To build a brand, we can't avoid the brand story. The importance of the brand story is self-evident-leading the strategy internally and positioning externally. Teacher Deng Delong, the global president of trout Positioning Consulting Company, even gave a special explanation. Recently, someone wrote an article on this topic, and the brand story is also a hot topic in the positioning circle. In the practice of positioning, we have also formed some opinions and sorted them out for your reference. This is a hot spot!
Brand story is a dramatic expression of positioning.
The brand story is also a story. Since it is a story, the first thing to be solved is what to tell-the content of the story.
In a competitive business environment, the direct purpose of building a brand is to solve the competition, that is, to provide customers with a "reason to buy me instead of my opponent", which is brand positioning. Therefore, there is only one purpose to write brand stories, that is, to spread brand positioning, that is, to spread the truth of "buy me instead of buying my opponent"-so from the content point of view, brand stories can indeed be used as evidence to preliminarily judge whether the enterprise strategy is clear or not.
Answered the question of what to say (content), and then how to say it. For this question, the answer given by Mr. trout, the father of positioning, is "dramatic expression", which has been generally recognized in the positioning circle, including us. Put the two together and you get—
Complete definition of brand story: dramatic expression (form) of positioning (content).
The question is, what exactly is dramatic expression? Why emphasize "dramatic expression"? Trout didn't give us a ready-made answer to this question (maybe he thought the answer was too obvious).
The significance of dramatization lies in reducing communication cost and improving communication efficiency.
Throughout the ages, real "stories" are easily passed on by word of mouth. The reason why word of mouth is passed on lies in their "dramatic expression".
Since there is a "dramatic expression", there must be a "non-dramatic expression", otherwise the expression "dramatic expression" itself is meaningless.
So, what is "non-dramatic expression"? We think that the expression of "cause+conclusion" (which can be called "causal expression") is a non-dramatic expression; Dramatic expression is relative to this expression, aiming at reducing communication cost and improving communication efficiency. This can be illustrated by examples, such as the brand story written by Mr. trout for Spanish olive oil:
Before 2000
Romans are our most loyal customers.
Now, they are still ...
If it is not dramatic, it may be like this:
"Because Italy began to purchase olive oil from Spain before 2000, Italy is actually just a middleman, and Spanish olive oil is the most authentic."
Obviously the effect is much worse than the former.
(Background: Spain has always been the largest producer of olive oil, but from a global perspective, everyone thinks that Italian olive oil is the best, which leads to the low price of Spanish olive oil. But in fact, a lot of Italian olive oil is purchased from Spain-this story mainly tells everyone that Spanish olive oil is authentic and a global leader. )
Another example is the example of Tai Fang:
China Tai Fang sells better high-end range hoods.
Not a foreign brand, but Tai Fang.
Because Tai Fang is more professional.
Tai Fang is an expert and leader in high-end kitchen appliances in China.
If it is not dramatic, it will be like this:
Because Tai Fang is more professional,
Therefore, it is a relatively good high-end range hood sold in China.
Tai Fang is an expert and leader in high-end kitchen appliances in China.
The effect can be compared.
Therefore, if positioning is the soul of the brand story, then dramatization is to make the soul vividly presented, so that potential customers can perceive, remember and even actively spread it as soon as possible, thus greatly reducing the cost of communication positioning.
So how to be dramatic?
Dramatization originates from conflict, and "pre-conflict" can create drama.
This is not essentially different from the conflict between literary works and film and television works. Just as a story without conflict and suspense can't attract the audience's interest, a brand story without conflict can't attract the attention and interest of potential customers, and it's even more difficult for potential customers to help spread it, especially in today's media and information explosion environment.
Since drama originates from conflict, the dramatic effect of creating conflict naturally comes out. Therefore, in order to attract the attention of potential customers at the first time, brand stories must adopt the principle of "conflict pre-positioning", that is, the facts and information that are inconsistent with customers' existing cognition or assumptions are pre-positioned.
