Brand Storytelling: 5 Stories Your Brand Could Use

Storytelling is a powerful tool that can convey information, trigger emotions and inspire action. Successful brands have long used the benefits of storytelling to create compelling marketing collateral and foster trust among consumers. 

While brand storytelling can help convey your mission and humanize your business, it can also challenge you to view your entire process in a new light — from what you do to those you serve. 

Keep reading to learn about 5 stories your brand could use.

Looking for an expert storyteller to help out with brand messaging? Contact the team at Hire a Writer today to get started. 

5 Ways Your Brand Can Use Storytelling 

Brand storytelling can work in many ways. From crafting a singular narrative that boils down all you do into one concise mission statement, to the combined stories of your internal company culture, your products and even your customers. The deeper you look, the more stories you’ll find.

Here are five narratives that can help define and shed new light on your brand: 

Founding Story

Your founding story is where it all began. Founding stories typically appear on a company’s “About” page online and include information like when the business got started, how its founders met and any significant milestones reached along the way. 

To craft a compelling founding story, it’s important to focus not only on the factual details of your company’s founding, but to build the narrative around the question of WHY you do what you do. 

Mascot Story

Not all brands have a mascot, but those that do can certainly have fun creating its origin story. This is an excellent way to get audience members invested in your brand, add personality to your marketing campaigns and improve both brand recognition and recall.

One shining example of a highly successful mascot origin story is that of Gritty. When the Philadelphia Flyers initially unveiled their new mascot — a giant, orange, muppet-like monster — reactions ranged from skeptical to horrified. Some described Gritty as a “deranged orange lunatic.” 

Instead of backtracking and changing the mascot, those representing Gritty leaned fully into the chaos. The Philadelphia City Council released an official resolution welcoming the new mascot to the city. The resolution references Gritty’s bio, noting that while his true age and origins remain mysterious, it was “recent construction at the arena that disturbed his secret hideout and forced him to show his face publically for the first time.”  

The resolution later states the following: “...as soon as Philadelphians realized non-Philadelphians were also mocking Gritty, we rose immediately to his defense and irrevocably claimed him as our own…”

The resolution was a brilliant move that tied Gritty’s storyline into the story and culture of Philadelphia itself. The memo went viral, and Gritty quickly became a cultural icon.

While your brand mascot likely won’t achieve quite such an explosive trajectory, it’s clear to see how you can wield storytelling to your advantage and create engaging opportunities to collaborate with other businesses or entities. 

Product Story

Every product has a story, from how and why it was designed to its manufacturing process, and ultimately, where it ends up. With socially-minded generations like Millennials and Gen-Z stepping fully into the consumer spotlight, brands with a focus on doing good in the world consistently outperform those that don’t seem to have good environmental, social and governance (ESG) practices in place.

Brand transparency fosters trust and presents an opportunity to showcase sound ESG practices. Bringing the story of your product — and its journey through the supply chain — into your marketing strategy is a great way to communicate sustainable, trustworthy business practices. Just be sure it’s authentic, and that you’re not greenwashing your products.    

Brand Voice 

Brand voice dictates how you present your brand to the world. It includes visual aspects, like your brand logo and company colors, as well as any customer-facing language. Your brand voice is your company’s persona. It can be sassy, intellectual, gruff, sarcastic — anything you want, really. 

By taking the time to craft a story behind your brand voice for internal team members — that is, answering the question of why your company sounds this way — you can refine your brand and get everyone in charge of customer-facing communications on the same page. 

Your Ideal Client Story

An ideal client profile (ICP) describes a perfect-fit customer or client for your business. The ICP is usually based on research and data from your existing client base, rather than a completely fictional construct you dream up. 

After working with numerous clients, a company or service provider will tend to favor certain qualities over others. This might include characteristics like prompt payment, clear and respectful communication and/or a real need for a product or service. By gathering data and finding the common threads in audience demographics, their decision drivers and behaviors, you can begin constructing your ICP.

By weaving these characteristics into a cohesive story that includes your ideal client’s background, goals, hopes, fears, motivations, etc., you can humanize your audience and hone your messaging to attract exactly the types of clients you want to work with.

Work With a Storytelling Expert   

Storytelling is a powerful tool that can shed new light on your business, how it operates and who you serve. From customer-facing marketing campaigns that utilize storytelling techniques to internal communications, a complete narrative helps ensure everyone is one the same page with a deep understanding of what you do — and why you do it. 

Whether you need help crafting your brand voice or you’re looking for a team of writing experts to craft pitch-perfect brand messaging, you’re in the right place.