Sharing Your Brand's Values Through Storytelling

Sharing a set of values with customers is one of a brand's most important sources of emotional connection with its customers. I have written before about brands that do this well.

There are a variety of ways to communicate those values, but one powerful way is through brand storytelling, especially if the story is about the founder's vision or legacy. Often, this is found in the "Our Story" section of the "About Us" section on websites.

Here are some good examples of that:

• Patagonia
• Newman's Own
• Burt's Bees
• IKEA
• Zappos
• The Body Shop
• Ben & Jerry's
• Minnetonka
• Warby Parker
• John Deere
• Trader Joe's

I hope these examples help you think through how you might tell an emotionally compelling story about your brand highlighting its origins and its values. 

Brands and Authenticity

Patagonia is authentic. Newman's Own is authentic. Ben & Jerry's used to be authentic. But far too many brands have followed the advise of this often repeated quote, "The most important thing is honesty. Once you can fake that, you've got it made." Another version of the quote is "The secret of success is sincerity. Fake that and you're in."

I remember when BP (British Petroleum) repositioned itself as BP (Beyond Petroleum), the green energy brand. Not too long after that, the Gulf of Mexico oil spill occurred bringing to light BP's total disregard for the environment and lack of investments in green energy. 

The BP example is not atypical. Many companies have jumped on the "green," "organic," "socially responsible," and "clean energy" bandwagons. In fact, now there is even "clean coal," whatever that is. 

My wife recently encountered an automobile dealership that presented itself as "honest" and "straight shooting," with no haggling, just clearly marked prices and an unconditional guarantee of complete customer satisfaction. The dealership turned out to be anything but that. They attempted to overcharge her, tack on all sorts of hidden fees and upsell her on useless services. After she bought the car, she discovered a quirky problem that caused the car to seem as though it had a dead battery at the most inopportune times. Trying to get it repaired was a real hassle.  

While hucksters, con artists and opportunistic business people have been selling "miracle elixirs" for decades and even centuries, it doesn't help legitimate brands that are trying to make the world a better place. When one cannot discern a legitimate organic food product from a fake organic food product, it depreciates the meaning of "organic." When someone is selling fish or produce that has been frozen and shipped from an ocean away as "local," it diminishes the meaning or "locally grown" or "locally caught."

It is not only important for a brand to be authentic, it is also important for it to distinguish itself from the posers. If this is not done, it creates confusion in the marketplace and may reduce the meaning of the authentic behavior. As an example, be clear on what "organic" or "local" actually means and perhaps even create an "organic" or "local" seal that can only be used by those brands that are truly "organic" or "local."

Marketers will always try to come up with descriptors that sound legitimate and even imply a certain behavior or condition but that don't really mean much. Take for example, these claims:

• Natural farm raised meats
• Pasture raised meats
• Fresh
• Naturally grown
• Simply raised
• Nature raised
• All natural
• Responsibly grown
• Animal welfare approved
• Made with a clear conscience

In your role as a marketer or a consumer, beware of fakes posing as authentic products and brands. Help your brand and its product or service categories clearly differentiate between the "real deals" and "fakes."

Improving the World Through Brands

Those of us who have been entrusted with creating, growing and leveraging brands have a unique opportunity to contribute to a better world. After all, our decisions have far reaching consequences because our brands generally have very large audiences. If you had the choice of growing your brand through fear or pleasure, which path would you choose? 

I would contend that brands have always been and can increasingly become vehicles for creative expression and ushering beauty into the world. They are also sources of entertainment and a temporary escape from the demands of the day. Further, they can be sources of aspiration and inspiration.

Consider Newman's Own's charitable contributions and Dove's Real Beauty Campaign. Consider Patagonia's environmental ethic. And GEICO's ads are quite entertaining. Those ads have ushered in a whole series of entertaining ads from a variety of insurance companies.

Brands would do well to espouse values and demonstrate qualities that make them admirable. As people increasingly look to brands to serve as self-expression vehicles, brands benefit from embodying nobel qualities and standing for something admirable. 

Consider how you can lift your brand to a higher path to make the world a better place.

