RAJAR have released the latest listening figures and all stats are pointing to a record-breaking time for Radio.
The latest RAJAR sweep has shown that more people are listening to radio than ever before. 88.6% of adults in the UK are tuning in, that’s a massive 49.9m.
Commercial Radio is at an all time high of 39.7m listeners with Global’s Heart Network remaining the largest network reaching 12.3m adults every week and with Bauer’s Greatest Hits Network showing good growth with a record of 7.7m listeners each week. The latter is buoyed by the stellar performance of radio legends Ken Bruce & Simon Mayo.
Impressively, 75% of commercial radio stations have seen increased reach compared to the previous quarter and that clearly has been stolen from the BBC where 53% of stations have seen reach decreases.
The conclusion is that Radio is in rude health and the British public are in love with it, more than ever before.
As a media agency, it’s heartening to know that some of the more traditional channels we have in our armoury are more than alive and kicking and it means that we can cost-effectively communicate with our client’s potential customers knowing full well the likely results we’ll achieve.
Talk to Mostly Media today if you want to discuss all things audio.
Our friends at Thinkbox are back with their annual TV wrap-up. We’ve taken a deep dive through the report and pulled out what we think are the key points!
Viewing patterns have stabilised, somewhat –
Commercial TV viewing (covering linear TV and all forms of broadcaster VOD) held fairly steady across 2023, showing only a 1.7% decline vs 2022. It’s worth remembering that 2022 was a World Cup year which naturally boosts TV viewing across all audiences. This is the smallest decline we’ve seen since 2016(!), pandemic aside.
BVOD continues to grow –
While linear TV viewing dropped 6%, BVOD saw yet another year of strong growth at 23%! The release of ITVX and all of its exclusive content was a key driver of this.
SVOD subscriptions reaching maturity in the UK –
As has been widely reported, SVOD subscriptions dropped marginally last year, although 75% of the population continues to subscribe to at least one service. The crackdown on password sharing coupled with the cost of living crisis are the lead causes of this. It does though paint a picture of an SVOD market that appears to have plateaued and points towards a more stable future of viewing trends.
The link to the full report is here. If you have any questions don’t hesitate to shoot our TV team an email!
Credit: James Budden, Senior AV Manager
At a Bristol Creative Industries keynote event in March, we were joined by Drew Benvie, founder of global social media agency Battenhall. He shared insights from the company’s 11th annual social media trends reports. In this post, Dan Martin summarises Drew’s brilliant talk.
When it comes to social media, Drew knows his stuff. At the age of seven, he taught himself how to code on an Amstrad CPC 464, and in 2006 he was the first to coin the term ‘social media’ on Wikipedia. Drew founded Battenhall in 2013 and now employs 120 people in the UK and overseas.
Opening his talk, he said:
“There are more places than ever to commit your time and your advertising money, so it’s important you know where to invest. You could stick to a few but the average person in the UK is active on six social networks. In India, it’s 10. If you’re trying to reach your target audience, you have to do more than ever before to really stand out.”
Social media is ubiquitous. Eight out of 10 people who use social media do so actively. Brits spend 75% of our working day looking at a screen of some sort, with teens spending around 5.3 hours a day on social.
But over the last year, Drew said, various things have happened, such as “the implosion of Twitter” following Elon Musk’s purchase of the platform, “that has made me feel that safety on social media is an important thing”.
“Social media is now toxic to many, whether it’s the stuff that we see that should be taken down, or the actions from one user to another that are allowed unfettered on social media.”
A million posts are removed by Meta every day, Drew said, while TikTok employs 40,000 people to moderate content.
Amid all this, social media owners are appearing in front of regulators around the world, as governments look to bring in new legislation that regulates social media.
So what does this mean for brands? Drew’s advice is:
“AI (artificial intelligence) is one of the most unstoppable forces,” Drew said.
See below for what ChatGPT created when he asked it to show a vision of Bristol in the future!
AI in action from @drewb in @Bristol_CI keynote.
“ChatGPT, show me a vision of Bristol in the future.”@brunelsbridge still going strong! @battenhall #Bristol #Battenhalltrends pic.twitter.com/r6E000jO4X
— Dan Martin (@Dan_Martin) March 12, 2024
AI helps to speed up creativity”, and you should think of it as “your brainstorm buddy”, Drew advised.
