Three Keys to Great Brand Narrative

I had the pleasure earlier last month to be involved in the launch of two initiatives with two different clients. As it happens, they both occurred in the same week so this allowed me the opportunity to think about the similarities and the differences between the two. In doing this, I couldn’t help but notice three really strong themes common to both and I thought that they clearly demonstrate what I believe are three keys to great brand narrative.

Before I talk about the two events or the three keys, I want to give some context to why this is so important. Many of you have already read some of my papers; particularly the one entitled “Your Logo is Not Your Brand”. In that paper I argue:

“A logo is not a brand. Rather, it is a memory hook – a reminder of a brand. A brand is the narrative that surrounds an organisation. It incorporates mission and it incorporates culture (how the employees talk about the organisation) but mostly it is a consolidation of the stories customers (or stakeholders) are telling about the company.”

Narrative is everything when it comes to building a brand. As I argue in other papers, that narrative has many layers but narrative is everything.

The first event was the launch of a new recipe book by leading Australian cheese company La Casa Del Formaggio. The recipe book is called Famiglia: Recipes Made with Love and Tradition and was designed as a fitting memorial to the late Rosa Cicchiello, one of the founders of the company, who passed away in 2015.

The new recipe book draws strongly on the recipes passed down by Rosa to her children, including current Managing Director Claude Cicchiello and his sister Marisa Salandra who manages the retail operations of the business. The book also contains a short section telling the story of the family, migrating to Australia from the Benevento region of Italy, and building a successful business in the new world; a business sharing their Italian cheese traditions with Australian families. It is a wonderful private history in many ways but it also tells the story of the La Casa Del Formaggio brand.

The second launch was the launch of a corporate video for premium gelato and ice-cream maker Gelista. The video tells the story of founder Peter Cox and his desire to make the highest quality gelato in the market. Peter grew up on the family dairy farm (4th generation) before working as an accountant for a dairy manufacturer. He realised that much of Australian dairy produce was not being value added but being discounted in supermarkets. He believes that premium dairy brands owned by Australians and bringing value to Australian dairy products will eventually deliver more value to dairy farmers – including his own family. This motivated the quest to make premium gelato and ice-cream under the Gelista brand which is now recognised by leading chefs and gaining recognition by consumers.

(You can also view by clicking here.)

Now to the three keys:

The first key is to be authentic

You can come up with all sorts of things you want your brand to stand for but if you tell the real story of the people who founded the brand and why they made it the way it is – then that has an authenticity that customers will relate to.

The recipe book by La Casa Del Formaggio includes authentic recipes handed down in an oral tradition through the generations and some written down for the very first time. It includes photographs of the family and stories that give genuine insight into the life of the Cicchiello family.

Similarly, the Gelista story is told by the founder himself. Peter Cox tells his own story and includes photographs of himself as a youth despite being particularly shy about using his own image and nervous as a voice-over talent. He was convinced, however, that he wanted his video to be as authentic as possible and reluctantly agreed.

People are looking for authenticity. In a world where consumers have access to a significant amount of information including customer feedback both good and bad, they have become both highly brand savvy and brand cynical. Any hint of unauthenticity will be found out in an instant.

The second key is to reflect quality

It is really important to ensure that the quality of the story telling reflects the quality values of the brand itself.

La Casa Del Formaggio is a food brand rooted in quality and authenticity. To ensure that they have premium grade milk for cheese making, La Casa Del Formaggio has contracted directly with family owned dairy farms in the famous Fleurieu Peninsula south of Adelaide. It is an award winning and mutually beneficial relationship. The farmers enjoy a better, stable price and consistent demand whilst La Casa Del Formaggio enjoys better quality milk and consistency of supply. The farms’ herd mix of Friesian and Jersey cows are proportioned to optimise for quality. Together, the family farms and La Casa Del Formaggio work to continually improve quality.

Given all of this effort and focus on quality, a recipe book that tells the story of the La Casa Del Formaggio brand had to have production values that lived up to the brand quality expectation. Production involved some of the best graphic designers, photographers, food stylists and wordsmiths available. Printing was undertaken in Australia using premium quality stock. The net result was perfect.

The same attention went into the launch event itself. Again, it needed to be an event characterised by authentic and quality. It was decided to hold the book launch in the reading room of the Barr Smith Library – a beautiful space dedicated to books of culture and learning yet unknown to the majority of Australians. It is often described as a hidden national treasure. Set in this magnificent venue, launched by the Italian Consul and with catering including recipes from the book, the book launch was of the quality that was consistent with the La Casa Del Formaggio brand.

Similarly, Gelista is a premium gelato brand that has built its reputation supplying premium gelati and ice-creams to chefs in prestigious dining venues. When the Gelista brand is all about founder Peter Cox striving to make the best gelato he could, there was a responsibility to make the best video we could. This again was tempered with a need for authenticity. We could have had actors tell the story but by using the real people, filmed by a highly credentialed production firm, Gelista managed to maintain authenticity in a video with high production values reflecting the Gelista brand.

The third key is to connect emotionally

I have often written about how brands are really the stories that surround a company or a product. This is true. But if a brand is going to be valuable, it needs to make an emotional connection with the audience – your target market. If people don’t care about the story, you don’t really have a brand that’s worth anything.

The story of La Casa Del Formaggio and the Cicchiello family is a story that many Australians can relate to as a result of the number of people who are from migrant families themselves. The recipes are those that were traditional for Italian families. Prior to launching the book some of the recipes were published on La Casa Del Formaggio social media channels and the response was startling. People rang or wrote thanking La Casa Del Formaggio for sharing recipes that people had lost when a Nonna unexpectedly passed away. The book was intensely personal and a fine tribute to Rosa Cicchiello, one of the founders. When her son, Claude, the current Managing Director, spoke at the launch, he visibly held back his emotion as he spoke.

Similarly, when people watch the Gelista video, the overwhelming comment that we get back is about how the film makes them feel. At the end of the video, there is a scene where Peter Cox looks up optimistically and smiles. It is a real moment, it is authentic and it is emotionally engaging.

So is “Brand” all about narrative?

Yes.

But make sure that you tell your story with authenticity, reflect quality and connect emotionally with your audience. 

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About the Author

Michael Neale is Managing Director of Literally Brilliant Pty Ltd, a writer, thinker and marketing consultant with 30 years’ experience.

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