For example, the dramatization of the Tai Fang brand story is accomplished by putting in the "contradictory fact" that "China sells better high-end range hoods, not foreign brands, but Tai Fang" (which conflicts with the assumption that most potential customers think that "Siemens kitchen appliances are better-they should sell better").
The dramatization of Jiaduobao's renaming advertisement is also constructed in this way:
Fear of getting angry, now drink Jiaduobao (in conflict with "fear of getting angry, drink Wang Laoji")
The leading red pot herbal tea in China was renamed Jiaduobao.
It's still the original formula, or the familiar taste.
Another example is the brand story that trout once wrote for Qixi:
You don't give the children coffee,
Then why do you give your children coke with the same caffeine? (Before the conflict)
Let your children drink decaffeinated non-cola drinks.
Drinking 7-up soda is your wise choice.
..... just to name a few examples.
Why can putting "contradictory facts" in front produce dramatic effect?
Because "contradictory facts or information" challenges people's existing cognition and assumptions, it has news value, it can instantly stimulate people's curiosity, draw a question mark in people's minds, and make people have the impulse to know the answer on their own initiative (the answer is usually related to the interests of customers), so it often produces a surprise effect. In fact, it uses the principle of "cognitive dissonance" in psychology: when the fact that has happened conflicts with the existing cognition or hypothesis, people will feel uncomfortable psychologically, thus creating the need to eliminate discomfort, and then actively continue to pay attention to the following and find the answer. ...
Of course, for a certain category, people's existing cognition and assumptions are often related to competitors, so it can also be said that drama comes from conflict and conflict comes from competitive orientation.
The skill of "conflict preposition" lies in expressing "causal inversion"
Of course, "conflict reservation" is only the key first step of brand story. In order to truly achieve the effect of communication positioning, brand stories must also give the reasons for conflicts after they are created, so as to rationalize the conflicts and ensure that the output brand positioning is logical and credible.
For example, after saying that "China sells better high-end range hoods, not foreign brands, but Tai Fang", Tai Fang immediately gave the reason that "Tai Fang is more professional", and then conveniently exported the position of "kitchen expert and leader".
After saying "I'm afraid of getting angry, and now I drink Jiaduobao", Jiaduobao immediately gave the reason that "the national leading red pot herbal tea was renamed Jiaduobao, or the original formula, or the familiar taste"-it was actually the positioning of "the leader of renaming herbal tea"!
For another example, the brand story of Qinghualang, after telling the contradictory information of "Qinghualang, one of the two Maotai-flavor liquors in China", shocked the cognition of Maotai-flavor liquor representative (only Maotai), and immediately gave the reason: "The two Maotai-flavor liquors in China were born in the Chishui River area bordering the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau and the Sichuan Basin ..." "One of the two Maotai-flavor liquors" relied on their origins.
Therefore, one of the important ways to dramatize the brand story is to say the result ("conflict information") first, and then say the "causal inversion" expression of the reason, so as to stimulate the curiosity of the audience at the first time, make it necessary for them to find the reason, and make the positioning of the output more acceptable.
Of course, some brand stories are legends themselves, so you don't need to care too much about the expression itself. You only need to objectively describe the facts to produce good results, such as the brand story of Wang Pin Steak:
Legendary steak from Taiwan Province Guanshen Private Club.
Wang Yongqing, chairman of Formosa Plastics Group, is not used to bringing blood steak.
After many times of research and development, the private chef has found a wonderful formula combining Chinese and western.
How did Formosa Plastics Steak come into being?
postscript
The above mainly combs the significance of dramatization for telling good brand stories, as well as the roots and main points of dramatization. From the content point of view, positioning is the lifeblood of brand stories, while from the form point of view, dramatization is the essence of brand stories. It should be emphasized that mastering drama skills is only one of the key points to tell a good brand story. Based on the current communication environment of media and information explosion, and the fact that "customers' minds are limited", a good brand story must be simple and credible in addition to drama, and the brand positioning should be vivid and credible within 30 seconds at most.
In addition, one thing that can't be forgotten at any time is that brand stories serve the positioning of export brands; Therefore, the positioning has been adjusted and the brand story has to be adjusted accordingly.