Submitted by

Prachi Mohan 14P033

Rishabh Sood 14P039

Srishti Jain 14P050

Devang Nahar 14P075

Diksha Mahajan 14P077

Shakur Mirzadah 15AU01

Topic

Essential elements for brand storytelling and the use of social media as a channel for brand

storytelling

Purpose of the study

A brand story is more than just content and a narrative of the brand. The story goes beyond

what’s written on a website, the text in a brochure or the presentation used to pitch to

customers. Your story isn’t just what you tell people it’s also what they believe about you based

on the signals your brand sends. The story is a complete picture made up of facts, feelings and

interpretations, which means that part of your story isn’t even told by you.

Everything you do, each element of your business or brand, from the colors and texture of your

packaging and business cards, to the staff you hire is part of your brand story and every

element should reflect the truth about your brand back to your audience. If you want to build a

successful, sustainable brand that will garner loyalty, and if you’re lucky become loved you have

to start with a story.

With this project we would try to evaluate the effect of various elements that help a brand tell

its story and how technology and digitization is impacting brand storytelling as well as brand

experience. There has been a lot of activity recently due to the rise of use of social media and

smart phones, this project will help us understand how brands are changing ways and finding

new ways in order to communicate better and to continue to remain relevant in the

technologically charged environment. This project will also help us study the successful

elements of brand experience and storytelling.

Justification of the study

“The best brands are built on great stories”

—Ian Rowden, Chief Marketing Officer, Virgin Group

2 | P a g e

Business Brand Storytelling Combines Several Essential Aspects

Who you are

What you specifically do

How you solve problems

How you add value and care

How you engage and contribute

Brand storytelling helps create:

A COMPELLING BRAND STORY STRATEGY

BRAND NAMES, PRODUCT NAMES, BOOK TITLES & TAGLINES THAT HELP YOU STAND OUT

FROM THE CROWD

UNIQUE MARKETING STRATEGY

With so much that storytelling does for the brand and the business it is important to study its

impact and what has an impact on it. As part of our brand management it only justifies us to

study an important aspect in the creation of the most iconic brands.

Significance of the study

“Don’t give them 4, give them 2+2” – Andrew Stanton, PIXAR Animation.

This study will be an essential Endeavour towards understanding and utilizing the elements of

brand storytelling towards building a brand and engaging customers, and the overall impact of

storytelling on the tangible and intangible aspects of brand value. The findings of the study will

help a marketer know what tools to use and in what amounts to deliver a proper brand story,

and what impact can be expected out of it, if any.

Brand storytelling is almost as old as buyer seller relationships, but recently, the term has

garnered a lot of focus. In a study on writtent.com, the following findings were published:

1. Every 60 seconds, 700,000 Google searches are performed.

2. 5.3 trillion ads are shown online each year.

3. The average consumer processes 100,500 digital words daily.

3 | P a g e

It is thus quite possible that owing to the plethora of content consumers are fed online and

offline, several isolated marketing messages are ignored. Brand storytelling might serve as a

way to bind the customers to a particular message, and thus increase engagement. The findings

of this study can therefore be quite beneficial to marketing managers.

Literature Review

Brand Experience: What is it? How is it measured? Does it affect loyalty?

J. Joško Brakus, Bernd H. Schmitt, & Lia Zarantonello (2009).

Brakus et al. (2009) distinguished several experience dimensioned and constructed a brand

experience scale with four dimensions: affective, behavioral, intellectual and sensory. Through

six studies, the authors show that the scale is valid and reliable. The results showed that there

are different affects of brand- experience and – personality on loyalty and satisfaction.

Furthermore, the results revealed that direct affect of experience on loyalty is higher than it is

on satisfaction: on the other hand, the direct affect of brand personality on loyalty is lower than

it is on satisfaction.

Reframing brand experience: The Experiential meaning of Harley-Davidson

Sharon Schembri (2009).

This ethnographic research of more than three years focuses on consumer’s experience of

Harley Davidson in Australia based on social, cultural and political relationships relating to

brand consumption. The results show that the Harley Davidson Experience comes from within a

social context and community and a sense of belonging play a significant role: consumption in

this context is a socializing tool and Harley Davidson brand is a symbol of socialization.

Moreover, informants revealed that the experience of Harley-Davidson is share emotion, where

repetitive symbolic rituals define a way of life and create common values that bind the

members together.

