home : hartbeat : 2005-02-17

02.17.2005

“HartBeat” is The Hartman Group's FREE online newsletter, providing insight, analysis, information and strategy to give business leaders the knowledge and vision to build sustainable brands.

For more Hartman Group articles on SOULFUL BRANDING, click here...
December 17, 2004 "Soul Logic & the Art of Keeping It Real"

November 23, 2004 "The New Brand Mindset: Organizing for Cultural Legitimacy"

July 9, 2004 "5 Steps to Building a Cultural Brand"

July 29, 2003 "The Magic of the Cultural Brand" - an interview with Harvey Hartman

CLICK FOR MORE...

Archives »
Click here for an archive of past HartBeat articles

digg
del.icio.us

reddit
twitter

friendfeed

StumbleUpon

Telling Stories: The Brand Connection

Today, we're interested in stories, and not particularly interested in facts. Every story needs facts, of course, but they are secondary. The facts are there just to provide some ballast for the story. There are always so many facts that don't fit into the story, and insofar as they don't fit, depending on our commitment to the story, we have a tendency to disregard them. Every good story has some connection to the truth of our experience, but the story's the thing.

In our historical past there was an attempt to get rid of the story. There was an optimism that some clear, objective, purely rational truths could be obtained, that the subjective element could be taken out of the process. Hardly anybody believes that anymore. Even in the sciences, there is a growing inclination to see scientific truth not as in any absolute sense objective, but as a provisional, evolving consensus reality.

So facts are not what they used to be. This diminution of the importance of objectivity is aggravated by information overload. Our lives are flooded with so much information that one individual, no matter how smart or how well-read, can ever feel comfortable that he or she controls but a small sliver of it. The overload of information has ironically led to valuing it less, and so we no longer really care about facts in the way we did during our historical past. It's not that we don't care about them at all; we just have a different relationship to them now.

We find ourselves in a situation that is very similar to what those in our past experienced in which truth claims were judged credible not according to some rational, objective criteria, but according to the authority or the power of the source. In the past it was popes and kings. Now it's media personalities and political spinmeisters. Who's your guy? Rush Limbaugh or Michael Moore? It's amazing how those who like one cannot stomach the other. But when you analyze it, it's not the personalities that are controversial; it's their stories. And it doesn't matter how many facts one side or the other musters to undermine the validity of the other's story. The facts don't necessarily matter...the story does.

Facts are not what makes the truth true, the stories do. It's not the dots; it's how we connect them. Facts are passive and inert, and what brings them to life is a narrative that weaves them together in a more compelling way.

Declining reliance on "authority"

From our perspective, this phenomenon is one of the most important and least understood declining trends in consumer behavior - the consumer's overall propensity to rely on external authority structures for information, guidance or influence.

As part and parcel of larger trajectories of influence in post-industrial - what some might choose to characterize as post-modern - societies, we note an increasing skepticism in the absoluteness of knowledge.

Truth is increasingly seen as subjective, contested or otherwise up for grabs, leading to an overall tendency among many to view knowledge as relative.

In such a setting, the general human inclination is to turn inward, placing trust in those with more immediate, localized or even internal (i.e., kinship) connections. The result being that friends, acquaintances, colleagues and family members are often construed as a more trustworthy, reliable source of information or guidance than so-called "authorities," which may include local governments, regulatory agencies, media outlets, etc.

While at first glance, one might surmise certain obvious and timely implications (e.g., consumers may be more willing to trust the advice of friends or family members over that of their family doctor on matters of nutrition), other implications are more subtle. To cite but one example, the increasing distrust of external authority structures suggests consumers will eventually come to rely on the participants within a given field or domain to accurately convey certain product information or specifications rather than turning straight to the companies responsible for producing or distributing the products. In essence, word of mouth will replace marketing collaterals and product specifications as a trusted source of salient information.

Important implications:

While consumers respect those who speak with them, they have little respect for those speaking at them.
Those hoping to speak with consumers must be prepared to speak the customer's language.
The opinions or recommendations of federal regulatory agencies or consumer watchdog groups will continue to become increasingly irrelevant, at least from the perspective of the consumer.

How can your brand remain a trusted resource? We suggest starting with a little storytelling.

Storyelling and the ability to create the space for storytelling is a key ingredient to the success of a brand. In the development of brand experience and community an overriding component is storytelling. Your brand story should not a generic, mass-produced message, but rather should be a soulful tale and customized approach to enhance your consumers whole brand experience. We, as humans, enjoy the ability to share a particular moment, and it serves as a bond between us and the experience. By building this unique relationship you position your brand as a source of knowledge for your customer, creating a unique experience that moves beyond a mere purchase at a store, but at the same time makes it an essential part of the consumer connection and brand relationship.

Comment »