In last year's annual brand planning for my client (for FY2023), my team & I have done something a little different from the past.

Instead of the typical slides filled with numbers, tables & graphs (cause, y'know, media 🤷‍♂️); we've spent more time & effort working on identifying potentially right comms along with the justification for that. And to do that, a lot of understanding has to be done specifically on the audience segment - the demographics and, especially, the psychographics. Ultimately, the question to ourselves: Why do our audience want to buy our product instead of sticking to the current brand that doesn't give them problem; and that they're comfortable with?

And by understanding that, we intended to recommend (to the relevant party e.g. Creative, PR, etc.) curating a comm that would position ourselves as a guide helping our target audience to solve their problem & improve/change their life.

I came to take the above approach because of the inspiration I got from few books I've read; and Building A Story Brand was one of them.

This book is a very good reminder to people like myself & those who are in A&M - that our prospects generally don't give a damn about our (brand) story but their own. If they can relate, they're sold.

As usual, sharing some of my favourite quotes from the book:

"Your customer should be the hero of the story, not your brand."

"Simply put, we must show people the cost of not doing business with us."

"Here is nearly every story you see or hear in a nutshell: A CHARACTER who wants something encounters a PROBLEM before they can get it. At the peak of their despair, a GUIDE steps into their lives, gives them a PLAN, and CALLS THEM TO ACTION. That action helps them avoid FAILURE and ends in a SUCCESS."

"Imagine your customer is a hitchhiker. You pull over to give him a ride, and the one burning question on his mind is simply Where are you going? But as he approaches, you roll down the window and start talking about your mission statement, or how your grandfather built this car with his bare hands, or how your road-trip playlist is all 1980s alternative. This person doesn’t care."

#buildingastorybrand #donaldmiller #goodbook #goodreads #gtmreads