Why a good brand story matters

Think of a great brand and you will end up thinking of a great story.

An overclaim? No, not at all. 

Coca-Cola? Think about its story of evolution from a tonic to a soft drink that refreshes the mind, the body and the soul, with its secret recipe and history of bringing happiness. 

Think of KFC and the story is about eleven herbs and spices developed by Colonel Sanders. 

Think of Facebook and its origin story. It started as a means for US university students to get to know each other and now is a platform that allows people everywhere to connect and share. 

Stories are the way we become interested in things. Stories are how we remember things. Just as every family, village, nation, religion and culture has stories, so does every brand. 

Indeed, without a story, a brand is just a product with fancy graphics. Imagine trying to explain your brand without a story. It would be just a list of ingredients or services. Nothing to make it memorable.

"Stickiness" of the brand story determines how memorable it will be. A brand story must be sticky. It needs to have some unique opening "hook" to grab attention, some interesting "guts" that are the selected facts to drive the story, and a "payoff" that will be remembered. 

But most important of all, a good brand story is based on the "headline" – the message you want to convey to the consumer. It may not be used in the story itself but it is what the story is built on.

MasterCard's Priceless story is built on the idea that in everyone's life, there are things more important than money and MasterCard can help people get those experiences.

The Nescafe story is about bringing people together.

The Indian tourism brand story is built around the headline that people want experiences that take them out of the realm of the expected, hence the desire for the incredible. 

Think about the Ready Made Garments industry here in Bangladesh. It's the lifeblood of the economy with over 83% of all export earnings and over 12% of GDP. But without a story, there is no RMG brand. The entire industry only manufactures products. 

A brand story is essential for growth. In a world of constant change, new or revived fashion, icons and upstarts, how does a company stand out and grow? It needs a brand, and having a brand means having a story. 

And yes, even a non-consumer company needs brand stories. Think about it. To compete with globally well-known brands like Adidas, Nike, G-Star, Diesel, Armani, Pepe jeans and so on, Bangladeshi garment companies would need attractive stories – something beyond quality control, pricing and speed of delivery. Because these things are all tangibles, and that can always be beaten. What you need is a story. 

Take MBM Group as a case in point. We have been working with them for some time as it is morphing from a great deliverer of products to a great brand that offers the best brand partnership, by building on marketing practices, to build a story. 

Starting from rethinking its positioning around its Brand Belief System, we are helping them develop a more distinct corporate identity, integrating all its activities around a single brand story, then translating the brand's activities around social, environmental and community activity, to bring it to life the right story. 

So a story becomes a basis for all the activity and ambition of the brand. In the case of MBM, the story goes like: Weaving Wonderful Dreams for the people and planet, by ensuring excellence in manufacturing garments which are sustainable for world-class brands.

Notice the hook to get you interested (weaving wonderful dreams), the guts (ensuring excellence) the payoff (sustainable for world-class brands).

Stories, especially the sticky ones, do not have to be long. They can have a lot more detail or illustration. They can be personalised. But they have to provide the brand with some real meaning that it can build on.

Dave McCaughan is a co-founder of Marketing Futures

Faiyaz Ahmed is a co-founder of Marketing Futures

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions and views of The Business Standard.