You can already use AI features on social media platforms to create or improve content, but Drew said “there is an important balance between making something authentic because it is created by a human and harnessing the power of AI to speed things up when you need to”.
He continued:
“I’m an advocate of using AI to augment what you do, not replace it. Get it to do the stuff that you shouldn’t really spend time doing.”
Drew said consider AI as your “brainstorm buddy”. He recommended experimenting with AI tools, such as ChatGPT and Google Gemini, and see which work best for you. Remember that AI isn’t just for generating content, you can also use it for tasks like analysing data.
As an example of AI in action with creative content, Drew shared a campaign using AI that Battenhall delivered for a client.
The children of employees at General Electric were asked to draw what they thought their parents did for a job. Battenhall then used AI to create images based on the drawings that were used for social media posts.
On LinkedIn, the content delivered the top-performing post for the whole quarter, more than doubling the benchmark engagement rate for the quarter. In addition, the campaign contributed to a 12% increase in the number of new followers (month on month).
Drew warned that brands should also be aware of the ethical, regulatory and legal issues around AI such as who owns the content you produce using the technology.
The fallout from Elon Musk buying Twitter led to an exodus of users signing up for other social media platforms. Many people switched to Mastodon, the open source social network, and Meta launched Threads, an app linked to Instagram which became the fastest to reach 100 million followers.
“There are 35 social networks with over 100 million active users [see some of them on page 7 of the ‘Life after Twitter’ report] and endless niche communities. That is my biggest learning from what has happened to Twitter. Niche is now good. It’s ok to be small.”
The biggest beneficiary of “the carnage at Twitter”, Drew said, is LinkedIn. It reported a 41% increase in volume of content between 2021 and 2023.
Drew’s tips and insights for LinkedIn are:
But the most important tip for choosing where to engage on social media, is pay attention to your audience and where they hang out. There’s no one size fits all.
“Be really analytical. Figure out what your audience does, where they spend their time, what trends they follow.”
“TikTok calls itself an entertainment platform, not a social network, and it’s a places other social media platform are trying to emulate.”
Drew said TikTok has shown to brands the power of being entertaining. “I think every brand in 2024 has the ability to be more entertaining.”
“Any brand can do anything on social media. People expect a brand to be a person, to have a voice. The unhinged, entertaining and educational stream of content coming through on platforms like TikTok is creating opportunities for even the most boring brands to be entertaining, informative and educational.”
Drew said the three ways brands can be entertaining are:
One example of an entertaining brand that is “completely unhinged” is Duolingo on TikTok. “My kids want to spend their pocket money on learning languages on Duolingo beause the owl is so engaging.”
For an example of good educational content, Drew recommended Channel 4 on Threads.
“What makes social media content work is engagement, sentiment uptick, and visibility for people that are hard to reach. Entertaining content achieves on all those fronts.
“Think about how you can tell stories and answer questions. People want to learn new things. Think about the niches users might want to know about that are linked to your brand. Even with something a bit more corporate, there’s a story to tell and an audience looking for answers. Consider various different channels to reach your target audience.
“To create content that’s right for you, think about your brand personality. Place yourself in your audience’s shoes, and don’t be afraid to either stay in your lane and do one thing well, or branch out and try lots of different things. Social media is all about experimenting. Post things. Delete them. Start a channel. Let it go. That’s all fine.”
Drew said that the fatigue that many people have with influencers and the creation of content about something they are paid to say is good has helped bring about a creator culture:
“There are more people creating more things with more creativity on more platforms more often. Creators provide opportunities for any brand because your niche is out there somewhere.
“A creator’s goal is to produce high quality, authentic content. For that, they want to work with brands. If you find the right ones, they are usually cheaper to work with than influencers, you can do more meaningful projects with them, and they tend to be more authentic.
“A creator might have a smaller audience than an influencer but they often can do more with less. They also might not ask for money if there’s some other type of value exchange such as early access to a new product.”
Instagram and YouTube are the most popular platforms for creators, but delve into any channel and you’ll likely find a vibrant creator culture, Drew said.
Other networks to explore include spontaneous photo sharing app BeReal, communication platform Discord and livestreaming community Twitch. Private communities, such as Facebook and WhatsApp groups, are another format worth looking at.
To stay updated on future Bristol Creative Industries keynote events, sign up for our newsletter.