Great Brand Stories

People talk about creating great brand stories so I thought I would provide you with examples of some brands that I believe tell their stories well:

• Kletterwerks
• Burt's Bees
• Trader Joe's
• Patagonia
• Ben & Jerry's
• Newman's Own
• Life is Good
• Bully Hill Vineyards

Purpose Driven Brands

In our over commercialized, consumer-driven world, being purpose driven is a refreshing change. Not too long ago, a new type of corporate entity emerged - B corporations. According to www.bcorporation.net, "B Corps are certified by the nonprofit B Lab to meet rigorous standards of social and environmental performance, accountability, and transparency." California has two corporate forms specifically designed for social enterprises, the Benefit Corporation and the Social Purpose Corporation. Other states have followed suit in developing these types of entities. The Body Shop, Newman's Own, Working Assets and similar companies were some of the first to operate out of a social conscience. I have written much about Patagonia and sustainability. Dove's Real Beauty campaign is another example of promoting positive change in the world. Life is Good focuses on spreading that message. Even Zappos focuses on "delivering happiness." And Change.org empowers people to drive positive change in the world.

Consider the advantages to organizations of being purpose driven - increased emotional connection to employees and customers, greater employee and customer loyalty, true employee and customer engagement, focus on win-win rather than win-lose, better employee morale and stronger commitment to the organization's success.

In 2014, Deloitte conducted its Core Beliefs and Culture survey. In that survey, it found that purpose driven organizations are much more likely to deliver strong growth and returns than non-purpose driven organizations.

And, here is the most important aspect of purpose driven organizations for brand managers - brand mission, vision, values, promise and positioning are central to the success of those organizations. The brand becomes the entity around which management, employees and customers rally. 

Consider transforming your organization into a purpose driven organization with a purpose driven brand.

Should Marketers Rely on the Reptilian Brain to Motivate People?

Roughly, the brain can be divided into three parts, the reptilian, the limbic and the neocortex. The reptilian brain focuses on survival and is primarily driven by fear but also includes emotions such as aggression, greed, dominance and submission. The limbic system is the emotional part of the brain and it relates pain and pleasure to activities that hurt and help you. It does this by linking particular activities to pain and pleasure in one's memory. The neocortex is the newest addition to the human brain. It controls functions such as logic, reasoning, creative thinking, language, the integration of sensory information and other higher thinking functions.

Marketers have found that people make decisions primarily based on emotions, and in particular, the emotion of fear. That is, people primarily use the reptilian and limbic parts of their brains to make decisions even if they view themselves as being highly evolved rational human beings. 

Here is what I would ask marketers to consider. Through fear-based brand messages, we continue to fan the flames of peoples' fears, fears that cause anxiety and irritability and often irrational behaviors. While this usually works, I would ask you to consider brand campaigns based on noble values - freedom, beauty, grace, kindness, compassion, joy - these sorts of things. Consider Dove's Real Beauty campaign or Patagonia's Don't Buy This Jacket campaign or even Newman's Own's All Profits to Charity approach. All three campaigns are highly successful. 

Marketers can make a positive difference in the world by helping humans move beyond the ancient reptilian brain to parts of our brains that are more aligned with how we want to evolve as a species.

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs

Every marketer would do well to understand Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. First, people's physiological needs must be met, then their safety and security needs. Next, they need to feel as though they belong somewhere. After they have found their tribe, they seek the respect of others. When they become fully confident about their social status, they refocus their energies on achieving their highest potential, emphasizing ethics, creativity, spontaneity and other higher ideals. 

Most, but not all, brands focus on the top three rungs - love/belonging, esteem and self-actualization. Think of the brands that focus on belonging. Certain beer brands do this. Part of Harley-Davidson's brand position is the "comradeship of kindred spirits." Friends was a television show completely based on the concept of camaraderie. A significant portion of people are focused on achievement and self-esteem. Because of this, many brands primarily confer social status. Consider Mercedes-Benz, Gucci and Salvatore Ferragamo. Others are focused on self-actualization. Patagonia and Newman's Own are examples of this. Some brands straddle different needs. Tesla operates in both the esteem/social status and self-actualization rungs as does Apple. With its fun designs and high price points, Vilebrequin also straddles the esteem and self-actualization rungs. Dove's Real Beauty campaign both promotes self-esteem and an enlightened view of "real beauty," causing it to span the top two rungs of Maslow's Hierarchy. Robert Graham's tagline is "knowledge wisdom truth." This, together with its highly creative designs, places it on the self-actualization rung.

Historically, Volvo focused on a safe ride especially for family members, putting it on the safety and love/belonging rungs. Because of its price point, it was also partially on the esteem rung. With its frequent repositioning over the past decade, its owners have pushed it up more to the esteem rung.

Where does your brand operate on Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs?