How Healthy is Your Brand Story?
Brand stories help organizations grow more quickly and with greater sustainability. Complete the checkup to find out how yours might be working.
Why is there such an obsession with stories in marketing? The answer - organizations that are powered by a well-crafted brand story grow more than those with any other communication approach. Brand stories aren’t just a method; they connect to the core of how the human mind works. When we connect with people using a brand story, the message stays with them longer and moves them to take action more quickly.
Authenticity is now a core concern of growing companies. Millennials and consumers want to see true integrity and are pushing for real experiences. They want long-term relationships with organizations that bring meaning to their lives rather than simply a paycheck or something delivered in a box. This goes beyond commodities—they want to be connected to organizations with a purpose that anchors the very center of their story.
“Your brand is what people say about you when you’re not in the room,” - Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos
A company's online presence has become vital to how its customers and potential employees perceive their brand. From the look and feel of the website, to its content, to where your company come up in their Google search results, people care how you present yourself. So just how are home health and home care agencies doing online? Numbers don't lie, so let's take a look at some statistics on the subject. Do you know where you stand as a company? The results might surprise you.
What your employees say about your company matters. If a brand is the sum total of customer experiences with a company or organization, then what is an employer brand? It’s the total experience of an individual as an employee. The employer brand sums up their experience beginning from the first moment they learn about your company, through the process of applying for work, and then their experiences within the company culture. Just like a customer, employees have a story to tell about the company. Your customers are telling your brand story, but so are your employees.
You might know about brand platforms and even have one that you use, how about a brand story?
It’s easy to get confused about brand stories, so it helps to define what they are not. Brand stories are not the historical version of how your organization got started, nor are they the collection of marketing lines and images that you use in your marketing mix.
Story Collaborative recently completed a series of focus groups on millennial with the assistance of Honestly Magazine and the team at Workforce & Community Education from Germanna Community College. Focus group participants provided insights into their habits, preferences and life challenges which we combined with other research to shed light on strategies for effective business communication. This is the first of several articles.
If you listen to what Jeff Bezos of Amazon says about our brands, you’ll probably agree: “Your brand is what people say about you when you’re not in the room.”
Your Brand Story
The story part of the brand is important too because the impressions that people have and share about our companies aren’t just fleeting observations-- they are stories that get told over and over again, woven into the broader life narratives that people remember and take with them into all of their relationships.
Writing a great set of brand guidelines is well worth the effort. Guidelines surrounding your identity are unique because they provide an opportunity for employees, designers, writers, stakeholders, and outsiders to interact with your brand. Suddenly, an employee can be your greatest promoter, catching the vision of your organization.
