5 Brand Story Essentials

Can you tell your brand story in under a minute? Of course you can (and indeed you should) with a pitch that's pithy, punchy and persuasive. Follow these steps to nail your message: 

1. Pain Relief: Zero in on the prickly sore spot your brand can relieve right now

2. Promise: In one sentence state your solution in "consumer speak" (no marketing jargon!)

3. Qualification:  In two bullet points or less, say why should we should believe you?

4. Relevance:  Put your pitch in context. What scenarios will your audience relate to? 

5. Dramatization:  Think carefully about your brand's voice. Are you friendly, funny or authoritative? Are you appealing to logic, fear or passion?  How might you tell your story visually, without words or sound? What sound bite or tagline will effectively brand your takeaway message? 

Madison Avenue used to churn out brilliant brand stories, like this classic commercial video for VW Beetle that sold frugality as mainstream chic. 

WHAT THE WORLD NEEDS NOW: MORE CREATIVITY

Good story in Fast Company about the value creative-minded people bring to the workplace - and not just for creative positions.  Author Bret Morstad, a successful food entrepreneur, makes the point that many creative thinkers are natural problem solvers - with an uncommon ability to see opportunities and challenges in unconventional ways. 

He adds that it's a mistake to assume that someone with, say a background in art or writing or music, would not do well in a non-creative role. Creative thinkers have a unique fluidity that lets them stretch their talent in unexpected ways - often with outstanding results. 

Peter Schultz, former CEO of Porsche, summed this up in a few words: "Hire character. Train skill." 

WHOLE FOODS MARKET: VISUAL STORYTELLERS ON FACEBOOK

Whole Foods Market does a brilliant job marketing via social media.

Grocery shopping as a topic can be deadly boring. Food talk can become heavy and preachy when it’s tied to issues like nutrition, health, worker rights or eco-friendly farming. Yet, Whole Foods embraces all of these and more - and does so in ways that are fascinating – even fun. How? Through upbeat, visually-driven storytelling.

Indeed, most of the company's posts are mini stories about a product, recipe, employee news, or issue. Presented with an appealing photo, some compelling copy, and a link to richer content archived on Whole Foods blog, each post aims to educate and inspire customers to shop, eat, and live really well.

Not that there’s not a lot of selling going on; every post is a sales pitch, after all. However, Whole Foods' style of selling is decidedly soft – consistently so across its social network that includes Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, Google +, YouTube, and more. 

The company does a great job tailoring its stories to each platform's strength. Let's look at how Whole Foods does this on Facebook:

Color, color everywhere 

Facebook itself is a pretty bland environment, which makes scrolling down a colorless timeline awfully tedious. That's not a problem for the 1.4 million fans who visit Whole Foods' main Facebook page for its vivid stream of posts featuring products, recipes, tips, news, promotions, and more. Photos are always intriguing and very colorful - so sharp and detailed they almost pop off the page. 

The same holds for posts that feature punchy graphic design. These posts catch your eye and then your imagination.  

Eye and appetite appeal 

You won't see slick advertising shots here. Food photos have easy-breezy eye appeal like what you'd see on a foodie blog. Recipes are meticulously styled, so every image is beautiful and appetizing. A short narrative gets you thinking, "Gee, I should make that." One click takes you to a related story or video on the company's blog that shows you how. Now that's integrated marketing.

"New on Aisle 5 ..."

Package shots are usually taken right in a Whole Foods store, not a studio. This post promoting a new bagged popcorn was shot smack in the snacks aisle. Yep, we like the package design alright - and seeing the photographer's hand adds a nice real-time touch. The accompanying story tells us this product contains Fair Trade ingredients - a Whole Foods mandate. Makes you feel good - and a bit hungry.   

Eye-grabbing Infographics 

Infographics on Whole Foods' timeline do double-duty, combining how-to tips with visual pizzazz. Case in point: This clever infographic teaches you how to cut a mango in 3 easy steps. Click on it and you land on a blog feature with mango recipes and more serving tips. Anyone who hasn't tried mangoes before certainly has good reason now. 

Visual Stories Sell Hard, Softly

Old-school TV and print advertising is relentlessly intrusive and self-serving. Marketing via social media requires a softer, more personal and engaging approach. Whole Foods succeeds at this by posting real, uplifting, and compelling stories that educate customers and get them excited about trying new foods, and eating foods that are tastier and healthier. 

Importantly, once you become a Whole Foods fan you won't feel much like grocery shopping anywhere else, right?

Job done. 

The next post in this series will look at how Whole Foods Market tells stories in pictures curated on Pinterest. 

Welcome news today that Pinterest Web Analytics will now give site owners insights into how people are interacting with pins that originate from their websites.

Data will include how many people have pinned from a site, how many people have seen pins, and how many people visited a site from Pinterest. Also useful, data on most repinned, most clicked, and most recent pins will give an indication of pin popularity.  

I'm a big fan of Pinterest for its creative and social marketing possibilities and now with the advent of analytics we'll plan content better and see its impact on on business, too. 

How does Pinterest fit into your social marketing mix? 

Engage fans as story co-creators

Ever more sophisticated and user-friendly technologies now make digital storytelling a more interactive experience for marketers and fans alike. In his post on iMedia Connection, David Kwan, Managing Director at the Famous Group, outlines three ways marketers can structure the storytelling process so it enables (and encourages) user interactivity:

1.   Enlist users in the storytelling process
2.   Let users put their own images in the stories
3.  Give users the tools to create, use, and share their own content

Read the full article:  http://bit.ly/YHnnuy

PINTEREST: VISUAL INSPIRATION THAT SELLS

Product marketing requires lots of hard-sell. Make the pitch, nab the sale.  But the art of brand marketing takes finesse and visual storytelling is a great way to sell ever so softly.

The photo sharing site Pinterest makes it simple to curate a pictorial environment where visitors can stop by, soak up some imagery, and leave feeling excited to buy.

Whole Foods does a great job on Pinterest, capturing its culture and spirit in a seemingly hodgepodge of pictures that project love of food, home, family and table.  On closer look those images aren’t so random; rather, they are artfully organized in thematic sets (or pinboards) that get you dreaming about cooking, serving … not to mention planning your next grocery run.

Peruse the “Eat Your Veggies” board and click on a photo and you'll likely pop open a recipe – not from Whole Foods, but from a fellow foodie and WF Pinterest fan – of which there are now more than 100,000. Check out the “Great Gifts” pinboard and by clicking on any of the yummy treats you'll land conveniently on the product’s page inside Whole Foods website. There are nearly 50 boards to be meandered through - each loaded with visual interest and inspiration … and best of all, there's not an ad in sight. 

Two cancelled ABC soaps will continue as multi-platform stories produced for the web

Reuters reports that canceled soap operas "All My Children" and "One Life to Live," will have a new home -- not on television but on the Internet, mobile phones and other online formats.

ABC said it has licensed the two staples of daytime dramas to Prospect Park, a Los Angeles-based production company, in a multi-platform deal that "enables the soaps' storylines to continue after their run on ABC is over."

Prospect Park says it intends to produce the two shows in the same format and length as ABC, but make them available on new devices, including Internet-enabled TV sets.