Building a story brand By Donald Miller.
Chapter 1: The key to being seen heard and understood
The first Mistake brands make as they fail to focus on the aspects of their offer that will help people survive and thrive . all great stories are about survival either physically emotionally relationships or spiritually his story about anything else won't work to captivate an audience . Nobody's interested . this means that if we position our products and services as anything but an aid in helping people survive ,thrive ,be accepted ,find love achieve an aspirational identity ,, or bond with a tribe that will defend them physically and socially good luck selling anything to anybody these are the only things people care about .
A story is a sense making device. It identifies a necessary ambition defines challenges that are battling to keep us from achieving that ambition and provides it plan to help us conquer those challenges . when we define the elements of a story as a relates to our brand we create a map customers can follow to engage our products and services .
Situational leadership, management formula by Ken Blachards
In a story audiences must always know who the Harrow is what the hara wants who the hell has to defeat to get what they want what tragic thing will happen if the Herald does not win and what wonderful things will happen if they do if an audience is not able to answer these basic questions will check out and the movie will lose millions of box office a screenwriter breaks these rules will likely never work again in the same is true for the brand you represent our customers have questions burning inside them and if we aren't answering those questions they'll move on to another brand if we have not identified what our customers want what problem are we helping them solve and what life will look like after they engage our products and services for example we can forget about thriving in the marketplace .
if you're confused you're going to lose. figure it out.
What we think we are saying to our customers and what our customers actually here are 2 different things .
If we want to connect with customers we have to stop blasting them with noise
Things can be different.
Chapter 2: The secret weapon that will grow your business.
The essence of branding is to create simple relevant messages we can repeat over and over so that we brand ourselves into the public conscience
When Apple began filtering their communication to make it simple and relevant they actually stopped featuring computers in most of their advertising .instead they understood their customers were all living breathing heroes and they tapped into their stories .they did this by one identifying what the customers wanted (to be seen and heard) .2 by defining their customers challenge (that people didn't recognize their hidden genius) .and through offering their customers a tool they could use to express themselves (computers and smartphones) .each of these realizations are pillars in ancient storytelling and critical for connecting with customers .
Notice the story of Apple isn't about Apple it's about you .you're the hero in the story and they play a role more like Q in the James bond movies .they are the guy you go see when you need a tool to help you win the day .
People don't buy the best products they buy the products they can understand the fastest .
Once you understand how story integrates with your brand message you'll be able to create communication pieces and even a brand strategy that engages more customers and grows your business and if you get really good at this people around the office will wonder how in the world you became such a marketing genius
Here is nearly every story you see or hear in a nutshell .A character who wants something encounters a problem before they can get it .at the peak of their despair a guide steps into their lives give them a planet cause them to action .that action helps him avoid failure and ends in success .
A character--- Has a problem--- and meets a guide--- Who gives them a plan--- and calls them to action--- The end--- in a success or that helps them avoid failure.
So how do we make the story our company is telling clear? remember the greatest enemy of our business is the enemy the good stories face .noise and no point should we be able to pause a movie and be able to answer these three questions 1. What does the hero want 2 who or what is opposing the hero getting what she wants 3 what will the heros life look like if she does (or does not) get what she wants. If your can not answer these questions in the 1st fifteen to twenty minutes the story has already fallen in with the noise.
Anything that doesn’t serve the plot has to go. Just because a tagline sounds great or a picture on a website grabs the eye that does not mean it helps us into her into our customer story and every line of copy we write or either serving the customer story or descending them into confusion .
Does your marketing pass the grunt test? There are 3 questions potential customers must answer if we expect them to engage with our brand .they should be able to answer these questions within the first five seconds of looking at our website or marketing material . one what do you offer 2 how will it make my life better three what do I need to do to buy it
Highlight the aspects that help the customers survive and thrive.
God – Goals – Greatness
Build stronger tribes strengthen family connections and connect more deeply with life's greater meaning
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A fridge hitchock defined a good story as “life with adult parts taken out” good branding is the same.
When customers finally understand how you can help them live a wonderful story your company will grow
Chapter 3: The simple SB7 framework
1.A Character: the customer is the hero, not my brand.
When we position our customers as the hero in our self as the guide we will be recognized as a trusted resource to help them overcome their challenges. When Giving a speech position yourself as Yoda in your audience as Luke Skywalker.
Identify who your customers are. What do they want from my brand? Unless we identify something our customer wants they will never feel invited into the story we are telling.