The Power of Stories towards Brands

The power of story telling has been apart of our lives from a young age. From when our parents read us our first picture book the power of stories has been a huge part of our lives. Story telling is a shared means of communication, education, cultural preservation and instilling moral values.

However, this simple idea of telling your family member or your friend a story can have a huge impact of brands and brand reputation.

I am very sure we have all been there. Gossiping to your best friend about a bad customer service experience, or raving about the restaurant you visited on the weekend. Stories are a way that people share their past experiences with each other, and they have the power to change how people perceive brands.

They impact of stories is just one of the 6 steps found in the STEPPS Model- Principles of contagiousness. Stories become effective because they are personal and trustworthy. They are real life experiences. Stories are also easily remembered. Personally, if someone is telling me a load of information all at one time, I will have the tendency to forget half of what they have said. HOWEVER, if they are telling me a story about how amazing their Village Cinema Gold Class experience was, or they are complaining because the customer service in Louis Vuitton was bad, then I am more likely to hold onto these stories.

Since stories are such an easy way for brands to encage with customers through word of mouth, then it is important for them to make sure they have a clear brand message. Having a clear brand message will ensure that when a brand is bought up in a story, their message is clear and will naturally be highlighted.

So next time you lovely people go to relay a story about your experience amazing at Mr Miyagi from Saturday night (YUM!) , or complain about how slow the service at Hoyts Lux was last month, think about how you easily and unaware you are, that these words can have on the Brand.