{"id":26008,"date":"2018-11-09T16:03:45","date_gmt":"2018-11-09T16:03:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mention.com\/blog\/?p=20655"},"modified":"2022-12-30T16:35:13","modified_gmt":"2022-12-30T16:35:13","slug":"brand-storytelling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mention.com\/en\/blog\/brand-storytelling\/","title":{"rendered":"9 Things to Consider For Powerful Brand Storytelling"},"content":{"rendered":"

Recently, Mynewsdesk gathered four experts to give their best advice on brand storytelling; the dos and don\u2019ts you really need to know about.
\nThe panelists, being all communication pros, came from Electrolux, Scandic, Mapillary, and Mention –\u00a0<\/a>who all brought their invaluable experience to the table.
\nThe focus of the webinar<\/a>\u00a0was on what brands can do to succeed in brand storytelling.
\n*This is part of an ongoing PR-focused series, brought to you by our friends at\u00a0Mynewsdesk<\/a>, the leading PR management solution in the Nordics.\u00a0<\/em>
\n\"brand-storytelling-sketch.jpg\"
\nMaddy Savage<\/a>, freelance journalists for BBC, Monocle, Time Out, and NPR, introduced the session. Maddy explained that there has been a definite shift from brands and organizations focusing purely on external marketing, advertising, and traditional PR to increasingly creating their own content<\/strong>\u00a0alongside this.
\nShe then asked the panelists to provide their point of view on how they think the landscape has changed over the last few years.<\/p>\n

1. The flora of channels and democratization of the media landscape<\/h2>\n

According to Heidi Wold<\/a>, communications director at Scandic,\u00a0it\u2019s obviously the flora of channels that have popped up lately and the democratization of the media landscape.
\nShe explained that in the past there were only a few media outlets, which had all the power, and only companies with big media budgets managed to get their story out. However, today this is not the case anymore.
\n\"brand-storytelling-panel.jpg\"
\nWold said many brands are able to start from nearly nothing and build only on social media, for example, and create big global movements. In her opinion, that\u2019s a significant game changer.
\nBecause of that, the role of communicators has become much more specialized.<\/strong>
\n\u201cWe need to be on point. And also a big change…is that you can start a global crisis from a single post in social media,\u201d she warned.
\nCommunicators now need to be aware of their surroundings a lot more than they ever did before, she added.<\/p>\n

2. The power of storytelling to connect and engage with consumers<\/h2>\n

Sandra Carpenter<\/a>, corporate communications specialist at Electrolux, said that thanks to the digital world, companies now need to increasingly differentiate their brand from the competition and find unique ways to stick out.<\/strong>
\nAnd Carpenter believes that storytelling is a great way to do this.
\n\u201cYou can make connections with consumers,<\/a> create conversations and community in a completely different way than say 10 or 20 years ago.\u201d
\nHowever, as she explains, it also \u201cputs pressure on you to live the brand you want to put out to the world.\u201d
\nIf you do it well, though, she believes that it really pays off.
\n\"brand-storytelling-crowd.jpg\"<\/p>\n

3. The outcome of missing out on brand storytelling<\/h2>\n

Maddy challenged the speakers by saying that it sounds easy when they put it like that, but is it really? If you are a smaller brand what happens if you don\u2019t get involved?
\nWold answered saying that if you don\u2019t get involved, nothing will happen, basically!\u00a0<\/strong>
\n\u201cYou will not grow your business; you will be in a vacuum on your own.\u201d
\nSo based on that, Wold means that all brands and organizations, irrespective of size and resources, need to get involved.
\nAs a result, she tried to reassure and encourage the rest of us by saying that it doesn\u2019t need to be difficult.
\n\u201cIt\u2019s really about understanding where your customers are, get the customer journey that they are in, and identify the touchpoints where it\u2019s important to reach them, where they make their purchasing choices,\u201d Wold concluded.
\n\"brand-storytelling-fomo.jpg\"<\/p>\n

