Brand Storytelling

The Fundamentals of
Storytelling
& Creating an Audience
brand

Nykea Behiel
Director of Marketing | Rock & Bloom

WHOAMI?
An information junkie I went to Egypt and Morocco for my
honeymoon...while six months pregnant

WHOAMI?
And…. I have the cutest baby in the world!

After nourishment, shelter and companionship,
stories are the thing we need most in the world.
Philip Pullman

What’s the Diﬀerence?
Porsche Cayenne vs. VW Touareg

Brown Egg vs. White Egg

Van vs. SUV

Two Stars vs Five Stars

1. Tendon
2. Dinner
3. Cup
4. Outlet
5. Curry
6. Oﬀicer
7. Backyard
8. Dress
9. Hotel
10. Distance
Story Test
Exercise Answers
1. Explosion
2. Rollercoaster
3. Letter
4. Pig
5. Taco
6. House
7. Batteries
8. Peppercorn
9. Chalk
10. Brain

1. Setting
2. Characters
3. Plot
4. Conﬂict
5. Theme
6. Story Arc
The Fundamentals of Story
And Then, Their Brand Counterparts

The setting is the time and location in which your story takes place.
Settings can be very speciﬁc, but can also be more broad and
descriptive.
Setting
The Fundamentals of Storytelling
Hogwarts School of
Witchcraft and Wizardry,
1991-1998
A tired cabin in the woods,
nondescript time

Understand the market where you’re conducting business. You can't be
all things to all people. Your ﬁeld might be broad, but what is your niche?
Market
The Fundamentals of Brand Storytelling
Engaged women;
wedding photography
Stay at home moms between the ages
of 26-45 that live within 20 miles of
Saskatoon with a median household
income of greater than $150K/year

How to determine your target market:
● Age
● Location
● Gender
● Spending Power
Exercise: Write a statement that encompasses all of these.
Example: Stay at home moms between the ages of 26-45 that live within 20 miles of
Saskatoon with a median household income of greater than $150K/year.
Exercise: Deﬁne Your Market

Speaking to everyone = speaking to no one
Whose opinion do you care most about?
What are your key business drivers and who is most inspired by them?
This can extend beyond customers (i.e. employees)
Can begin with broad segments or categories
Audiences and Segments

Audience One Business travellers - young professionals
Audience Two Vacation goers - families and couples
Audience Three Westjet employees
Top Three Audiences

Audience One
Audience Two
Audience Three
Top Three Audiences
your company!

Characters are vital to the development of the story; the plot
revolves around them. Central characters almost always include at
least a protagonist and an antagonist, and sometimes a narrator.
Characters

Why Personas?
● Convince 10% of people 100% of the way, not 100% of
people 10% of the way
● Focus your marketing eﬀorts and spend, and speak the
language of our customers
● Identify the customer’s needs and wants so you can delight
them and earn their return business
● Make decisions based on the needs and wants of these
ideal personas
● Ensure that all activities involved in acquiring and serving
your customers are tailored to the targeted buyer’s needs.
● Show potential customers that you get them by addressing
their pain or need
● Keep you centered on the needs of your customers

A client coming to you
is a statement about them,
not just you

Your stories need to be about someone. They can be about you
and/or your clients. It’s often more eﬀective to tell a compelling
story about the people you help. Possibility:
Narrator: You
Protagonist: Ideal client
Antagonist: Their challenge
Customer Personas

Meet Hipster Halle
Halle is young and tragically hip. She lives and works in Riversdale,
and is an advocate for the neighbourhood.

● Demographic and personal info
○ 29 years old
○ Single
○ Makes 70k/year
● Personality & Interests
○ Halle is a type four on the enneagram
○ She’s sensitive, expressive, dramatic, and self-absorbed
○ Halle knows she has a lot to oﬀer, and is convinced her creativity is better than her
coworkers
○ Halle is an intense foodie, and prides herself on trying every new restaurant
shortly after it opens. And when she tries it, you can bet she has an opinion!
○ Halle has a tendency to avoid the boring things in her life, which often means
doing forms, taxes, and the mundane late
○ She is always busy and has many interests and hobbies
○ Some of her hobbies include traveling, design, yoga, painting, environmentalism,
and trying new activities
Hipster Halle

● Values
○ Environmentally conscious
○ Values creativity and good design
● Job details
○ Senior graphic designer at a creative agency
● Brand Affinities
○ Reformation, Patagonia, Lululemon, Madewell, Oak & Fort, The Ordinary, Levis, Apple,
Whole Foods, Netflix, Nordstrom Rack, local brands
● Routines & Online Behaviours
○ Halle is constantly looking for knowledge and ways to improve herself
○ Consumes lots of online content, most through social media
○ Doesn’t have traditional media, but has multiple streaming platforms — Netflix, Crave,
Disney, Prime
○ Particular content hubs she likes: Creative Boom, The Design Blog, Oh She Glows, Goop,
Medium, Ad Age
○ Instagram is her primary social channel; she is also very active on Pinterest and has a
presence on Facebook, though it’s limited
Hipster Halle