Globally recognised companies all owe a large part of their fame to the power of marketing.
When done right, marketing can be the biggest factor when it comes to business growth, strong ROI and overall sales revenue. Take Apple for example, in 2022 they generated £3.8 billion ($4.7 billion) from ad revenue alone.
Effective marketing also has the power to increase your brand’s mindshare. When you think of sportswear, Nike and Adidas will likely spring to mind. With fast food, McDonalds will no doubt enter your thoughts.
With revenues in the billions, these huge brands must have a secret formula to their marketing, right? Nope.
These businesses no doubt have marketing teams that pour countless hours into their campaigns and for the most part, it pays off. But what happens when it doesn’t?
In this blog, we’ll look at some famous marketing faux pas – not to gloat, but to learn from them – and help your business avoid making the same mistakes.
When it comes to marketing campaigns that failed to read the room, the Pepsi X Kendall Jenner advert was a particularly high-profile example.
The advert, which aired in 2017, depicted a group of protesters walking through the streets. Kendall Jenner joins the group and offers a police officer on the scene a Pepsi, defusing the tension between groups.
“…riding the coattails of a political movement founded by and for oppressed voices will always be seen to be in poor taste…”
At the time of airing, the Black Lives Matter protests were commencing around the globe, and viewers couldn’t help but notice the parallels drawn between the two. This didn’t work in Pepsi’s favour as people saw it as a trivialisation of a deep-rooted issue.
The backlash caused Pepsi to pull the advert – a sizeable blow to both budget and reputation. It just goes to show that – while it’s great to keep your marketing relevant – riding the coattails of a political movement founded by and for oppressed voices will always be seen to be in poor taste.
Our takeaway?
Always consider the political climate and check the news before you release an ad campaign into the wild (or sign off the budget).
Rebrands can offer huge potential for businesses. When a brand is becoming outdated, giving it a refresh grabs the attention of customers and, when done well, can attract new ones in the process.
Typically, in business, this kind of move is calculated, necessary and carefully takes into account the thoughts of the consumer. However, the same can’t be said of Gap’s 2010 rebrand…
In fact, it ended up costing them $100 million.
One reason this marketing stunt failed so spectacularly was that nobody was expecting it.
No prior announcements, launches, or updates were released. This meant that they hadn’t built up the necessary anticipation for such a big move. The logo change alone was so drastic it left people feeling bewildered at best.
Another major reason this change didn’t work out in Gap’s favour? They didn’t seem to have a reason to do it in the first place. With a loyal customer base spanning the globe, enviable revenue, and a famous brand identity, changing things up just didn’t seem to make sense.
“…while a rebrand could be just what your business needs, it must be underpinned by strategy…”
But alas, the change had been made and people were not happy. On top of the cost of the entire process, they were forced to revert to their old logo within less than a week.
So, while a rebrand could be just what your business needs, it must be underpinned by strategy, done with good reason, and signalled by pre-launch PR and marketing.
Our takeaway?
Always do your background research, build anticipation for the change, and make sure it aligns with the way your customers see you – they are, after all, the most important factor.
Climate change is a very real and important issue that we currently face. Many businesses are aware of this and are making changes to reduce their impact and greenhouse gas emissions.
That’s why you’ll often hear businesses talk about their corporate social responsibility (CSR) or environmental, social and governance (ESG) initiatives.
It’s also why vehicles are tested to ensure emissions are aligned with regulations.
In 2015 the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) found that tens of thousands of Volkswagen’s diesel cars produced in the US each year were cheating emissions tests. And this was after a huge marketing campaign touting the car’s low emissions.
“…it only takes one false claim to lose your customer’s trust…”
Thanks to a device that could detect when the car was being tested and alter the way it performed, the manufacturer was able to falsify recorded emissions.
This meant that the engines of these cars emitted nitrogen oxide up to 40 times greater than the permitted limit in the United States, without it showing up in test results.
Upon this scandal coming to light, not only did Volkswagen lose the trust of a large portion of their current and potential customers. It also meant that in October 2015, the company posted its first quarterly loss in 15 years, which was over £2 billion.
Volkswagen issued a public apology but in spite of efforts to rectify the damage, the scenario remains fresh in people’s minds.
Our takeaway?
