Hannah Arendt – German Political Theorist

If brands are an experience, then stories are an effective way to describe this experience to others. Stories are a part of all our lives, and they inform our goals, attitudes, and behaviors; they serve as simple yet compelling guides.

But different stories can have different impacts. Consider the following two stories:

A. Our company was founded on the principles of integrity and accountability, and these are the foundations with which we do business with our clients each and every day. These are not just words on the page—we each have a role in delivering on these principles in our day-to-day jobs, not only with our clients, but also with our fellow employees.

B. During my first month with the company, I found a multi-million dollar processing error committed by my team. With great trepidation, I communicated this error to the CFO at the time, fully expecting to lose my job. What has always stuck with me is the first thing out of his mouth—he thanked me for bringing this to his attention so quickly. We immediately went to work to make sure our clients were “whole," and then put the processes in place to ensure a similar error would not occur again in the future.

What does storytelling have to do with brands? First off, brands are assets that must be managed with care, as they set an expectation with customers that must be fulfilled consistently at key points of interaction. And for many brands, the most important points of interaction are employees. Whether it is a department store, a professional services firm, a financial services firm, or a pharmaceuticals company, in each instance the brand is defined by employee interactions with customers. Brands are also a balance between left brain and right brain thinking—they combine functional, rational aspects of the category (left brain) with a more emotional connection (right brain).

The challenge for most companies is that despite their best efforts to get employees to hear and believe in the brand message, employees may be at a loss as to how to deliver it. This is where storytelling comes in.

Take the case of the high-end retailer Nordstrom—one assumes the company has training, brand books, and various other tools to help communicate the Nordstrom brand. Yet if every employee hears about how a Nordstrom salesperson changed a flat tire for a customer in the parking lot, this brings the key elements of Nordstrom’s customer-centric, service-oriented brand to life in ways that brand books and training cannot. This true story provides a tangible, relevant, and simple way to describe what the brand means in practice—and how it needs to be upheld in the future.

Why does storytelling work? There are many reasons, but a few in particular stand out:

• Stories lead by example:
  In the absence of a “brand coach” for each and every employee, stories provide the model for behavior. Stories provide a real, authentic situation with information that clarifies why it is an important story.

• Stories help employees emulate behavior:
  In general, it is easier to emulate behavior than it is to divine it from a manual or training class.

• Stories show employees how to get ahead:
  Inherent in every story is the implied message of what makes an employee successful, in many cases highlighting the behavior of a current or future leader.

So what makes a good story? If one looks across stories that resonate, some common characteristics emerge. There is a common structure and content to any good story that involves three parts—the situation, the action taken, and the results. Yet each of these parts has unique characteristics and success factors that will help make it resonate with a variety of audiences.

Situation
Every story needs its situation. In this case, a story meant to highlight a key brand point of interaction should include a situation that is relevant and will resonate with target internal audiences. The situation should involve the following criteria:

• Significant—Do the subject and the situation quickly explain the significance of the situation? While some stories, like the Nordstrom example referenced previously, have extraordinary actions and participants, others, like the story of the 3M employee who discovered Post-It notes by accident, can be more common. Also, the protagonist should hold some significance to the internal audience—either a direct manager explaining a personal experience, someone in a similar role to the story subject, or a current/former leader of the organization.
  
  
• Specific—General stories about general situations involving unnamed individuals tend to sound more like clichéd corporate myths than reality. The less specific a story, the more damage it might do by undermining the validity of the desired behavior. Specificity and details help breed credibility.

Action Taken
A brand story needs to articulate the actions taken to address the situation, in essence implicitly describing the intended experience that employees should deliver on in their role. These actions should fulfill the following criteria:

• Brand-Relevant—The actions taken in the story should reflect one or more of the key tenets of the brand—something that could summarize the story (Nordstrom – exceptional customer service, 3M—innovation).
  
  
• Authentic—One of the key elements of the brand story at the beginning of this article is the noted fear of being fired due to the processing mistake—something that every employee can relate to in an authentic way. This realistic element lends a brand story credibility and helps individuals (particularly leaders) appear less like company automatons and more like real people. And negative emotions can be as powerful (if not more so) than positive.
  
  

• Rational—Results should be tangible and identify an outcome to which employees can relate (e.g. customer growth, personal advancement, product innovation, etc.).
  
  
• Emotional—Beyond the customer/employee results, how did the actions taken and the resulting outcome make the subject of the story feel? Relieved, in the case of the processing error? Heroic, in the case of the Nordstrom employee? Creative, in the case of the 3M employee? This emotional outcome helps the brand story connect with employees in an authentic way.

1. Encourage managers to share their own stories with direct reports at all levels of the organization. Not only do they help employees live the brand, but also serve as helpful management tools.
   
   
2. Collect the most meaningful brand stories in your organization—for example, if you are performing internal interviews with executives, managers, or other employees, include a question on the most meaningful experiences and stories that have helped to guide their careers and success.
   
   
3. Run an internal contest that asks employees to volunteer the best company stories from their own experiences, consolidate these stories/examples, and then let employees vote on the stories that best exemplify the brand promise in action.
   
   
4. Ask yourself the same question—what are the stories you find yourself coming back to again and again to describe your company’s brand experience? Use these brand stories in our own day-to-day interactions, as well as to help us explain brands in a more compelling way.