BDA considers importance of storytelling

Buckingham Design Associates (BDA) has examined the importance of storytelling and why it should form an integral part of a company's marketing strategy.

Whether reading books, watching films or sitting in the pub, we love stories and have been telling them since ancient times.

Stories spark our imagination and connect with us on an emotional level, which is why they're so powerful and why every brand needs one.

Stories shouldn't just be kept in reserve for entertaining guests at product launches, but be an integral part of your marketing strategy, because your story can be the clincher in people's minds between picking between your product or someone else's.

People's buying decisions are based on two triggers: their logical and emotional reasoning.

Logical decisions are influenced by cold, hard facts, such as the price, specifications and features, whereas emotional responses are driven by the intangible benefits of how a product makes them feel.

Unless you're happy slashing prices, emotion is the trigger your marketing needs to focus its energy on, because stories are so powerful at influencing how people feel.

You need to weave a story that appeals to your audience's attitudes and lures their sense of desire.

A compelling story can humanise your brand, increase its value in the eyes of consumers and seduce them into wanting a relationship with your logo.

Your business' story should tell people about where you came from, the purpose of what you do and your vision for the future.

It should be entwined into your brand's message and be reflected in everything you do, such as how your product is created, the wording on your label and how you answer the phone.

Your story should also reflect the world view and attitudes of your target audience.

It should be a story they want to believe in, be proud to be associated with and happily share with others.

Perhaps most importantly, your story needs to be authentic and genuine.

In a world of social media, online chatter and amateur investigators, if you are found to be spreading myths to further your own gain then your real past will come back to haunt you.

So before you sit down to pen your history and dreams for the future, here are a few examples of businesses that have thrived from the art of storytelling.

Adored by the marketing world and customers alike, Innocent is a business phenomenon because of how it has used its story and brand message to drive its rapid rise to domination.

Innocent's story is the classic tale of three plucky upstarts abandoning being cogs in the city to pursue what they are passionate about, and winning.

Their story unfolds a decade ago when they sold fruit juices at a music festival and placed bins marked 'yes' or 'no' for customers to vote on whether the trio should ditch their suits and pulp fruit full-time.

Within hours the 'yes' bin was full to the brim, while the other lay empty.

The people had spoken, and Innocent was born.

Innocent's success comes from the way its story is reflected in everything it does.

Whether it's the design of its packaging, the paintwork of its vans or throwing music festivals, everything Innocent does reflects its sense of fun, optimism and satisfaction at giving a bloody nose to the big boys.

Innocent now occupies 71 per cent of the UK smoothie market and sells two million shakes a week.

Not bad when you also consider its price tag.

From the humble beginnings of a family recipe cooked at home and sold at Notting Hill Carnival to finding fame on BBC2's Dragons' Den, the success of Levi Roots' Reggae Reggae Sauce is a masterclass in the art of storytelling.

When people buy his spicy jerk chicken sauce they are also buying Levi.

His authentic tagline of 'putting music into food', his passion for his product and his charitable connections have pushed a niche product into the shopping baskets of people who've probably never tried Jamaican food before.

People buy Levi's sauce because they like him, his story and consequently they are preconditioned to like his sauce as well.

Sainsbury's expected to sell 50,000 bottles in a year; it currently sells that many in a week.

Howies is the creation of a husband and wife team who abandoned the city life to design and manufacture eco-friendly clothes for the masses.

From starting with a few boxes of organic T-shirts, they now run their empire from a converted canteen in Cardigan Bay, Wales, and distribute their eco-friendly outdoor clothing and sportswear worldwide.

Howies's popularity was given a boost thanks to threats by Levi Strauss to sue it for featuring a name tab on its jeans.

The story of David standing up to Goliath helped distance itself from the cold corporate world and pushed its popularity from the extreme sports fraternity into the mainstream.

Howies also donates one per cent of its profits to environmental causes, reflecting its story of a genuine love for the outdoors and being run on passion rather than balance sheets.

Stories enable emotion to override reason.

As these examples illustrate, your brand's story is integral to how people feel and respond to you.

Your story needs to reflect your history, your beliefs and appeal to the worldview of your audience.

Emotion can often override reason, and people are attracted to brands that appeal to their attitudes and make them feel good about having a relationship with them.

Feelings that can be aroused by telling a great story.

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