It only takes one false claim to lose your customer’s trust. Which is exactly why it’s so important to ensure your business doesn’t get caught in any greenwashing grey areas (or outright deceptions, in this case).
If you want to find out more about greenwashing risks and how to so you can avoid them, explore our CSR marketing series.
While we’ve only covered a handful of examples, marketing mistakes are all too common. And, as we’ve demonstrated, even some of the most famous brands in the world are not immune.
With the potential to cause a loss of revenues, customers, trust, and reputation, it’s important that all marketing and advertising campaigns are backed by strategy, and checked. And double checked. And triple checked.
Because once live, they can be near impossible to take back.
Nobody’s perfect, but we are thorough – both in strategy and quality assurance.
If you have a campaign idea you’d like to discuss, get in touch with our marketing team: [email protected].
saintnicks has been appointed by Ascot Racecourse following a successful competitive pitch process. The win bolsters the agency’s strong start to 2024 alongside retained client growth.
Founded in 1711 by Queen Anne, Ascot Racecourse is arguably the nation’s most revered racing venue, welcoming just shy of 600,000 visitors annually across its 26 race day events. Royal Ascot which takes place 18th – 22nd June, is the most prestigious horse racing event in the UK calendar with more than 300,000 visitors over the 5 day period. Steeped in heritage, Ascot Racecourse is a true British institution and revered national brand.
The two-year contract, which starts with immediate effect, will see saintnicks responsible for Ascot’s overall social content strategy as the brand looks to enhance its reputation further as a global ‘lifestyle’ brand.
Retained as the brand’s lead social partner, saintnicks will work closely with Ascot’s brand, social and content teams supporting with content strategy, content creation and social media management.
Fraser Bradshaw, Founder and CEO of saintnicks says: “We couldn’t be more delighted to partner with Ascot Racecourse and help support their business growth strategy. It’s a brand and business we’ve come to know well over the last few years and we’re invested wholeheartedly in supporting such an iconic national brand as their long term partner.”
Alexandra Bertram, Brand & Creative Lead at Ascot says: “We’re thrilled to embark on this exciting journey with saintnicks as our Social Media Marketing agency. With their expertise and dedication, we look forward to elevating Ascot’s presence in the digital realm. Here’s to a fruitful partnership ahead!”
The appointment follows the re-positioning of the Ascot Racecourse brand and subsequent brand voice development undertaken by saintnicks in 2022.
How to use language to foster stronger, happier, more productive relationships.
Words: Simeon de la Torre, SIM7.
The language that an organisation uses in its content, copywriting and comms influences not just how it is perceived, but how it makes audiences feel. It’s a complex, nuanced arena, but there are a handful of golden rules to remember around using brand language that’s appropriate and inclusive.
First up: what’s DEI?
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) aims to make everyone within an environment, regardless of race, ethnicity, religion, ability, gender or sexual orientation, feel supported and welcome.
Why is it better to use inclusive language?
According to Deloitte, companies that embrace inclusivity and inclusive language have 22% lower turnover rates, 22% greater productivity and 27% higher profitability. Externally, those companies have 39% higher customer satisfaction.
Rule #1 Avoid certain ways of identifying people
Only use race, gender, gender identity, ability, age, sexual orientation, etc. to identify people when strictly necessary, otherwise doing so can draw attention to something about someone’s characteristics that might make them feel different or excluded.
Rule #2 Use people-first language
People-first language prioritises the individual. This is an especially useful point to remember when talking about people who have disabilities.
For example, it’s better to say ‘a person with a disability’ than ‘a disabled person’. The former implies that the disability is a secondary characteristic rather than a defining one. But as mentioned in #1, it’s best to simply avoid mentioning disability unless relevant or strictly necessary.
There are a few exceptions to this point. The deaf community, for instance, generally prefers the term ‘deaf person’ to ‘person with deafness’. If in doubt, it’s best to ask.
Rule #3 Be wary of connotations
Terms such as ‘sexual preference’ or ‘preferred pronouns’ can be problematic. ‘Preference’ implies choice, and that can create a false impression. It’s best to err on the side of caution and use the terms ‘sexual orientation’ and ‘pronouns’ instead.
Rule #4 Avoid inappropriate references
Try to avoid using terms such as ‘bipolar,’ ‘OCD,’ ‘ADHD’ or ‘ASD’ as metaphors, especially in a jokey context. These are real disabilities and disorders. Using their names to refer to things they aren’t can offend people who have them.
