the narrative build

©2013 Brenda van GInkel | Brand Marketing Consultant www.thenarrativebuild.com

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Building your brand story


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A brand is not a logo – Marty Neumeier

Products are made:

brands live in the minds and hearts of users.


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The Narrative Build

Early stage startups focus on the technical parts of product development so brand and marketing often take a back seat.

But without being able to connect with the people a product’s made for, a startup is like a carriage without a horse.

So I created this framework based on design thinking and business methodologies for startups to build brands which infuse product development and resonate with people.


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The Narrative Build

This process has helped startups create brand identities and marketing presence that’s meaningful and can be taken to any digital platform through defining:• Audience• Brand attributes• Brand vision• Language and style


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Audience-centric model

Brands are relevant when the people they want to reach stay front and center. • Product design focuses on user solutions.• User experience is more than product

design, it extends to brand and marketing.• Narrow focus vs mass reach creates deeper

engagement.• Social media is the water cooler to cultivate

community around shared interests.


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Who do you need to be connecting with?

Sometimes the customer (the person making the purchasing decision) isn’t the same as the user (the person using the product).

Know them both.


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Chart audience(s) and what’s known about their needs, interests and pain points. • What do they do now, without your

solution, and how does your product improve their lives?

• What’s the problem you’re solving for them?


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Brand attributes

Brand attributes are like the foundation that everything for your brand can be built on:

Positioning

Promise

Value proposition

Benefits


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Brand attributes

Assessing brand attributes in marketing and communications across all channels and

platforms will keep everything on-brand and connecting with your audience.


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Brand attributes

Positioning • What defines the company? This is partly competitive.

Promise • What can customers expect?

Value proposition • What problem are you solving? What value does this

offer the people you want to reach?

Benefits • Benefits support the value proposition and positioning.

What does this deliver to the people that use it? Include relevant service and product attributes.


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Brand vision

What’s your story?

The story is a mix of description and inspiration. You’re saying who your target audience is and what you do for them that no one else is doing. How do you bring value to your audience? Your story will include elements of your positioning, promise, value proposition and benefits. It’s short.


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Brand vision

What’s your specialty?

Describe your deep dive in your sector.


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Brand vision

Differentiating: what sets the brand apart

Describe what’s special, what sets you apart from the rest of the pack.


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Brand vision

What’s the brand challenge?

Connecting with your audience: do others see what you see for your brand?

Is the messaging engaging the people you want to reach?

Does it feel relevant, does it matter?


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Brand vision

Audience snapshot

What are the pain points and frustrations of the people you need to reach, what do they want and how can you improve their lives?

What can you do better for them than the competition?


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Language and style

Create a language style for your brand that’s professional yet comfortable for your target audience, keeping them in mind. • Aim to be easily understood and concise. • Make things easy for people. • Listen; what do people care about? Try to

pull them in rather than talk at them.


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Language and style

Trust and authenticity

People trust transparent messaging that means something to them.

Connect through shared values and interests on each marketing platform as well as in personal phone and email communications for tighter connections.

Ordinary language, rather than industry jargon, makes a brand more authentic.


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Language and style

Personality

Every brand has a personality. It comes from the tone + voice of communications as well as the look + feel of the design.


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Language and style

Personality

Who are we connecting with?

What do they care about?

How does this make their life better?

Describe the target audience

List values and aspirations within the world of the problem being solved

List of product benefits


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Language and style

Communications that are on-brand to the purpose, value proposition, positioning and promise with a consistent eye to the target audience = a relevant marketing message that’s strong and compelling.

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Language + style

Digital presence is everything. Rather than pushing out the same content everywhere, consider the strengths of each platform.• Let your website be more than a brochure. Help people

experience your product.• Facebook is great for posting original and shared content to

create a community for people who share your brand’s passions.

• LinkedIn is great for posting product news, sharing content that’s more relevant to business development and thought leadership.

• Twitter can be highly effective as both a narrowly targeted platform sparking interest with wide reach.



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You’re ready!

You can certainly build on this presentation as you create your brand presence.

Though I recommend avoiding template solutions, there are things I keep coming back to and this presentation is the foundation I’ve used for most of the brand and marketing strategies I do.


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Thank you

Since 2009, I’ve worked with lots of small businesses and early stage startups on strategies and creative that has helped them connect with investors, attract users and cultivate community. Hope you’ve found this to be useful.

Don’t hesitate to reach out with questions. I love helping brands cultivate audiences and have a soft spot for social impact and sustainability.

Brenda van Ginkel | Brand Strategist, Digital Social Content

@brendavg

www.thenarrativebuild.com

http://www.thenarrativebuild.com/