Brand of Brothers
Brand of Brothers
The Art of Storytelling
Welcome to the latest installment of Brand of Brothers. I'm Doug.
Johnny Diggz:I'm Johnny. Today we're talking about the art of storytelling. All right, let's get to it. So Doug, we recently released a article on our blog, the Branded Brothers blog, um, talking about storytelling, specifically the art of storytelling and branding. And I wanted to ask you why,
Doug Berger:why did we, why did we write that? Why
Johnny Diggz:do we care? Why, why, what's, what's the thing?
Doug Berger:So when it comes to branding. What you want to do is create an authentic connection with your audiences, right? So, um, in order to do that, you need to convey your ethos. Your ethos is primarily your vision and your mission, um, but it goes a little bit deeper. It also resembles your, or reflects your personality.
Johnny Diggz:So, um, give me an example. Like what, what's, uh, how do you tell a story in branding? Oh my, how do you tell a story in branding?
Doug Berger:Well, I think one of the most successful companies that has done this, uh, storytelling, um, it. is definitely Disney. Um, in fact, one of, one of the greatest things that they did, uh, was they created a connection between celebrating and going to Disney. Right? So, you would watch the Super Bowl, for example, and, uh, and at the very end they'd go up to the quarterback of the winning team and say, what are you doing next? And they would instantly respond, I'm going to Disney World! And then, uh, that, that, they took that one step further, and they would have, uh, around the holidays, they would show kids opening up a package, and that package would be some Disney themed character, and then there would be this overwhelming surprise that happens and it really tugged at the heartstrings like made you cry Uh because the kids would find out that they're going to disney disney world or disneyland
Johnny Diggz:They, um, they still do that to this day. I mean, I just got a magnet from them the other day, and it's thanking me for being an annual pass holder, which I'm not, but, uh, it was still kind of cool to see something from Disney. Um So, uh, you know, full disclosure,
Doug Berger:uh, to our listeners, we're located in Orlando, Florida. So, uh, so of course it doesn't come across as a big surprise that Disney made a mistake and, and sent you, uh, annual pass holders stuff.
Johnny Diggz:The, um Yeah, and, you know, I thought maybe because, because Remixed, uh, did some branding for Disney, maybe I, I, I got grandfathered in or something like that. You know
Doug Berger:what? I, I gotta tell you, we, we worked with Disney for almost a decade, um, and I can't remember what we got for free. Um, because there was so little,
Johnny Diggz:they do all of their like, uh, marketing and stuff in house. Now
Doug Berger:they did. They, yes, they brought everything in house. Um, I can't remember maybe 5, 10 years ago. Um, but enough about Disney.
Johnny Diggz:Um, so when you're, when you're working on this storytelling. Uh, I imagine that there are certain things that you're trying to convey in the story. Um, like what, when, you know, I like to think of it as all the things that you need to put on a flyer. Like, uh, when you're like making a band flyer, like where is it? What is it? Uh, when is it, uh, who should be going to it? Yeah, you're
Doug Berger:hitting on all of the aspects of a brand narrative that are necessary to connect with respective audiences. You're spot on. It's the five key questions. It's not always going to be who, what, when, where, why, and how. Right. Often times the how is your call to action. The why is baked in there somehow as well. The who that represents both you and the consumer, I should say the brand and their, their respective audiences, the, when right now, right, everything is right now. Um, and, and of course there, when it comes to a concert promotion, it's a buy your tickets now for the concert that's happening next week or next month or, or even next year.
Johnny Diggz:The, um, I would imagine that as you're working with. Uh, with clients and they're trying to reinforce their, their brand story back in, you might run into some challenges, some pitfalls, so to speak.
Doug Berger:So I, I, if I may, I kind of want to, uh, dive in a little bit deeper. So, uh, from the, the brand side of things, we, we compartmentalize brand, generally speaking between the visual and the verbal, right? So we were, we're, we've mostly been talking from a brand storytelling perspective. We've mo mostly been talking about the verbal, right. Um, and, and, and I think what's important is to convey the visual. Uh, as well. And that visual needs to tie in with what we're trying to convey. So, that usually happens in the tonal qualities of things. Um, but, of course, there's the who, right? So, you want to put forward the, the what does it look like, um, based on what do you look like as a brand. So, that's, that part of the storytelling. And that, those are your colors. Those are your fonts. Those are your images and your style, right? And then there's the why. Which is probably the most important thing to convey to your audiences and, and again, that visual storytelling is baked into that message.
Johnny Diggz:Now If, I would imagine that most brands, when they're telling, like, when they're, when they have a compelling brand story, that, um, that they're telling their actual story, right? So, like, for example, Mostly. Mostly. When, when would they not? Uh,
Doug Berger:I think for entertainment purposes or, uh, to connect and resonate a little bit more with their target audiences. Oftentimes we'll see these fabricated stories, um, but usually brands want to be a little bit more authentic. I know that, that you and I have had conversations previously about this, like, for example, Colonel Sanders. Colonel Sanders was a real person. Right. And that Is an authentic part of the, the, the KFC brand story, but simultaneously that, that person has grown into a character or a caricature,
Johnny Diggz:right? We, uh, it, it calls them, uh, we're, we're called, uh, the. Uh, because we live in Orlando, we grew up with when Pleasure Island became a thing. Right. And I remember that there was a character created with Pleasure Island, his, it was Meriwether Pleasure was his name, and he was sort of the creator of Pleasure Island and all of its, and he actually opened the Adventurers Club, and so, um, I love going to the Adventurers Club, so I've heard his stories many, many times, but they don't have that brand anymore. They lost that, that sort of storytelling part of Right. Pleasure Island and now it's Yeah. They got Disney Springs. Yeah. Yes
Doug Berger:it is. Disney Springs. They got rid of it for a number of reasons, right? So, uh, one of the reasons was because, well, they wanted to create this ridiculous shopping PO complex They already had a, a ridiculous shopping complex, right? They, the Wait Lake
Johnny Diggz:Winne Vista or the, the Disney Village. Disney
Doug Berger:And, and, and so what they wanted to do was they wanted to make it a little bit more family friendly because there were parts of pleasure island. That were simply off limits to children, especially. You had to
Johnny Diggz:be 21 and up, yeah.
Doug Berger:But, that wasn't the only part. Their narrative, their storytelling, their brand storytelling, um, if you heard it today, it would be considered a little bit controversial.
Johnny Diggz:Mmm, interesting. Yeah, well Disney doesn't like controversy, that's for sure.
Doug Berger:Definitely not. And I gotta be honest, for the brands that we work with, neither do I.
Johnny Diggz:That's
true.
Doug Berger:Thank you for tuning in to Brand Brothers. Big thank you to our presenting sponsor, Remix, the branding agency, along with production assistants from Johnny Diggs, Simon Jacobson, and me, Doug Berger. We can't forget music by PRO. Speaking of not forgetting, remember to do that like and subscribe thing and find us at BrandShowLive. com and follow us on the socials at BrandShowLive.