3 Ways to Create a Brand Story

My current BFF is a Poivre (St-Germain, pear vodka, champagne). One of the things I love about it is St-Germain’s process story, delivered in a gorgeous little booklet attached to a bottle right out of a 19th-century French perfumerie. Here’s the story:

In the foothills of the Alps, for but a few fleeting spring days, this man will gather wild blossoms for your cocktail.

The blossoms in question are elderflowers, the man un bohemian, and the cocktail a stylishly simple creation made with St-Germain, the first liqueur in the world created in the artisanal French manner from freshly handpicked elderflower blossoms. …

After gently ushering the wild blossoms into sacks and descending the hillside, the man who gathers blossoms for your cocktail will then mount a bicycle and carefully ride the umbels of starry white flowers to market. Vraiment.

There are no more than 40 or 50 men such as he, and in a matter of days they will have gathered and bicycled to us the entirety of what will become St-Germain for that year. You could not write a better story if you were François Truffaut.

No, you could not.

Whether you’re writing social media or blog posts, content marketing pieces or webpages, you can connect with your target audience with a great brand story.

The good news is, your brand story probably already exists. In fact, you may already be telling it. Here are three ways to spot a good story that might be right in front of your eyes:

1. Tell your origin story.

The trucking insurer Great West Casualty Company makes its inception story part of its brand:

Our founder, Joseph A. Morten, moved to South Sioux City, Nebraska, in 1936. Seeing a large amount of truck traffic crossing into Nebraska from Sioux City, Iowa, Joe established the Motor Carriers Service Bureau to help truckers obtain Interstate Commerce Commission and state permits.

As truckers crossed the bridge, Joe would jump up on the running boards of the trucks and offer the services of the Motor Carriers Service Bureau.

From that time on, a partnership with trucking professionals and a tradition of service were firmly ingrained within Great West.

From Nike to Warby Parker, origin stories can form the foundation of a brand’s storytelling. Show how your company solved a problem, challenged the status quo or turned an industry on its head.

2. Share your product’s history.

Want a little drama to go with your drink? I read this story off a bottle of Blenheim water:

Within the majestic setting of Blenheim palace, an ancient spring has been supplying natural mineral water to king, queen, duke and duchess for centuries. The superior quality of the water was discovered by King Henry when he hid his secret love at Blenheim and built her a pleasure pool by the lake. To this day Rosamund’s well remains as a poignant reminder of this fatal love — for the jealous queen discovered the king’s lover in her bower and stabbed her to death!

Must be something in the water. 

3. Tell the stories behind the lists.

Too often, communicators cover employee awards by running lists of winners’ names. But that reduces the drama of human achievement to a series of bullet points and a few dry words.

Instead, take a tip from FedEx World Update, and run mini stories about award winners. In boxes throughout the magazine, the editors cover the company’s Humanitarian Awards with stories like these:

When courier Thomas Roberts of Colorado Springs entered a jewelry store for a delivery, he found that the store was empty. He walked to the rear of the store where he noticed jewelry on the floor.

Roberts then proceeded further into the business, entering a back room where he heard a faint voice coming from inside a safe. He opened the safe and found the owner, whose hands were secured with duct tape during a robbery. The owners would have suffocated in the safe if Roberts had not continued his search …

Now there’s a real story that connects with your audience. Substitute drama for lists, and give award winners the attention they deserve.

Finding your brand story isn’t hard if you know where to look. From how we got started to how we make it now, your successful brand story is just waiting to be told. 

Master the Art of Storytelling

Would you like to learn more techniques for telling better stories? If so, join PRSA and Ann Wylie at “Write Better, Easier & Faster,” our clear-writing workshop. Save $100 with coupon code PRSA22. APRs: Earn 4 Accreditation renewal credits.