Brand storytelling can be as easy as riding a motorcycle

My first international client was a housewife in Connecticut.

She was happy to pay me as much as Coca-Cola India was paying me to coach their Management Trainees.

I still know her as Candlelady. At the time that I first met her online, she had recently divorced and was having a hard time making ends meet.

All I really told her was that she wasn't in the candle business. She was in the romance business.

Once that was understood it was actually quite easy to co-create a story that made her brand successful.

You see, products have rationales. Brands have emotionales.

Most people falter in creating strong brands because they are trained to find a rational proposition for their brand. They look for a "market share" in a "category". Instead of a share of the consumer's heart.

Good stories reach the heart.

It was easy to coach Candlelady to co-create a story for her brand because she knew very little about the theory of brand-building.

Which I find is the biggest enemy of building brands.

Too much theory.

When all you need to know are the answers to these simple questions.

1. What is the obvious emotional truth on which your brand is based?

2. Therefore, what business are you really in?

3. Therefore, at whom is your brand aimed?

4. If so, what are the personality traits your brand should have that will attract this target mindset?

5. What is the organizing idea, that captures the essence of your brand, that users will want to champion?

If you know the answers to these questions, you already know how to grow brands.

But if you need to become a good brand storyteller you need to be able to answer these questions well.

The five gears a brand storyteller should know about their brand.

1.The obvious emotional truth that fuels your brand

2.Therefore, what has to be at the core of your story idea

3.Identifying the villains that your brand vanquishes every time

4.The personality traits that get your brand fan to empathize with your brand

5.The story idea that can have a thousand episodes and still not get stale

How to answer these insightfully is covered in a workshop I have put together for BrandStoryTree.Club.

You can register for the workshop here .

Candlelady's success came from a story co-created with a 'friend of the brand'. A fine-dining restaurant chain that was also in the business of romance.

Along with the help of one of the waiters, she created a candle that was great for making a proposal. The ring appeared halfway through the dinner as the candle melted.

That story spread. So did the demand for Candlelady's candles.

How I know is that she paid me my success fees within three months.

You see, a great brand story does not have to be a video.

Though it can be that, too.

It just needs to be a story that people experience and WANT to share by word-of-mouth.

The world's strongest medium.

Some of you who are reading this article may have already been through my learn-by-doing workshops. If you found my workshop style useful, do recommend it to others in the comments below. And share this new one about brand storytelling.

Those of you who want to become good brand storytellers, sign up , or leave any questions you have on the comments thread.

I'd be happy to answer them.

Probably with a story.