● Goals
○ Be healthy — lead an active lifestyle, eat well, and practice meditations
○ Be seen as a trendsetter
○ Have coworkers and bosses at her agency value her input
● Challenges
○ Moving towards less waste with packaging, food, etc.
○ Finding time to be her version of healthy
○ Create work that moves people and is successful
● Deterrents from our brand
○ Doesn’t want to be seen as part of a gentriﬁcation process — wants to be seen as part of
the solution, not the problem
● Quotes
○ “I love Riversdale. It’s a place in Saskatoon where I can experience many cultures and
perspectives. It’s inspirational in my design process.”
● Marketing Messages & Motivations
○ Highlight professional development and networking opportunities, or chances to
showcase her work and expertise
○ Illustrate how she is making an impact on the neighbourhood
Hipster Halle

Customer Personas

Great ways to get started:
● Look at your analytics. Your website and social platforms are a microcosm of who
you are attracting now
● Survey past clients to see why they chose you, what they liked best, etc.
● If possible, survey people who didn’t choose you — why did they go with
someone else? Do they ﬁt your target demo?
● General market research
● Brainstorming your ideal
Customer Personas

Exercise:
Customer Persona Draft

Things to consider:
● Demographic info
● Personality and interests
● Values
● Job details
● Brand aﬀinities
● Routines and online behaviours
● Common objections to your brand
● Goals
● Challenges
● Real quotes
● Marketing message that will best resonate
Exercise: Customer Persona Draft

The plot is the sequence of events that connect the audience to the
protagonist and their ultimate goal.
Plot

The aging patriarch of an organized
crime dynasty transfers control of
his clandestine empire to his
reluctant son.
Plot
Guess the Logline
[Main Character], while not intelligent,
has accidentally been present at many
historic moments, but his true love,
Jenny Curran, eludes him.
The Godfather Forrest Gump

Exercise:
Write a Logline for Your Brand

CUSTOMER JOURNEY &
MARKETING STRATEGY

How you plan to achieve your goals. What tactics and mediums will
you use? Where is your core demo?
What are are all the touchpoints you have with customers?
Customer Journey & Marketing Strategy

Customer Journey

1. Provides a lens for
measuring sustainable
growth

1. Provides a lens for
measuring
sustainable growth
2. Should correlate to
value delivered to
customers

North Star:
# daily active users

Monthly active users
Nights booked
Rides taken
Mesh With Your North Star

Leading
Indicators
That which you can control.
Easy to influence, difficult
to define
Lagging
Indicators
That which you ultimately
want to achieve.
Easy to measure, difficult to
influence

Exercise:
Deﬁne Your North Star

The conflict is what drives the story. It’s what creates tension and
builds suspense, which are the elements that make a story
interesting. If there’s no conflict, not only will the audience not care,
but there also won’t be any compelling story to tell.
Conflict
1. Person against person (The
Hunger Games)
2. Person against nature
(Jaws)
3. Person against self (A
Beautiful Mind)
4. Person against society
(The Handmaid’s Tale)
5. Person against the
Supernatural (The War of
the Worlds)
6. Person against technology
(The Matrix)

What problem are you solving?
What are you trying to get your customer to do?

Bad, irrelevant
search results.
Meeting people generally
only happened on
weekends, not seven
days a week.
Ill-ﬁtting shoes

Exercise:
What Problem Do You Solve?

The theme is what the story is really about. It’s the main idea or
underlying meaning. Often, it’s the storyteller’s personal opinion on
the subject matter. A story may have both a major theme and minor
themes.
Theme
One of the main themes in the
Titanic is perseverance

Unless you can pinpoint what makes your business unique in a world
of homogeneous competitors, you cannot target your sales eﬀorts. A
business can peg its USP on one of the Four Ps of marketing: product
characteristics, price structure, placement strategy (location and
distribution) or promotional strategy.
Unique Selling Proposition

For example, Charles Revson, founder of Revlon, always used to say
he sold hope, not makeup.
Some airlines sell friendly service, while others sell cheap ﬂights.
Neiman Marcus sells luxury, while Wal-Mart sells bargains.

We’re number two.
We try harder

World’s strongest coﬀee.

Melts in your mouth,
not in your hand.

We give a new pair of shoes to
a child in need for every pair
you purchase.

