3 Tips for telling your brand story

The act of banking is a commodity. You can walk a block or drive a mile and find dozens of banks, credit unions, and in some communities even predatory lenders. All are more than willing to open your account and sell you something. Many are so indistinguishable from each other that if we pulled the content from their spot and placed the text (without a name) in a blank word document you wouldn’t be able to tell one ad from the other.

So how can you set your brand apart from your competitors? Every brand has a story to tell. Some have to dig deeper than others to find one. One brand that has recently shared a story is Duracell. Chances are if you’re on social media you’ve seen links to THIS VIDEO pop up on Twitter and Facebook. It’s warmed the hearts of millions, and an anecdote like this could be just what your brand needs.

  1. DON’T TALK ABOUT YOURSELF: This video isn’t an ode to Duracell. It doesn’t place the logo anywhere prominent until you get to the very end. It doesn’t say the word “we, me, us, etc.” in this video. Instead it captures attention by telling viewers about someone and it associates the message with the brand.
  2. FOCUS ON THE WHO, NOT THE YOU: In this video the example focuses on Seattle Seahawk Running Back Derrick Coleman. It shares the story of his disability, and places the brand in the solution every so subtly.
  3. DON’T SHARE YOUR LAUNDRY LIST: This video doesn’t disclose the laundry list of reasons why Duracell is better than its competitors. Often we love our brands so much we get lost in what WE think makes it better than the competition, instead of WHY people should care about our brand in the first place. We try to marry the consumer before we get them to fall in love with us.

So you’re thinking “any battery brand could have done this video, what makes Duracell so special?” Because they did it. Energizer and the myriad of competitors continue to solicit customers by talking about themselves. Duracell took the road less traveled and shared a narrative about its product.

Keep these tips in mind the next time you’re working on a creative brief or writing copy. Focus on the consumer, share a story and let them fall in love before you ask them for the relationship.