(Brand)Stories are about principles, not rules.

[Story is about principle, not rules] A rule says, ” You must do it this way.” A principle says, “This works … and has through all remembered time.” The difference is crucial. Your work needn’t be modeled after the “well made” play; rather, it must be well made within the principe that shapes our art. Anxious, inexperienced writers obey rules. Rebellious, unschooled writers break rules. Artists master the form.

That’s how the first paragraph of Robert McKee classic book “Story” goes.
And what a great first paragraph and how true it is (Thanks Paul Wilson for reiterating the importance of this book).

What’s more it’s exactly in line with what brand stories should be all about as well, or maybe even brands in general. I wrote about the wrong rigidness of rules earlier on in my blog.

You could easily literally say:
“Anxious, inexperiences marketers obey rules. Rebellious, unschooled marketers break rules. Artists master the form.”

One artist who mastered the form is Johnny Walker. They’ve used epic ways – fantastic ads and lately short movies – including people – Harvey Keitel and lately Jude Law amongst others – to tell their story with their fantastic and distinctive bottle as its blue thread.

Here’s to great artists and brands: Cheers!

Santa and Numero Cinq. Iconic Storytelling.

I love brands and I love this most wonderful time of the year. Why? Because I love stories.

Christmas=story time

This is the time where stories reign supreme. The repetitive story of Christmas and Santa primarily. With various individual versions with the ones you love, sometimes sad, mostly merry I hope. One brand does its utmost to keep connected to this story with its ice cold hero product. Pretty impressive if you ask me in the coldest time of the year. But of course entire categories are trying to leverage this emotional connection. For example perfume.

Icons ignite stories

This year one of them is present in outdoor with something very simple and at the same time extremely powerful: their iconic bottle and their iconic bottle only: número cinq, number 5, Channel. I love this simplicity. Some people will say “this is just a product”, but see, that’s exactly the difference between normal products and icons such as the Coke and the Grolsch Swingtop bottle, the Nivea tin and the likes. They are so iconic that the simple appearance make stories springing to life. My Grolsch story for example includes my dads shed with those heavy crates where 16 beautiful swingtops sat. I couldn’t await until I could pop one open with him when I was of alcohol age.  With Nivea this has the do with that very simple but recognizable scent out of that classic blue tin that my mother used when I had a sore spot on my skin. Everyone has their own stories.

What makes an icon?

1-They have to have been around for a while first of all. Of course marketers sometimes literally make statements such as “a new icon had arrived” but that’s actually something consumers decide over time.
2-Just being around is not enough though. Of course icons are sometimes more and sometimes a little less popular over time, but within a certain group of consumers there needs to be some form of constant likebility.
3-Don’t touch (too much). An icon doesn’t and more importantly shouldn’t change with every new brand manager that enters the team. Its design or format is so strong it doesn’t need change to get attention. Read this for the way hiphop icon Jay-Z does this?

How to keep an icon?

a. By not touching it (too much)

b. Evolve communication but don’t drastically change it. You’ll puzzle the people who love the icon and it’s a question mark if the new consumers you want to impress will be so loyal as the old ones

c. Tap into new consumer pools, but make sure they are not too far off from your current crowd, in line with the just said.

d. Smartly use media to get the iconic message to your target audience in a clever and innovative way, using the unparalleled and smart formats digital can provide nowadays with interactiveness, voice power, automatic video play using on the go functionality through mobile and tablet formats. The possibilities are endless and the you’ll boost the innovativeness of your brand, without ruining you icon.

So, let’s cherish our icons. Not because brands want to, but because they spark stories, our own stories. Merry Christmas!

TELL ME YOUR STORY AND I MIGHT TRUST YOUR BRAND.

Ah… stories, don’t we all love them? Good, bad. Cute, horrifying. The ones you knew first, the ones everybody knows. The power of storytelling is ancient, current and the future.

“I am because I have a story”
Lots of people recognize the power of storytelling nowadays; it has in fact become quite a hype since the guys @ Make Believe built a serious agency around it in 2005, with agencies currently popping up like mushrooms in the Fall. Nevertheless I still believe it is hard to overestimate the power of stories. You might even say “I am because I have a story”. Imagine meeting someone who doesn’t have one. That’s even freakier than that story about the guy that didn’t have a shadow.

All brands have a story
The good thing is: it’s not so hard to have a story, because everyone naturally has one. Some people might feel their’s is not worth telling, but in my view, when you really dive into it every story is worth listening to for a certain audience. This is the same for brands. Every brand has its story, about where it came from, what the initial idea was, how it just popped up into someone’s head or just coincided. Everyone working on a brand (agency and client) should know the story. We sometimes tend to forget what made the brand we work for the brand in the first place. More importantly nowadays consumers want to know stuff about your brand and since there is a world wide web (love that word) it’s easy to share, so do it! Here’s some advice on how to get started.

Get your story out there in 4 + 1 steps
-Step 1 – Get to know the brand story.
When I started to work for the beer brand Grolsch they took me around every part of the brewery for 6 weeks. Now that might be overdoing it, but I did know the brand and product story inside out (and still do). That obligation works both ways: as an employee you need to want to know the story, as an employer or manager it’s good to let your people get to know it.
-Step 2 – Understand the story.
Knowing it is one thing, understanding it is something else. In order to get your story out there you need to understand how the story is connected to and in the end led to the brand. From Grolsch I remember Masterbrewer Peter Cuyper who came up with the combination of two types of hop that lead to the unique Grolsch taste.
-Step 3 – Make it interesting without being untrue
Now this is an interesting step, because it can be a thin line between the two. To decide how to make the story more interesting you need to know your target audience and what they like. When in Life Science you might want to know about the process, when an average consumer audience might find heritage more interesting; sometimes just showing your old ads is a great way. Shine it up: yes, but be truthful!
-Step 4 – Make it easy, interesting and fun to share
Use the web to its fullest with Youtube, Pinterest, Facebook, Twitter, Games and the likes (don’t forget about magazines & newspapers) and get some advice on how to ideally use those media as each one has its own rules and ways to make maximum impact and cut through. This makes it easier and more fun to spread and to get consumers talking about it.
-Finally – Be proud and make the people you work for and with part of your enthusiasm. We all love great, positive stories that lead to good brands.

Although we are not all as great storytellers as the Grimms and not everyone can come up with the great Greek myths or Viking sagas, we all have a story, and by the way theydidn’t have the web.

Some examples brand stories:
– beer: Grolsch
– wheels: Vespa (wonderfully in Italian)
– social: Facebook
– shampoo: Carol’s daughter
– ice cream: Ben & Jerry’s