deeper level.

 

The bottom line

Storytelling is a great way to let your clientele know exactly who you are, what you are committed to and what you are passionate about – both in your company and in our world.
Brand storytelling helps your customers create a personal connection, build a relationship, and ultimately loyalty to your brand.
Telling your story will help you to stand out from your competitors and be memorable to your customers.

 

Digital Spark Marketing
Digital Spark Marketing’s Firestorm Blog

 

So what’s the conclusion? The conclusion is there is no conclusion. There is only the next step. And that next step is completely up to you. But believe in the effectiveness of word of mouth marketing created by remarkable customer service. And put it to good use.
 
It’s up to you to keep improving your creative marketing strategies. Lessons are all around you. In this case, your competitor may be providing the ideas and or inspiration. But the key is in knowing that it is within you already.
All you get is what you bring to the fight. And that fight gets better every day you learn and apply new lessons.
When things go wrong, what’s most important is your next step.
Try. Learn. Improve. Repeat.
Are you devoting enough energy improving your marketing, branding, and advertising?
Do you have a lesson about making your marketing strategy better you can share with this community? Have any questions or comments to add in the section below?
 
Digital Spark Marketing will stretch your thinking and your ability to adapt to change.  We also provide some fun and inspiration along the way. Call us for a free quote today. You will be amazed at how reasonable we will be.
 More reading on marketing  strategy from Digital Spark Marketing’s Library:
13 Extraordinary Marketing Lessons from Taylor Swift
Learning from 2 of the Best Marketing Strategy Case Studies
Visual Content … 13 Remarkable Marketing Examples to Study
7 Secrets to the Lego Blog Marketing Campaigns … Effective Marketing?
14 Jaw-Dropping Guerilla Marketing Lessons and Examples
Mike Schoultz is a digital marketing and customer service expert. With 48 years of business experience, he consults on and writes about topics to help improve the performance of small business. Find him on G+FacebookTwitter, Digital Spark Marketing, and LinkedIn.