Brand experience formation mechanism and its possible outcomes: A

theoretical framework

Imran Khan · Zillur Rahman

4 | P a g e

Nowadays, both managers and academicians have started seeing consumers as rational, as well

as emotional, decision makers. Because of this, companies have started reinventing marketing

and engaging consumers through experiences. Experiences provide platforms that are linked

with various aspects of a brand. However, these experiential platforms might also bring about

changes in traditional marketing thoughts which are based on functional features and benefits.

It is important for marketers to comprehend the formation and delivery of well-managed

experiences. Keeping this in mind, the present research focuses on an emerging area in the field

of marketing and branding concepts: brand experience. The primary objective of this study is to

identify the pertinent antecedents and consequences of brand experience through the

literature. With an extensive literature review, this study offers a series of research

propositions, from antecedents to the consequences of the brand experience, which clarifies

the understanding of brand experience formation and its possible outcomes. Finally, a

theoretical framework representing the proposed relationships is also presented. The

managerial implications of brand experience are discussed in order to develop a marketing

strategy.

Exploration of brand sacralization among the young adult consumers in the

context of emerging Asian market

Juhi Gahlot Sarkar · Abhigyan Sarkar · Abhilash Ponnam

The purpose of this paper was to uncover various factors that make the young consumers in

emerging Asian market devotees of brands and sacrilize brands giving rise to a phenomenon

called brand sacralization where the individual consumer considers brand as sacred as religion.

Another objective of this research was to investigate the acculturation process taking place

among the young adult consumers in emerging Asian market. The concept of brand

sacralization has been defined to bring theoretical sensitivity. Grounded theory method has

been used to collect, analyze and interpret the data collected through semi-structured depth

interviews. Data analysis reveals various underlying dimensions of brand sacralization and

various actionable antecedents and consequence of brand sacralization. Originality/value –

Value of the article lies in developing a grounded theory framework for brand sacralization that

5 | P a g e

can guide the marketers doing business in emerging markets to build a strong brand that the

consumers would sacralize.

Consumer Based Brand Equity Conceptualization & Measurement

Christodoulides, George and de Chernatony, Leslie/2010

Although there is a large body of research on brand equity, little in terms of a literature review

has been published on this since Feldwick’s (1996) paper. To address this gap, this paper brings

together the scattered literature on consumer based brand equity’s conceptualization and

measurement. Measures of consumer based brand equity are classified as either direct or

indirect. Indirect measures assess consumer based brand equity through its demonstrable

dimensions and are superior from a diagnostic level. The paper concludes with directions for

future research and managerial pointers for setting up a brand equity measurement system.

The impact of storytelling on the consumer brand experience: The case of a

firm-originated story

Anna Lundqvist, Veronica Liljander, Johanna Gummerus and Allard van Riel/2013

Stories fascinate people and are often more easily remembered than facts. Much has been

written about the power of stories in branding, but very little empirical evidence exists of their

effects on consumer responses. In the present study, we investigate how a firm-originated story

influences consumers’ brand experience, by comparing the brand experiences of two groups of

consumers. One group was exposed to the story and one group was not. An existing brand was

used in the study, which had not been launched in the focal country. In-depth interviews were

conducted with individuals in the two experimental conditions. The comparison revealed

remarkable differences between the two groups. Consumers who were exposed to the story

described the brand in much more positive terms and were willing to pay more for the product.

The study contributes to brand management research and practice by demonstrating the

power of storytelling on consumer experiences. The results are also important from a

managerial point of view. They demonstrate how brand stories can be used to create and

6 | P a g e

reinforce positive brand associations. A review of past research in combination with the

findings demonstrates that more research is needed on the effect of stories on consumer brand

responses.

How to Use Digital Storytelling in Social Media:

Show you Brand’s Human Side

People connect with people, not brands. So to connect with your customers, show your

brand’s personal side. At the same time, don’t share too many personal details.

Remember: social media isn't your diary. Whatever you choose to share, make sure

you’re comfortable with the whole world knowing.

Share your Brand’s Story

People don’t buy into brands -- they buy into the story behind brands. Just like you use

your website & blog to tell your brand’s story, do the same thing with social media.

Reinforce your brand’s message & the things that you stand for. For example, if you’re

an organic grocery store like Whole Foods, known for a focus on natural products &

overall health, then use social media to share information that suits that message. Every

piece of content you post, no matter how simple or small is a way to reinforce the story

you’re communicating. Doing so builds credibility for your brand & makes your content

relevant.