Rule #5 Use gender-neutral language
Yes, you may often use language with a specific audience in mind, but pronouns are generally best avoided.
When making a hypothetical point – ‘if he or she went for a walk’, for example – the ‘he or she’ clause is unnecessary, and including it can make non-binary, gender non-conforming or genderqueer folks feel excluded.
When in doubt or when using a pronoun is necessary, ‘they’ is a good choice. It’s gender-neutral and can be used to refer to an individual or a group, so has all bases covered.
Rule #6 Avoid universal phrases
Jargon is often best avoided and it’s a good idea to think before using idioms – not all translate well across cultures.
Rule #7 Avoid using your group as the reference group
Using your group as the reference group can imply it’s the norm and that other groups fall outside that norm. Terms like ‘non-white’, for example, imply that white people are the norm and everyone else, a deviation.
It’s best to take care when saying…
Guys
This term is best avoided when speaking to or referencing a group that contains non-male members.
Good alternatives: ‘Folks’, ‘you all’, ‘everyone’, ‘team’.
Girls/ladies/gals
If she’s over 18, she’s an adult. And take care when saying ‘ladies’ and ‘gals’, these terms can be patronizing. Good alternatives: ‘Women’, ‘people’.
Handicap/handicapped
Today, ‘handicapped’ is considered impolite.
Similarly, when talking about people with disabilities, avoid using terms like ‘afflicted by,’ ‘victim of’, ‘suffers from’, and ‘confined to a wheelchair’. ‘Challenged’, ‘differently abled’, and ‘specially abled’ are best avoided too.
Good alternatives: ‘Disabled’, ‘person with a disability’.
You might also consider…
Mentioning pronouns
Including pronouns – he/him, she/her, they/them – in email signatures can help non-binary, transgender and other folk feel more included.
Trigger warnings
If you’re going to publish content that has the potential to trigger people, it’s a good idea to add a trigger warning to that content. Forewarning people about potentially offensive content can help prevent causing offence.
Writing for web accessibility
People with certain disabilities can have difficulty navigating online content. We can all help ensure the content we create is accessible. See our designing for accessibility cheat sheet for useful tips.
Keeping up-to-date
Inclusive language best practice is constantly evolving. Periodic refreshers are a great way to stay up to date. Taking a moment to think about how the language you’re going to use is inclusive often goes a long way, too.
To learn more about creating an inclusive brand, visit https://sim7creative.co.uk/ or get in touch with Sim (he/him): [email protected]
In an era where businesses are increasingly expected to prioritise social and environmental impact alongside profit, Disruptive Thinking has taken a bold step forward by achieving B Corp certification. This certification marks a significant milestone for team Disruptive, reinforcing their commitment to fostering a diverse and inclusive workplace, minimising their environmental footprint and dedicating themselves to ongoing improvement.
Disruptive Thinking’s Founder, Yiuwin Tsang said “When founding Disruptive Thinking, I knew I wanted the business to be a force for good. Our company motto is “Good work for good people” and it’s really nice to join the ranks of other businesses who share the same vision, under such a well-regarded standard.”
“The decision to pursue B Corp certification was driven by a deep-seated belief in the power of business to drive positive change. As a team who pride ourselves on being forward-thinking, becoming a B Corp aligns so well with our core values of empathy, integrity, and sustainability.”
“One of the key benefits of being a B Corp is the opportunity to collaborate with like-minded businesses and organisations. We can’t wait to meet other B Corp organisations at local meetups – come over and say ‘Hi’ if you spot any of the team!”
About Disruptive Thinking
Disruptive Thinking is a small team with deep expertise in Marketing, Business Growth and CRM. Our team take on a variety of projects, from designing marketing strategies and executing delivery, to establishing sales processes, to delivering workshops and events.
We’ve worked with accountancy firms, agencies, startups, law firms, publishers, universities, the creative industries and healthcare providers – supporting them on strategic planning and execution across their sales, marketing and delivery efforts.
We work with any size of organisation, from large corporates through to startups, plus public bodies and not-for-profits. Our motto is doing good work for good people. We’re proud of the quality of work we deliver, and ultimately want to work with clients who are also passionate and driven about what they do.
