finding your “owned” brand stories

One of the greatest assets brands are discovering in this storytelling age is the power of their “owned” stories. Within the company ecosystem there are real, emotive stories waiting to be uncovered that only that brand can tell. A great “owned” story is like a brand fingerprint: it’s distinctive, unique and serves as a significant proof point that can fuel the brand well beyond any manufactured campaign.

Powerful “owned” stories come in all shapes and sizes and just about every company possesses them, whether they know it or not. The real magic is in the brand’s ability to look inward. Brands are sitting on a goldmine of owned stories, but most don’t prioritize the effort or have the expertise to mine them.

What makes brand storytelling more challenging than any other type of storytelling is that having a great story is table stakes; that great story also needs to ladder up to the brand ethos and typically support multiple objectives. In other words, a great brand story must punch above its weight class. Over the years I’ve found a simple method that works well to begin the story hunt; it’s not a silver bullet by any means but serves more as a beacon to steer towards. I focus on three core areas in the discovery phase: character, company, and culture - the 3 C’s.

Character:

Everything starts with the character, but in this case real people with real stories are key. Everything is on the table, from the brand origins to modern days. Countless interactions have taken place over the years and mining for these moments with a storyteller’s lens can result in an extraordinary discovery specific to only that brand. The most compelling stories usually exist below the surface and hold emotive and complex layers that provide the audience interest.

Company

This is an age-old exercise that most brands have done, but rarely revisit. In a broad sense you begin with what the brand stands for and the overall ethos. These are typically the bedrock attributes that are permanent fixtures. In addition to the foundational elements, the current objectives of the company are also explored. What’s happening this year from a “tentpole” sense; what are the goals; and what challenges is the company being asked to swarm around.

Culture

Last but not least is culture. It’s a broad term for sure but in this case it applies to several areas. This is where you go from inward hunting to external listening. What’s happening outside the four walls in culture, relevant business themes and overall society? What are the trends associated with your specific industry that can also be seen bubbling up in societal topics? In other words, what do people care about?

The goal in all of this is to find where there might be alignment across characters, company, and culture. It’s not a perfect line by any means but the stories that can envelop and support all three have the potential to be your most effective and successful.