Work Narrative into Updates

One of the best ways to tell a story is to do exactly that -- tell a story. You can do this on

Facebook by turning your status updates into miniature blog posts. But it’s not just

Facebook that's conducive to digital storytelling. Even Twitter, with its 140 character

limit, can be an awesome tool for telling stories. In fact, working within a character limit

just encourages creativity.

Share Consecutive Posts to tell a Broader Story

Another way to share a story on social media is to use consecutive updates to tell the

story, from beginning to end. The play-by-play creates anticipation -- which is the best

way to make a story captivating.

7 | P a g e

Incorporate Elements of Story into Posts

The concept of "story" is so basic, it can feel hard to break down & understand. So if

creating stories feels complicated, focus in on the basic elements of stories & try to

incorporate them in your content. For example-

o Relatable Characters - Part of the reason you want to share a personal side of

your business (see point #1 above) is that it makes you relatable. Every good

story has relatable characters with personalities & interests. Make your brand

that sort of character by letting your audience in. Likewise, creating regular

personalities in your narratives—office personnel, company mascots, etc.—is a

good way to build people your customers find engaging.

o Stories with a Beginning, Middle and End - One of the most basic building blocks

of a good story is pacing -- first this happens, then this, then this. Beginning,

middle, end. Use this sort of narrative arc any way you can.

o Conflict - People like drama! And stories are most compelling when they include

conflict & resolution. So whether you’re sharing about the flood damage

affecting your facility or behind-the-scenes challenges in developing products,

sharing details about the conflict associated with your work will draw readers in.

The Five Act Formula of Brand Storytelling

ACT 1: Introduction

ACT 2: Rising Action

ACT 3: Climax

ACT 4: Falling Action

ACT 5: Resolution

Research Objectives

The Research objectives are broadly as follows

The purpose of this research is to analyze the overall impact of storytelling on the tangible and

intangible aspects of brand value. How brand experience and brand value correlate. Also to

8 | P a g e

understand what the impact of brand storytelling and brand experience on the brand’s

perceived image.

How brand storytelling impacts the perceived brand image

Does brand experience impact brand value – positively or negatively

Hypothesis Development

1. Does brand storytelling impact the perceived brand image?

2. Is social media an effective tool for brand storytelling?

Research Methodology and Data Collection

1. for Primary Data:

The primary data was collected through the survey method that is questionnaire development

and responses are obtained by floating the questionnaire developed using Google form to

social networking websites and sending it to email ids. For this purpose questionnaires were

prepared in such a way that all necessary data would be collected.

Our target segment includes respondents from both the working as well as non-working people

to diversify the responses. This will diversify the portfolio and give us the clear idea about the

purchase behavior of people towards mobile phones. The respondents will also include people

from different income group, age group which will further give us inputs about their

preferences.

2. For Secondary Data:

To prepare this project report, we collected external data generated from general library

research sources, textbooks, trade journals, articles from newspapers, and internet websites.

To prepare this project report, we collected external data generated from general library

research sources, textbooks, trade journals, articles from newspapers, and internet websites.

9 | P a g e

Outline/ flow of the study

The study would consist of:

1. Literature review: Review of relevant literature as secondary research. This would include

examples of brand storytelling, studies conducted in the past and the generally accepted

definition of terms.

2. Hypothesis development: Based on the findings from the literature review, specific

hypotheses will be developed for further research.

3. Primary Research: Primary research would subsequently be carried out, most probably with

the help of surveys, within identified limitations.

4. Data Collection and Conclusion: The findings from the Primary Research would be collated

and processed, and inferences would be drawn out of them, to assess the implications of the

results.

10 | P a g e

Deductive Approach

Descriptive Research

Online Survey Questionnaire

Data Analysis and Inferences

Questionnaire

11 | P a g e

Validity of the questionnaire was established via a Cronbach Alpha rating of 0.805. KMO matrix

was used to validate the data collected.

