A great story has a beginning, middle and an end, and it includes characters that you can relate to, care about and ultimately believe in. Advertising is a great storyteller and great brands know how to tell their story with clarity and consistency, and by delivering a continuum of positive experiences: each marketing touch, each customer interaction. But sometimes brands lose their way by not defining what they stand for, or by making decisions that are not in line with their core values. This can cause customer confusion and directly affect the return on investment (ROI) you get with your marketing dollars.
When you build or strengthen your brand story, be sure you have clarity around these three brand elements, and your advertising agency will have the tools they need to help you bring your story to life.
- Your Vision: Visualize what you want your organization to become. Your vision should be big enough that it is still relevant 10+ years in the future. It should be easy for your team to understand and become motivated by. And it should provide the guidance your leadership team needs to ensure the decisions they are making today will drive your organization’s vision closer to reality.
- Your Mission: Understand why you do what you do. Create a mission statement that your teams can rally around. It should include why you what you do. Be clear about the value you deliver to your customers, and bring in the essence of your core values in how you deliver your products or services—all without being too specific. Think about why your organization was created. What passion drove the business? Learn about why your customers buy from you versus your competition. Talk to your teams about how they deliver your products or services. Share this mission with your teams in a way that helps your organization to deliver a consistent customer experience.
- Your Brand Personality: Who are you and what is your voice? Understanding your brand personality and being consistent in the style in which you present that personality will ensure that your customers are not confused when they see you in media. An interesting exercise to help you understand who you are is to consider this: If your organization was a person, who would you be? Are you conservative and serious? Fun and edgy? Thoughtful and supportive? Sometimes it helps to think of your organization in relationship to a well-known personality and how they would deliver your message. Are you Oprah? Or George Bush? It’s also great to know who you aren’t. Visual and voice consistency delivered in a multimedia marketing campaign will drive synergy and improve your ROI.
Great advertising doesn’t just happen. It takes thought leadership and foundational work that culminates in a clear vision of who your organization is. And it takes a committed team that can get behind your rallying cry and bring that passion to life—all in service to bringing your organization’s vision closer to reality.
How strong is your story? Sometimes it takes an outside look to help you clearly see what is already on the inside. We can help.
