‘What’s your story and how are you telling it?’ – Phil’s talk at the CFFB

Phil recently had the opportunity to do a presentation at The Centre for Family Business, where he spoke about what makes a good business story and why it can be a huge asset for your brand.

Here are some of the key take-aways!

A good business story can be a huge asset to your brand. 

It can position you well against your competitors. It can help you connect with your target customers. It can give people insight to your core values. It can demonstrate your commitment to something.

But your story may be different than what you might first think it to be.

At Studio Locale, we approach a story a bit different from what some might expect, because we feel it’s more than what you might think it is. It’s not just your origin story. While that may be interesting to some, it’s likely not the core reason why someone chooses to work with you.

People often think a company brand is “just” the logo.

But a brand is much more than that. Your logo may be the picture that pops into someone’s head when they think of your company, but your brand is really the sum of all of the different touchpoints it has with the world. Your brand story is exactly the same. It’s not just what you have on the About page of your website, it should be on every touchpoint you have with your clients.

Are you memorable? 

The other thing to be aware of is that people only have so much capacity to remember. Our brains have a “memory slot” for all the different things that we might need to remember, and most of us have a lot going on in our heads.

But when we have a moment of calm, we want there to be a clear picture, or story, for people to remember your company. We want your story to help people catalogue your company as the one they remember for that slot in their brain.

So before your ‘story’ is shared, stop and consider what part of your story matters to your clients. What part adds to the value you offer customers, what part helps you differentiate yourself from your competitors, and how easy it is to remember.

What matters to your clients? 

Many companies are sharing the “Canadian” part of their story right now, and understandably so. We all want to do our part to support fellow Canadians, so it’s thinking how that offers value to your customers, or differentiates yourself from your competitors. If there are other Canadian companies in the mix, it’s not a story that is going to necessarily be enough on its own.

Once you know what your story is, you can begin getting it out into the world. Remember you want it to be clear; you want it to be easy to understand; and you want to share it consistently everywhere.

A good test to tell how clear your brand story is –  Do others say the same thing? What do your employees say? What about your partners or suppliers? You may have brand ambassadors? And most importantly, your clients. Fingers crossed they are all saying some variation of your story, building up a really solid brand experience.

Our Brand Story

We are a branding and marketing agency here in Kitchener and we’ve been quietly working away at building brands for more than 10 years. We really love building brands and marketing companies who are working to get to the next level – whatever that might be for them.

That’s our story. Digging deep to help our clients succeed.
So when we talk about weaving your brand story into all of your touchpoints, we’ve practiced what we preach and we started at the beginning when we developed our name.

What’s a locale? 

The definition of locale is an area or place, especially one where something special happens. It creates the setting for the story to begin. It sets the tone and establishes the mood. When we are working with our clients, we immerse ourselves into their world, digging deep to understand their values and culture, their industry, their clients, to set the foundation for THEIR story to be told through their branding, website and marketing materials.

That’s why if you take a look at our work, you won’t see a ‘house style’, or ‘trending’ designs across every project, because that’s not what works for our clients in their space.The role of our team is to work with our clients to figure out what their story is, why it matters to their customers, and how that sets them apart from the rest of companies they are competing with.

To conclude…

If your story is consistent across each interaction and moment, can be clearly understood, and resonates with your clients, then it’s contributing as an effective brand tool in your larger brand toolbox.