4. Common mistakes in brand storytelling<\/h2>\n

Following on Wold\u2019s recommendation, Savage then asked the panel in what situations brands fail in storytelling.
\nAs people are often kind of scared about starting out, Savage asked the panel what the common mistakes and pitfalls are to avoid.
\nThe first thing to remember, according to Sandy Errestad<\/a>, head of communications at Mapillary, is that\u00a0\u201c<\/em>When you express your brand on social media, it shouldn\u2019t be just a one-way dialogue.\u201d
\nIf you put down the core values of your company and embody those values, Errestad explains, it will really guide everything you do in your business, both regarding sales and communications.
\nSo you need to have the answer to \u201cWhat does your company stand for?\u201d and \u201cWhy are you even in business at all?\u201d before getting started with brand storytelling.<\/a>
\nIn Errestad\u2019s opinion, \u201cThe biggest mistakes that brands do today is that they are scared to take a stance because they don\u2019t want to alienate people.\u201d
\nStepping in on this point, Sandra Chung<\/a>, Head of Content\u00a0 at Mention, pointed out that communicators tend to overcomplicate brand storytelling. That they spend too much time creating a campaign or enlisting their entire video and design team to create a video. Yet in her opinion, it doesn\u2019t need to be that difficult to get started.
\n\u201cSocial media has made it a lot easier nowadays with things like Instagram Stories and Facebook Live. It doesn\u2019t necessarily have to be always perfect or super polished. It can be quite simple. The basic idea is that you want to show who is behind your brand and what you stand for,\u201d Chung emphasized.<\/p>\n

5. How much time to dedicate to brand storytelling<\/h2>\n

Savage said it\u2019s straightforward for people to say that we will start sharing stuff on social media and improve the content on their website. But for a lot of brands, she rightly highlighted that there is a worry about how much content they have to produce as well as how much time they need to dedicate to this.
\n\"brand-storytelling-time.jpg\"
\n\u201cWe\u2019ve all seen Twitter accounts where there are 14 followers, and the last post was from two years ago. Everybody knows that looks bad for a brand. So how do you get the balance right between getting going and having a plan?\u201d Savage asked.
\nAccording to Wold, the first mistake is to look at it as a chore.
\n\u201cThis is another tool for selling. Selling is not a dirty word,\u201d Wold confirmed.
\nWold explained that communication is just another way to sell.<\/strong> If you have a lifestyle brand, then you might need your marketing to look more polished. But if it is something else that you are selling, you need to understand where your customers are, Wold reiterated.
\n\u201cMaybe shooting out different types of tweets isn\u2019t going to help you if you manufacturing and selling bicycles. Then you should probably just hang out in forums. So you have to find out where your customers are, what type of content they like and add it to your toolbox for selling,\u201d she added.
\nOn this point, Errestad from Mapillary agreed. She said that a lot of organizations make the mistake of seeing PR, branding, and comms as something separate from the business, like an add-on. Nevertheless, communication is just like sales.
\n\u201cYou don\u2019t think one sales push will be enough for your business to thrive. It has to be an ongoing job. And it\u2019s the same things with comms, and the two should be integrated,\u201d she said emphatically.
\nIf you have a close relationship with your customers, Errestad believes you can utilize that as a huge resource in your communications and brand story.<\/p>\n

6. Putting together a brand storytelling plan<\/h2>\n

Based on Chung\u2019s opinion, communicators should start by really understanding what their audiences are looking for and what they want.<\/strong>
\n\"brand-storytelling-iron.jpg\"
\n\u201cFor us at Mention, social listening<\/a> is a huge part of that. So we monitor everything that is related to our company, industry, and competitors. We know what our customers are saying about a specific product feature, for example, or how they feel about a campaign in general.\u201d
\nAs a result, Chung believes a good starting point is to base your communications around what your audiences are talking about.<\/p>\n