Got any questions? Just want to connect? Reach out to the team at [email protected]
Specialist CRM agency Flourish was celebrating Thursday 18th April following the announcement at the Campaign Media Awards that their work for Pai Skincare had won ‘The CRM and Media Award’ category.
Award judges described the campaign, which utilised first party data to inform a media strategy which ultimately increased conversion and reduced CPA as, “…clever, rock solid.”
The achievement was even greater as Flourish was one of only six agencies up for an award that didn’t come from the Campaign Top 20 (Campaign School Report Billing 2023). Flourish’s Managing Director Ian Reeves commented: “I’m so proud of the team, but I’m not surprised by the win. With stricter privacy regulations in the UK and EU, and the death of cookies, first party data is becoming increasingly important. It provides marketers with ways of reaching customers with more relevant and engaging comms – something CRM specialists like Flourish have been championing for decades!”
Pai is a ‘clean’ skincare brand selling products direct to consumers via their website. Offers are a vital tool in securing a sale, but Pai wanted to reduce their CPA which had crept up over time.
The award winning work utilised Ometria’s Predictive Attributes to identify customer behaviours and classify them as active, at risk or lapsed. The ‘pot’ customers were put in determined the content of the email journeys they would then receive – with offers as a last resort.
In addition, instead of offer / discount messaging, web visitors were retargeted with product ads focusing on quality, to build brand value. Demographic data gained from CRM meant that only visitors who were most likely to buy were retargeted.
Flourish’s Managing Partner and Head of Media Steve Davis said: “This work shows how powerful media strategies driven by CRM insights can be. This campaign was absolutely transformative in terms of reducing CPA and increasing conversion for Pai and demonstrates the ROI agencies like Flourish can deliver for our clients.”
Notes for editors
Flourish is an independently owned, specialist CRM agency based in Bristol. Platform agnostic, the agency works with the tech clients have in place to deliver data-driven customer journeys to OPTIMISE, ELEVATE and ultimately TRANSFORM their clients CRM.
For more information contact Ian Reeves, Managing Director [email protected].
A recent study by Statista has found that over five billion people are using social media platforms as of 2024.
With so many people online, it’s important to consider how this will affect your marketing activities.
And that’s a bad thing, why?
More social media accounts mean there is more content shared monthly/weekly/daily/hourly. This means that whenever organic social media posts are published, they are competing against a greater pool of posts for social media users’ attention. This impacts reach and impressions, but also engagement and lead opportunities. For startups, the challenge is even harder than for established businesses, because they have to build their audience from scratch.
New policies and regulations, such as the tone of voice or what is considered proper social media conduct can be interpretable. This can limit creativity when it comes to creating hype designs and captions, using language that is familiar and relatable to a specific category of social media users, that the company targets. The challenge here is that when posts lack a personal touch, they won’t generate the intended impact on the targeted audience. Startups with a specific audience risk not relating to their targeted audience.
When social media channels record impressive growth, their algorithms change. Currently, Facebook, Instagram, and more recently LinkedIn, disfavor organic content, especially for business accounts, reducing the reach and impressions for posts belonging to such accounts. Their purpose is to push companies towards paid content. This can appear discouraging for startups, adding up to their efforts to build their followers, and then to show their messages to as many people as possible, organically.
So, is organic social media still working for business accounts? Can business accounts achieve organic social media growth?
While the above challenges picture a tough environment for businesses to compete for users’ attention on social media, let’s not forget that this is an ever-evolving place to communicate with your audience. Especially for a start-up business, it’s key to capitalise on the opportunities presented below.
To find out the top 3 opportunities for organic social media marketing in 2024, head to our website.
People don’t just buy products or services
People buy people… and people are made up of stories.
Studies have shown that 55% of people are more likely to buy a product if they love the story behind a brand.
But why do brand stories matter? What makes a brand story compelling and engaging?
As a business, or individual, your brand’s story should be a complete picture of who you are and why you do what you do – what is your mission and vision.
It encompasses the facts of your brand, but also the feelings created by your brand. It should be the foundation of every aspect of your content marketing. Without a brand narrative, your marketing will be typically vague and inconsistent.
Notice how we’ve not mentioned what you do here.
In his book and hugely popular TedTalk, Start With Why, Simon Sinek argues that most organisations communicate from the outside in.