You get fresh, hot pizza
delivered to your door in 30
minutes or less or it's free.

1. Put yourself in your customer's shoes
a. Step back from your daily operations and carefully scrutinize what
your customers really want
2. Know what motivates your customers' behavior and buying decisions
3. Uncover the real reasons customers buy your product instead of a
competitor's
a. Try a survey. Clear your mind of any preconceived ideas about your
product or service and be brutally honest
Identifying Your USP

Brand Archetypes
An archetype is a literary device in which a character is created
based on a set of qualities or traits that are speciﬁc and identiﬁable
for readers.

Brand Archetypes
Archetypes are based on Swiss psychologist Carl Jung’s theory that
humans have a basic tendency to use symbolism to understand
concepts. Jung identiﬁed 12 archetypes. Each archetype has its own
set of characteristics, values, attitudes and behaviors.
The advertising and marketing industry has applied that concept to
create brand archetypes.

of our purchasing decisions are made in the
subconscious mind.
— Harvard Professor Gerald Zaltman
95%

Brand Archetypes
The
Innocent
The
Regular
Guy / Gal
The
Hero
The
Outlaw
The
Explorer
The
Creator
The
Ruler
The
Magician
The
Lover
The
Caregiver
The
Jester
The
Sage

Brand Archetypes
The
Innocent
The
Regular
Guy / Gal
The
Hero
The
Outlaw
The
Explorer
The
Creator
The
Ruler
The
Magician
The
Lover
The
Caregiver
The
Jester
The
Sage
LIBERATION
POWER
MASTERY
INTIMACY ENJOYMENT
BELONGING
SERVICECONTROL
INNOVATIONSAFETY
UNDERSTANDING
FREEDOM

Brand Archetypes
The Innocent
Goal: To be happy
Traits: Strives to be good, is pure, young, optimistic, simple, moral, romantic,
loyal
Drawback: Could be naïve or boring
Marketing niche: Companies with strong values, seen as trustworthy,
reliable and honest, associated with morality, good virtues, simplicity, often
nostalgic

Brand Archetypes
The Regular Guy / Gal
Goal: To belong, or connect with others
Traits: Down to earth, supportive, faithful, folksy, person next door, connects
with others
Drawback: Can lack a distinctive identity and blend in too much
Marketing niche: Common touch, solid virtues, gives a sense of belonging

Brand Archetypes
The Hero
Goal: Help to improve the world
Traits: Courageous, bold, honorable, strong, conﬁdent, inspirational
Drawback: Can be arrogant or aloof
Marketing niche: Make a positive mark on the world, solve major problems
or enable/inspire others to do so

Brand Archetypes
The Outlaw
Goal: Break the rules and ﬁght authority
Traits: Rebellious, iconoclastic, wild, paving the way for change
Drawback: Could take it too far and be seen in a negative way
Marketing niche: Agent of change, advocate for the disenfranchised, allow
people to vent or break with conventions

Brand Archetypes
The Explorer
Goal: Finds fulﬁllment through discovery and new experiences
Traits: Restless, adventurous, ambitious, individualistic, independent,
pioneering
Drawback: Might not ﬁt into the mainstream
Marketing niche: Exciting, risk-taking, authentic

Brand Archetypes
The Creator
Goal: Create something with meaning and enduring value
Traits: Creative, imaginative, artistic, inventive, entrepreneur,
non-conformist
Drawback: Could be perfectionistic or impractical
Marketing niche: Visionary, help customers express or create, and foster
their imagination

Brand Archetypes
The Ruler
Goal: Control, create order from chaos
Traits: Leader, responsible, organized, role model, administrator
Drawback: Can lack a common connection, or be too authoritative or
controlling
Marketing niche: Help people become more organized, restore order,
create more stability and security in a chaotic world

Brand Archetypes
The Magician
Goal: Make dreams come true, create something special
Traits: Visionary, charismatic, imaginative, idealistic, spiritual
Drawback: Could take risks that lead to bad outcomes
Marketing niche: Help people transform their world, inspire change, expand
consciousness

Brand Archetypes
The Lover
Goal: Create intimacy, inspire love
Traits: Passionate, sensual, intimate, romantic, warm, committed, idealistic
Drawback: Could be too selﬂess or not grounded enough
Marketing niche: Help people feel appreciated, belong, connect, enjoy
intimacy, build relationships

Brand Archetypes
The Caregiver
Goal: To care for and protect others
Traits: Caring, maternal, nurturing, selﬂess, generous, compassionate
Drawback: Being taken advantage of, taken for granted, or exploited
Marketing niche: Help people care for themselves, serve the public through
health care, education or aid programs

Brand Archetypes
The Jester
Goal: To bring joy to the world
Traits: Fun, sense of humor, light-hearted, mischievous, irreverent
Drawback: Could be seen as frivolous or disrespectful
Marketing niche: Help people have a good time or enjoy what they are
doing, allow people to be more impulsive and spontaneous

Brand Archetypes
The Sage
Goal: To help the world gain wisdom and insight
Traits: Knowledgeable, trusted source of information, wisdom and
intelligence, thoughtful, analytical, mentor, guru, advisor
Drawback: Could be overly contemplative or too opinionated
Marketing niche: Help people to better understand the world, provide
practical information and analysis

Exercise:
Which Archetype Are You?