12 | P a g e

Analysis of Hypothesis 1

Brand storytelling positively impacts the perceived brand image

Apple’s unintended storytelling

44.9% people have given Apple the highest rating as a brand

However, when asked to rate Apple, had they been unaware of its history, innovation &

general customer loyalty, only 8.7% still gave Apple the highest rating (only 19.3%

retention)

This shows how the history, innovation & awareness of the customer loyalty of Apple as

a brand has helped build the Apple brand through unintended story telling

13 | P a g e

Rate Apple as a brand (5 being the highest)

Suppose you were ignorant of the history and innovation and general customer loyalty surrounding Apple. How would Apple fare then? (5 being the highest)

E Commerce: Impact of different Types of Brand storytelling

This question explores the impact of different types of storytelling for different brands in

the same industry (E commerce here)

Flipkart, being an online marketplace, used the element of trust in its marketing

communication, as part of its storytelling, to connect with its target audience

In contrast its competing firms, Amazon & Snapdeal, used variety and emotional

connect respectively as its focus of brand storytelling

The consumers rated the Flipkart ad campaign to be the best amongst the 3

Brands in the same industry can build their brand image using brand storytelling as part

of its marketing communication, the success of which will depend on the connect of

each with the customers

14 | P a g e

Pick the best campaign from the following:

Different types of Brand Communication

The last question explores how different kinds of marketing communication, including

brand storytelling, mild storytelling, humor, product details & celebrity endorsements

impact brand image

Here, the Google ad gets the maximum votes as the best ad campaign, where in the

brand used brand storytelling and established an emotional connect with its audience

Yippie & Alpenliebe got the lowest votes as they communicated the core benefits of the

brand, without humor or emotional connect with the customers

15 | P a g e

Rank the following ads (1 being the best)

Recall the little kid in the 'jalebi?' ad (90's ad). Which cooking oil was shown in the ad?

Correlation between storytelling & Brand Name recall

This question attempts to explore how brand storytelling could overpower the

communication of brand name

Sometimes there might not be a correlation between the richness of the story and recall

of the brand name

We used the iconic Jalebi ad to explore this facet of brand storytelling

However 55.1% of the total respondents were able to recall the correct name of the

brand, for the other respondents, the storytelling overpowered the brand recall

One-way Anova test confirmed that brand storytelling positively impacts perceived brand

image. (Sig. Value > .05)

16 | P a g e

Analysis of Hypothesis 2

Brand value is positively correlated with brand experience

Starbucks: Brand experience value

The 1st question, asking people the best thing about Starbucks, apart from the coffee, is

just exploratory

The 2nd question shows how the rating changes if the perceived best element of the

brand experience is revoked, everything else remaining constant

Only 5.5% of the respondents still rated Starbucks to be the highest even after their

most important brand experience element was revoked

17 | P a g e

Apart from the coffee, what is the best thing about Starbucks?

Suppose the option you picked in the above question ceased to exist, how would you rate Starbucks, if you initially rated it 5/5?

This primarily indicates the importance of brand experience to the overall brand

perception

One-way Anova test confirmed that brand experience positively impacts brand value. (Sig.

Value > .05)

Conclusion

Brand storytelling positively impacts the perceived brand image

Unintended brand story telling can also positively impact brand image as in the

case of Apple

Brands in the same industry can build their brand image using brand storytelling

as part of its marketing communication

Brand storytelling that uses an emotional connect better impacts brand image

Brand storytelling can, in some cases and to some extent, overpower brand

recall

Brand value is positively correlated with brand experience

Recommendations

Brand storytelling is a powerful tool in creating brand image and should be used by

companies to create an emotional connect with the consumers

Brand experience also positively impacts brand value and hence companies should focus

on creating an experience around their brand to increase perceived value of the brand

Limitations

o Small sample set due to paucity of time

o Quantitative methods and statistical tools could be used for future research by testing

with a large sample size

o Bias could have occurred due to male female ratio

18 | P a g e

Future Scope

Future research can be done by segregating consumers on a demographic and

psychographic basis – like region, income etc

Further understanding and impact of digital elements in storytelling

References

1. The Brand story, Accessed on 25th September, 2015 :

http://thestoryoftelling.com/brand-story-services/

2. What is brand storytelling, by Deborah Shane, Accessed on 25th September 2015:

http://smallbiztrends.com/2015/05/what-is-brand-storytelling.html

3. Why storytelling matters: A data driven answer, by Jasmine Henry, Accessed on 25th

September 2015: http://writtent.com/blog/storytelling-matters-data-driven-

explanation/

4. Using storytelling to strengthen your brand, By J-P De Clerck, Accessed on 25th

September 2015: http://www.i-scoop.eu/using-storytelling-strengthen-brand/

19 | P a g e