‘Story brand’
If you’re seeking to connect with an audience or community then the way you’re currently communicating maybe getting in the way. This book can help you think about it from a different angle
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A huge thanks to Tom Harmer for putting me on to the book ‘Building Story Brand’ by Donald Miller. In Tom’s session at Stronger conference last year, Tom recommended this book as a way of understanding a different approach to marketing and communication that puts the customer at the centre of the adventure.
Common marketing mistakes
Essentially Miller argues that customers are quite selfish in that they don’t really care about the story of a particular brand or organisation unless it serves their own story and adventure. As a result, Miller contends that brands make two mistakes when it comes to being seen, heard and understood by customers:
“The book suggests that brands make two mistakes when it comes to being seen, heard and understood by customers:”
Mistake 1: failing to focus on the aspects of their brand, or product or offer that will help people survive and thrive in life.
Mistake 2: Failing to be clear and simple enough in communication about what is being offered to help people survive and thrive in life.
I would resonate with this from both sides of the fence, as a consumer and as a leader. I reflect on the things that I have led over the years, whether projects, teams, or church, and one of the big tasks of leadership has been about bringing clarity. Miller encourages his readers to reduce as much friction as possible between customer and product, lowering the bar for engagement, and making it as easy as possible for an audience to get involved.
Story provides an answer
Miller points out that in a world full of noise, companies, leaders, organisations can cut through the noise with a powerful tool called ‘story’, and this is what sets some companies apart from others.
We all love a good Steve Jobs or Apple story don’t we? Miller backs up his hypothesis with a tale from 1983 when Apple launched their computer Lisa, the last project Jobs worked on before he was let go. Miller recounts how ‘Jobs released Lisa with a nine-page ad in the New York times spelling out the computer's technical features. It was nine-pages of geek talk no one outside of Nasa understood. The computer bombed. When he returned to Apple after Pixar, Apple became customer-centric, compelling, and clear in their communication. The first ad campaign he released went from nine pages in the New York times to just two words on billboards all over USA: 'Think Different'.’
“Apple is like Q in James Bond, and we as the customer, are James Bond on our own adventures; the main character in the story that needs to succeed on that adventure.”
Miller says that the big shift Apple underwent, was that they stopped featuring computers in most of their advertising and instead:
1.Identified what their customers wanted - which is to be seen and heard
2.Defined their customers challenge - that people didn’t recognise their hidden genius
3.Offered their customers a tool they could use to express themselves - computers and devices.
This is the mic drop moment of course is when you realise that ‘Apple isn’t about Apple, it’s about you.’ Miller says that Apple is like Q in James Bond, and we as the customer, are James Bond on our own adventures; the main character in the story that needs to succeed on that adventure.
A framework that helps
Miller then proceeds to unpack what he calls the SB7 framework which he suggests every good story or film follows, and is a framework that every company, or brand or leader should be seeking to apply as well. This is how he describes the framework:
There is a character who wants something, but they encounter a problem getting in the way of them getting it. ‘At the peak of their despair’, Miller says, ‘a guide steps into their lives and gives them a plan and calls them to action which helps them avoid failure and ends in success.
The way to cut through the noise is to stick closely to these seven elements, or in Miller’s words ‘This framework is the pinnacle of narrative communication, the further we veer from these seven elements, the harder it becomes for audiences to engage’.
These seven elements create a roadmap on the journey, and the three critical questions that brand should ask themselves act like a compass for travellers on that journey:
“Brands and organisations get it wrong when they think they are the hero at the centre of their customer’s life.”
1.What does the character want?
2.Who or what is opposing the character getting what they want?
3.What will the character’s life look like if she does or doesn’t get what she wants.
Instead of using the term character, Miller uses the word ‘hero’, because every customer, or consumer are the hero of their own story. Brands and organisations get it wrong when they think they are the hero at the centre of their customer’s life.
As an aside, this is fascinating to think of from a theological perspective. Christians believe that Jesus is the hero at the centre of all life, and that humanity is inherently selfish, with sin causing us to live a ‘life turned in on itself’ (Keller). This has to be the background for us as we seek to engage audiences with our products and services. This of course may never be communicated explicitly, but as Christians this may inform prayer, or even inform decisions at the leadership level.
