How to harness agility for long-term brand success.
How to
Above | A quick glimpse at Melbourne’s afternoon skyline
Savvy brand managers understand the importance of remaining true to what makes their brand great while adapting to ever-evolving market dynamics.
Bridging the present and future
The need for agile marketing.
Market dynamics have become increasingly competitive. For many brands, the only absolute certainty is further uncertainty. This makes for challenging times in many marketing departments. The last decade has witnessed substantial changes in marketing that require brand stewards charged with growing brands to re-evaluate their roles. It’s a constant battle between setting the brand up for long-term success and effectively promoting it in the short term.
Finding the right formula demands that marketers be agile. They must identify when and how they can add the greatest value to the brands they’re responsible for. To help their brands expand, marketers need to determine new areas of relevance with their target audience. But they should also preserve the brand’s long-standing, overarching promise to consumers. Here are some approaches that help agile marketers understand when to push and when to let go.
Essentials to consider
Honesty is everything.
Honesty and transparency are two vital ingredients in compelling brand storytelling. Don’t confuse ‘stories’ with fantasy. The most powerful stories are told with integrity and truth. The three most crucial brand-building steps are consistency, persistence, and restraint. Take those qualities to your brand storytelling, as well. Creativity should not be at the cost of clarity. Confused consumers look elsewhere. Always stick to your core brand promises, as congruency is key.
Engage your audience.
Brand stories are more than mere marketing. If you treat them like advertisements, you’ve missed the mark. Think of your brand persona and let your personality shine. Would you stick it out to read a boring story, or have you got better things to do? Treat your audiences the same way. Bland storytelling loses business, but stories packaged in exciting ways help positively engage your audiences, capture their attention and turn them into business-building sales.
Create characters that matter.
And when we say characters, we don’t mean fictionalised beings that nobody can relate to. Characters in your brand storytelling might be well-researched consumer personas or team members that can be used for a unique perspective on a particular topic. The most essential element is creating characters people care about and cheer for. Brand storytelling that uses characters on a journey people can follow and connect with can help take your brand to new levels of marketing engagement. Now you just need the right idea to suit.
Take your readers on a journey.
Stories that are enjoyable to read take the audience on a journey. A story structure of beginning, middle and end lets you open well and carry your readers through the characters’ problems and conflicts to see a satisfying resolution that makes your story shareable. It also keeps your audience engaged enough to keep coming back for more.
Less is more.
Great storytelling motivates readers to keep scrolling or turning pages to see what’s coming next. Brand storytelling is no different. With characters that people care about and a plot line that makes sense, each new piece of brand storytelling content should feed on the last to build layers of detail that leave your audiences hungry for more.
One size does not fit all.
Delivering stories on one social media platform and using other platforms to release teasers and hints offers exciting ways to build momentum and audience communities. Online and offline storytelling techniques can also be utilised to bring a brand storytelling campaign together. Remember, the ultimate goal is to surround your target audience with brand experiences and stories. With so many ways to enjoy your brand story, your consumers will have deeper connections, connections that move you closer towards your organisational goals.