Wearable Stories

Powerful stories are wearable.

Think about the stories you wear, the logos on your clothing, the look and feel of your outfits and hairstyles, and to which group these clothes indicate you belong.

Think about the expressions you use, the lingo, the jargon, the shared analogies and jokes you use, and stories from which these expressions derive, and of which tribe of which these mark you as a member.

Think about the values you embody on a daily basis and what stories, no matter how ancient, from which these take their source.

We constantly tell and retell stories to ourselves and others.?

A soldier wakes up and puts on the clothing and behaviour of the stories of heroic deeds he heard as a child or youth.

He puts his energy into the training, the language and the behaviour of this story as he becomes the hero of his own legend;

He sets his goals and will against an enemy of his beloved homeland, an enemy he has never met except in story.

This same solider, when in battle, might go against his orders to show kindness to the very same enemy because of a conflicting story that arises in his mind - the memory of a brother or of a friend.

He carries multiple stories within him, and at each moment might be living out a different story, creating contradictions even within himself.

Narrative connects history, nationhood, tribes, religions, groups.?

Narrative connects brands to customers and the most loyal customers will wear your story.

While you may not sell merchandise or a wearable logo, a powerful brand will tell a wearable story, one that affects the way others see the world, the way they embody values, behaviours.

Think of how the airline brand has you dreaming of eating baguettes in front of the Eiffel Tower.

Think of how the luxury clothing brand has you running through the corridors of a castle

The watch brand has you driving along the Amalfi coastline in an open top sports car.

Think of how the tech brand has you dreaming of changing the world with other misfits, rebels and iconoclasts.

Tell a powerful brand story well and you stimulate not only the desires but the moral and ethical drivers of your target audience's behaviour.

They will begin to act and behave in resonance with your story, they will begin to wear your story even unconsciously.

Until one day they find they are spending money on your services and this will feel the most natural thing in the world.