7. The benefits of employee-generated content<\/h2>\n

The conversation then shifted to internal communications and how the lines are becoming increasingly blurred.
\nCarpenter said that her team at Electrolux is increasingly working with the external communications team to get the message out.
\n\u201cA good story is a good story, no matter what,\u201d said Carpenter.
\nIf it works internally, it should work externally too.
\nFor internal communications, Carpenter said it\u2019s essential that employees understand your company purpose. Her advice for others is to share the corporate values internally first, refine the key messages based on how people receive it and then take it externally to see what resonates with people.
\nBeing a journalist, Savage added that having employees who understand the goals and purpose of a business is crucial. Because whoever a journalist interviews in a company, they need to understand what the company message is.
\n\u201cIt shouldn\u2019t be just about one spokesperson. Because we are all communicators nowadays on our own social channels,\u201d Savage explained.<\/p>\n

8. Good examples of brand storytelling<\/h2>\n

Errestad reemphasized that brands need to take a stance because we are living in an increasingly polarized world.
\nHer best example was of Nike that ran an ad with an NFL player<\/a>\u00a0who took a stand during a game on how minorities are being treated in the US.
\n\u201cPeople went mental and started burning their sneakers online on social media. But Nike\u2019s revenue shot up by 15% and they had the best month ever in revenue. I believe the tagline for the campaign was something along the lines of \u2018Stand for something even if it means sacrificing everything.\u2019\u201d
\nAccording to Errestad, the Nike example is a perfect example of how a company manages to fit in the debate and be super relevant.
\n\"brand-storytelling-colin.jpg\"
\nCarpenter from Electrolux liked Volvo\u2019s brand promise that no one will be killed by one of their new cars by 2020. By trying to deliver on a good safety promise, they stick out as a brand you can trust.
\nChung brought up Mention and explained what they do to showcase the faces behind their company. Mention has a company slack channel called #MentionLife<\/a> where they document their monthly events, their yearly retreat, and everyday life at the company. The content team gets employee consent first and then republishes the content on their Instagram stories. According to Chung, it\u2019s an effective way to get employee-generated content.
\n“The idea is to showcase the people and personality behind our product and brand.” she added.
\n\"brand-storytelling-mention.jpg\"
\nOn that point, Maddy explained that content creation doesn\u2019t need to be this chore where you are sitting down trying to find content – quite the opposite! \u201cSometimes the content can come to you,\u201d she said. \u00a0And showcasing how fun it is to work at a company also contributes to building the company image.
\nRightly so, Heidi underlined that the organization itself outnumbers the number of communicators working for it. And that finding stories by chasing people is usually very difficult. However, if you can make it possible for your employees to bring the stories to you, then it\u2019s much easier to get them out. In short, it\u2019s about creating the right environment to allow employees to express themselves.<\/p>\n

9. The role of \u00a0PR and how it taps into brand storytelling<\/h2>\n

Moving on, the topic of discussion then went to PR and journalism and why it\u2019s still important from a brand storytelling perspective.
\nFor Errestad, PR becomes a stress test for how good your brand is.
\n\u201cIf you can get journalists to care about your story, there is a huge chance that customers won\u2019t care about your story either,\u201d she underscored.
\nShe gave a personal example of when she worked for an international money transfers company. They looked at the costs and time savings regarding money transfers and then looked at how much the banks were charging. Their company then turned this into a story that banks were \u201cripping off\u201d consumers.
\nAccording to her, it was a really compelling narrative versus \u2018we do money transfers,\u2019 which no one cares about. It was not only something they could pitch to journalists, but also a narrative that appealed to customers.
\nIt\u2019s critical to get the third-party validation from PR, but it also works as a stress test regarding how strong your brand is, Errestad ended.<\/p>\n

Key takeaways from the webinar<\/h2>\n

In summary, here are the panelists set of recommendation:<\/p>\n