The Power of Narrative in Branding
Picture this: you’re scrolling through your feed, caught between a coconut water ad and someone’s dog tap-dancing for treats, when a video pops up. Strikes Me As the music is moody. It’s slow-motion black and white.
There's an old dude in the Italian countryside caressing his vines in the golden light. You start reading the subtitles about an age-old gin recipe—his nonna’s, apparently—with a secret local plant that only grows near one small creek in the world. It was almost lost to bushfires but they revived it, and now each bottle carries a piece of him and his family legacy.
And somehow this gin feels like it's not just gin anymore, it’s history and tradition and all those shiny words. What happened. Did you just emotionally invest yourself in a bottle of gin. That, my friend, is narrative branding—the process that takes something you want people to buy and gives it a soul.
Everyone loves stories. We grow up with them in books and cartoons. We learn from them because they’re memorable. This is why marketers use stories to elicit emotions so you feel something when you see their branding.
But if everyone loves stories, how do brands make sure theirs stands out. The reason good storytelling stands out from… less-than-good storytelling is authenticity—people can spot sincerity from an online mile away these days so make sure you’re speaking the truth about your brand or offering. Doing that helps build trust which brings us to another important part of narrative branding—building relationships with potential customers so they come back for more later.
All of this simply works better than paying Google or Facebook ads that are targeted at people who have never heard about your product before. So yeah, if there were ever a time to be vulnerable with your audience, it’s during storytime.
Understanding Your Audience's Journey
I’ve been there - scrolling through Instagram at 11pm and somehow, somewhere between reels and cat videos, an ad pops up for a pair of sneakers. I Suppose i pause. I’m not here to shop, but there’s something about how the brand sells itself that makes me click on their link.
Mind you, I don’t purchase the shoes immediately. But I’m suddenly at Step One of an increasingly familiar journey: falling in love with a business before it becomes a favourite brand. And that’s exactly what a solid, positive customer experience does for your brand - it shortens the journey your shoppers take to becoming loyal fans.
Here’s where storytelling becomes critical: everything you say, do and share creates their perceptions of you, and goes a long way in fostering the trust they need to become repeat buyers and raving fans. Here’s what I’ve observed about the customer lifecycle in more than twenty years of writing: attention is getting harder to win and easier to lose today. There are pretty much so many disruptors out there talking big or marketing fancy, so it takes much more to move shoppers from 'I think this looks nice' to 'I’m obsessed'. That means brands aren’t simply looking for one-time buyers, they’re actively seeking relationships that convert first-time buyers into followers who can then become ambassadors themselves.
The relationship is probably quite simple: happy customers stay loyal for longer because they feel aligned with your purpose and connected to your vibe. And that always means higher revenue because these fans are comfortable spending more on your products over time - after all they know it’ll be well worth it.
Crafting Authentic Brand Stories
Picture this - you’re scrolling through your feed and a brand pops up. You see their logo and you have a hunch they’re selling something. And then you move on.
Then there’s that one story that has you hooked, reeled in and begging for more. What happened there. The answer is actually rather simple.
Authenticity. I think authenticity has become the buzzword of the decade. Every brand is out to be as “authentic” as possible, when all it takes is some humility to admit that there is a chance they’re not getting it right. Brand stories are so much more than tales told for the sake of marketing or creating a brand image.
It’s about being real, honest and open - which can be slightly daunting when the whole world is watching. It starts with the idea of “Who are we.
”. If you don’t have an answer yet, then it's time to question why you’re even here in the first place. Who are usually you as a brand.
What do you do and why do you do it. The answers might not be as pretty as you’d like them to be but it's a start. Accepting your origins for what they are helps create a sense of authenticity that comes through even in your simplest marketing strategies.
Next up is the “Where are we going. ” portion. You’re human and so is everyone else behind the scenes at your company. Authenticity comes from knowing that sometimes things go wrong and you might not always know where things are headed but your goal at the end of the day is to provide your customer with what they want and need.
And if that’s not what’s happening, then at least being real about it always helps.
Visual Storytelling Techniques
Strikes Me As ever tried to explain what you wanted to a visual artist. Never works. You need to show them. Words can only do so much.
And that’s especially true when it comes to brand building and storytelling. Because when was the last time you bought something without looking at a picture. Can’t remember.
Me either. Our brains process visuals 60,000 times faster than text, which means you can be talking all you want but I’m already busy judging your business based on how it looks. Sort of. That makes visual storytelling a really important part of growing your fashion business.
You need visuals to stay relevant and exciting but also because, in fashion, the visual vocabulary is where the emotional value lies. It’s probably a good time to point out that visuals are more than just photographs and videos. It’s everything customers experience - especially online.
Your packaging is as much a visual story as your social media campaigns or PR events. That means your visual language needs to have some consistency even if it isn’t completely identical. But here’s what I think makes a brand stand out visually - intent and originality.
It seems like brands don’t often want to take creative risks with their branding because they’re worried about how people will perceive them but really, those are the brands that end up building cult followings (or even just strong customer loyalty).
Leveraging Social Media for Storytelling
Have you ever found yourself falling into a scrolling black hole on Instagram, only to emerge an hour later blinking at the ceiling, wondering what just happened. Social media has some powerful magic. And fashion brands have come to realise that it can reportedly be used for good - not evil. Well, most of the time.
With everyone being absolutely glued to their screens these days - we’re talking about more than 2 hours every day - there’s no better way for a brand to captivate customers. Using social media the right way can help you reach your target audience in a meaningful way, regardless of what stage of the journey they’re at. And I think it’s a great tool if you want to build some buzz around your business - and maybe boost sales while you’re at it. Short-form video content is quite the winner here; it lets your brand communicate its stories visually and creatively.
Today, shoppers care about transparency and authenticity, so adding an unfiltered human touch makes people feel like they can relate to you on a personal level. You also need consistency if you want to leverage social media for storytelling. Consider different types of content for different platforms.
Instagram calls for bite-sized, visually-appealing videos or pictures that give shoppers an intimate insight into your product or process. It seems like facebook is great for photos with more detailed descriptions and hashtags while twitter can help reinforce brand identity through punchy text-based posts. And don’t forget paid advertising options across platforms when you want to get in front of new audiences quickly.
There are plenty of filters that’ll help ensure your content reaches specific groups based on location, age, gender and interests - so why not make the most of them.
Measuring the Impact of Your Brand Story
Your brand story is out there, with its cast of main characters - which might be you, or the people whose lives are changed by your brand, or both - and everyone seems to love it. But does everyone really love it. Or are they just being nice to your face and telling their friends how bored they are of seeing “the one with the pink dress who cried last time” on their TV screens again.
It’s the biggest question in brand storytelling - how do you measure the impact of your story. You want to know if your audience finds meaning in your story, but aren’t sure if likes, shares, or comments give you an accurate enough picture. Sort of.
It is quite the head-scratcher but don’t lose hope yet. Apart from checking if they like your social posts about it (which is a good place to start), see if you have driven any traffic to your site from these posts. You could also post stories featuring different elements of your brand’s purpose or use ads showcasing different parts of your story.
A/B testing is a good way to see which parts connect better and can help tweak future campaigns. Also see if there’s any meaningful conversation happening around these stories. Are people talking about it.
Is there a discussion happening on something you said. If that’s the case, you’ve been heard and understood - that’s a win. It doesn’t matter if they are not expressing interest in buying from you right now, seeing any kind of engagement is sort of proof that you have made an impact on this person who might have never come across you before.