Building a StoryBrand
Welcome back to the Hugoversity library where we review PR and marketing-related books to help our students learn. Since having more time on our hands while being in lockdown, the prefects have stepped up our game with two reviews this month.
This review is about how to build a StoryBrand by developing an easy, simple, repeatable and compelling message that positions your customers as the hero.
What’s it all about?
From the blurb: “Every day, most business leaders make a mistake that costs them money: they don’t explain clearly what it is their company does.
“The StoryBrand Framework is a paradigm-shifting approach to connecting with customers that provides the ultimate competitive advantage, revealing the secret to helping customers understand the benefits of using your products, ideas or services.”
Back to Basics
This book goes right back to Maslow’s good old hierarchy of needs stating that all people want to do is survive and thrive. Brains conserve calories to survive and if you confuse, you lose. Creating a story for your brand will help burn as few calories as possible keeping our brains happy and engaged.
This made total sense as I, like many people, am the owner of one of these brains and it also reinforced what I learnt in one of my favourite books, Thinking Fast & Slow.
It used a great example of the difference between noise and music. Noise is annoying and forgettable, however music can be remembered a life time. Story helps you create music that ‘brands’ into public consciousness (That’s the reason they’re called brands!).
So what are the 7 elements of great storytelling that stir our idle grey matter?
(Spoiler alert: This will ruin all good films, but there’s always Cats.)
- A Character: The customer must be positioned as the hero. A lot of brands make the mistake of positioning themselves as the hero.
- Has a problem: Our customers have three types of problem: Internal, external philosophical. Internal is the most important type of problem to solve.
- And meets a guide: In the words of Tina Turner, ‘we don’t need another hero!’ We need to guide our customers instead.
- Who gives them a plan: Customers trust a guide who has simple steps to solve their problems.
- And calls them to action: People don’t just take actions (we have lazy brains remember) they need to be challenged into them.
- That helps them avoid failure: Every human being is trying to avoid tragedy…this is often more of a motivator that trying to achieve success (Prospect theory). You need to determine what’s at stake for them if they don’t use your services.
- And ends in success: Never assume brands can change lives – tell them they can! Offer a vision of how great their lives / businesses can be if they choose your products and services.
I loved reading points 1-4. There were brilliant examples and points were backed up by sociology and psychology. Although still valid, I did lose interest in points 5-7 and found these points a bit ‘American’. Perhaps it’s British culture or maybe it’s that I believe more in subliminal selling rather than direct, but I do feel that over-selling is detrimental to brands. I believe if your story is right, you need to tell it rather than sell it.
Transformation
“People want to be taken somewhere.” Story is the vehicle to achieve this. It’s human desire to transform and we need to create brands that define an aspirational identity.
The book finished by describing how you can transform your website and culture by applying the seven points above to clarify your message. These chapters may give you an uneasy feeling as it knows it may result in more work, but challenge yourself to keep reading. You don’t have to make these changes all at once; even spending 10 minutes a day on improving your website or culture will produce some transformation over time.
Homework
At the end of every chapter there is homework! The questions asked are hard, so your brain won’t like this bit, but it’s well worth burning the calories to figure it out as it will help your brand.
What did we learn:
We always say to our clients that their target market is the priority. This book proved us right in stating that the customer is the hero of story.
We are the guides, the Yoda to the Skywalker, spelling out a clear plan with simple messaging and compelling them to take action to avoid tragedy and help them live their vision.
In general, it was a fantastic read which backed up a lot of why we do what we do. Being a bit brash in places and selling the StoryBrand certified guide at the end, just prevented it reaching the five stars, but it was a strong four and well worth a read.
If your brain can’t be bothered to read this book and would prefer us to do all the hard work for you, drop us a line at study@hugoversity.com or call 01325 486666. (BUY NOW! BUY NOW! BUY NOW!)