They start with what it is they do, before going into the how. They rarely address the why. But the why is so important when it comes to telling stories and leveraging human appeal.
Sinek argues that inspired leaders and organisations communicate from the inside out, starting with the why, and then moving to how, before finally addressing what it is that they do.
“With everything we do, we aim to challenge the status quo. We aim to think differently. Our products are user-friendly, beautifully designed, and easy to use. We just happen to make great computers. Want to buy one?”
This example, from Sinek, concisely shows this process in action. It is a reference to Apple and the way it starts with Why in its communications.
The theory emphasizes that people don’t buy what you do; they buy why you do it.
By starting with the “why,” organisations can differentiate themselves from their competitors, attract like-minded individuals who share their beliefs, and foster a loyal customer base or following.
This is where storytelling comes into play.
Brand storytelling is an art form that can be traced back to as early as 1895.
This was when a farming magazine called ‘The Furrow,’ leveraged compelling brand stories as a way to connect with their target audience.
John Deere’s magazine is considered to be the first example of corporate storytelling. But since these early days, brands have continued to recognise the amazing power that stories have.
Fundementally people like stories, because they can create emotional connections with them. This connection then creates brand differentiation, humanisation, memorability and engagement.
These are incredibly important elements not only for building brand authenticity but for keeping a steady pipeline of engagement in a world where a lot of businesses are pushing a product or service.
As more people are driven to make connections online, more brands and businesses use that online presence for reach and engagement.
This kind of activity would previously have been referred to as the marketing funnel. But that’s something of an outmoded term now.
The funnel is now more of a web.
The sheer volume of marketing communications coming the way of a consumer is staggering. From Google Search, to Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, Blogs, News and more the consumer has never been bombarded with more information.
The term web is quite an apt one in this sense. Because the web of social and marketing comms is now so laden with competition, it easily becomes overly exhausting for the potential customer.
All it can take is one element of that web to break, for the whole thing to fall down.
A lot of brands have a story to tell. But the only way to create a story that will resonate with your customers is to understand the art of storytelling.
Great stories are considered as such for several reasons. They take you on a journey. Great stories are relatable, they can inspire, engage, can even affect change. A good story is always:
Successful brand storytelling always has several key elements that create a compelling narrative.
An authentic story will help you articulate brand messaging, brand values and your brand’s mission.
How can you leverage the power of storytelling for your brand? Let’s start with the basics
Before you can tell your story, you have to know your story. Many organisations try to tell their brand story before they understand who they are and why their audience should care. It’s much easier to tell your brand’s story when you figure out:
An essential part of any brand story starts, as you’d expect, at the beginning.
What is your brand’s purpose, why do you do what you do? Why does your brand exist in the first place?
Identifying the answers to these questions will help you understand more about your brand. Once you establish your own brand’s identity, you can begin to tell your story.
It’s important to have a clear and consistent message that emanates throughout your communication. But try to stay clear of sounding like you’re selling something… show, don’t tell.
When you show who you are as a brand vs what you’re selling, you’re creating that emotional connection and brand differentiation. So, when it does come the time to drop a sales message, you have that preexisting engagement and customer motivation.
You can really only achieve this if you know your audience. To craft a compelling story that will speak to your customers, you need to properly understand them.
What motivates them, what inspires them, what moves them
Ask yourself who your customers are and why they should care about your brand. Define your buyer personas and think about the kinds of stories they want to hear.
Understanding your audience is imperative to not just your brand story, but your marketing strategy as a whole.
With your messaging shaped and your audience profiled, it’s time to define your narrative.
How do you want your audience to react? Do you want them to feel entertained? Informed? Educated?
Understanding these points will help you form your narrative and allow you to paint a picture of the kinds of stories and content that you should be producing.
Telling an authentic brand story goes beyond the ‘about us’ page on your website.
Instead, it’s interwoven into every aspect of communications
You’ll find that great brand stories are permeated through a brand’s social media posts, blogs, emails and website.
In today’s competitive and crowded marketplace, brand storytelling has become a powerful tool for companies to create meaningful connections with their customers, differentiate themselves, and establish a strong and memorable brand identity
Do you want to experience the value of great storytelling? Talk to the team at AMBITIOUS to discover how we can get more people talking about your brand [email protected] or call us on 0117 905 1177.
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