A strong story plot has a narrative arc that has four required elements of its own.
1. Setup: The world in which the protagonist exists prior to the journey. The setup
usually ends with the conflict being revealed.
2. Rising Tension: The series of obstacles the protagonist must overcome. Each
obstacle is usually more difficult and with higher stakes than the previous one.
3. Climax: The point of highest tension, and the major decisive turning point for the
protagonist.
4. Resolution: The conflict’s conclusion. This is where the protagonist finally
overcomes the conflict, learns to accept it, or is ultimately defeated by it.
Story Arc

● How do you describe your business?
● Can you do it in less than 40 words?
● Would your entire team say it the same way?
● Would your customers say it the same way?
Key Messaging

Story Arc

Customers may say they want the best product, and
that they want it at the best price. While that is true,
what they want most is authenticity.

SPEAK THE LANGUAGE OF
YOUR CUSTOMERS

● Consistency builds trust
● Purchasing is more an emotional decision than a practical one
○ First contact isn’t always ﬁrst impression
● Every encounter should count, be positive, and in brand voice
○ Website, ads, social, sales, blog, phone, webinar, etc.
● Consistency makes you recognizable and trustworthy
● Give your customers what they expect
Provide a Consistent Customer Experience

A brand doesn’t have a story

You need to tell many hyper speciﬁc
stories to stay relevant.

Telling Your Story
Hook Problem Resolution CTA

1. Hook
a. Why should they care? Grab attention right away.
2. Problem
a. Explain the problem you are solving
3. Resolution
a. Explain how you solve that problem
4. CTA
a. At the end of each story should be a call-to-action. On something like an
Instagram post, this can be implicit. On a website or blog, it should be
explicit — likely an actual button
Telling Your Story

1. Setting
2. Characters
3. Plot
4. Conﬂict
5. Theme
6. Story Arc
The Fundamentals of Brand
Storytelling
1. Market
2. Customer Personas & Your Brand
3. Marketing Strategy / Customer Journey
4. Problem(s) you Solve
5. USP & Brand Archetype
6. Telling Your Story
Storytelling
Brand Storytelling

-37°C and -38°C
What’s The Diﬀerence?

-37°C and -38°C
27°C and 28°C

-37°C and -38°C
27°C and 28°C
3°C and 2 °C

You can diﬀerentiate your brand.
You can relate to your audience.
You can understand your why.
Tell stories
that matter.

CREDITS: This presentation template was created
by Slidesgo, including icons by Flaticon, and
infographics & images by Freepik
THANKS!
Please keep this slide for attribution
MANY
nykea@rockandbloom.com
rockandbloom.com
Thank you so much for your time!

● The Power of Brand Storytelling (Research
Slideshare)
● The Science Behind Storytelling
● 11 Companies That Are Killing It With
Brand-Driven Storytelling
● Here's what Volkswagen did and how it got
caught
● 15 Brilliant Examples Of Visual Storytelling On
Instagram
● Stories from the Airbnb Community
● Julia Galef, Why You Think You’re Right, Even
When You’re Wrong
Resources
● Seth Godin, All Marketers Are Liars
● Seth Godin, Linchpin
● Terry O’Reilly, Under the Inﬂuence
● Malcom Gladwell, The Tipping Point
● Martin Lindstrom, Buyology
● Invisibilia, This American Life and Radiolab
● Michael Brenner, Marketing Insider Group
● Inbound conference
● Content Marketing Institute
● Brene Brown (multiple books)

Similar to a plot, your story has to have elements that captivate a viewer.
1. Hook
a. Why should they care? Grab attention right away.
2. Problem
a. Explain the problem you are solving
3. Resolution
a. Explain how you solve that problem
4. CTA
a. At the end of each story should be a call-to-action. On something like an
Instagram post, this can be implicit. On a website or blog, it should be
explicit — likely am actual button
Telling Your Story

Coschedule headline analyzer tool
Only 62% of
people who click
into an article
end up reading
past the headline

Brand Storytelling

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