What is a Brand Story, and Why Does it Matter?

Starting up your own company and developing a brand is a very personal journey. It may take many years for some brands, many failures, and many emotional moments before success. It may come a little easier for other brands, but that doesn't mean they have any less of a personal brand story.

What is a brand story is personal to your business, your brand, and you. That makes it unique, which makes your brand unique. What is a brand story means exploring how your business has got to where it is today, what made you start the business, and the steps you have taken to define your brand. You need to know what your own brand story is, as much as your own consumers.

It doesn't matter how big or small your business is; answering what is a brand story will always be relevant. You could be a very small, family-run startup business with a powerful brand story as to why you started the home-run business. Or, you could be one of the huge, successful brands which have cemented themselves in history, and therefore have years' and years' worth of information regarding your personal brand story.

Your story matters, but it's not just about what is a brand story to you — it's about what is a brand story to your customers and why people care about your brand story. You can also work with a branding agency to better understand your story's marketing and key branded items to complement it.

Examples of a Great Brand Story (and How Answering What is a Brand Story Can Increase Brand Potential)

TOMS Shoes

While being a staple and dependable brand when looking for a pair of shoes, TOMS is also a lot more than that due to its brand story — and it's this story that can also influence consumers to shop with this brand in a more positive way.

TOMS Shoes is renowned for pioneering the One for One sales model. For every pair of TOMS shoes you buy, a pair of shoes will then be donated to someone in need. As the company rapidly grew in popularity, it needed to scale operations, yet keep the same feeling of the idea of embedded gifting, give back, and socially aware brand story part of the brand's foundation.

TOMS now pledges an investment of ⅓ of their profits in grassroots efforts, like organizations creating change at the local level.

Not only that, but this brand story is also effective because the entrepreneur behind TOMS has made the effort to travel and learn more about people around the world. His travels to Argentina helped him to found the brand, which makes the brand's story more authentic.

Their overall brand story is one of helping to improve lives, at the same time as providing high-quality footwear. Without this successful brand story, TOMS may not have sold as many shoes as they have by today or been so widely known. Therefore TOMS is a key example of how a brand story can be designed for success, even when it needs to change and adapt.

Warby Parker

This eyewear brand has a simple brand story, but one which can appeal to many. Warby Parker's story rallies the high cost of designer prescription eyewear. Therefore, Warby Parker's intention and development was, therefore clear — this brand wanted to fix the problem of prescription eyewear being too expensive with a lack of choice due to the dominated and monopolist industry. They wanted to be an affordable, but stylish, alternative by offering a cost-effective solution that appeals to many.

This brand story is effective because consumers are always going to react positively to the idea that they can save money, solves a problem, and that a brand actually cares about them saving money instead of trying to get as much money as possible for them. It's also a success because within an industry like eyewear, it's known that prescription glasses and sunglasses can be considerably expensive — and when you're faced with needing glasses through no fault of your own, Warby Parker is, therefore, a great choice.

What is a Brand Story?

A brand story is why your brand started, how it started, why it has continued, and where it's planning to go. Your brand story focuses on your business's passions, the ethics behind it, and how your brand is looking to make a difference.

With this in mind, plan out your brand story by understanding the main motivations and actions which brought your brand into being. Even if it's a simple story, make it known to your consumers so that they can better connect and relate with your brand on a deeper level.

Also, look to make consumers or the general public part of the story. If your brand was developed to help your target consumers in a particular way, tell them why.

Each part of your brand story should explain the key steps and events which influenced your brand into becoming what it is today and what drives growth moving forward.

Why is a Brand Story Worth Having?

In developing a brand story, you want to provide background to why your business does what it does; its entire reason for being. It's the opportunity for consumers to peek behind the curtain and better connect with a brand by understanding its motives. A compelling brand story is a complete picture of why a brand does what it does and why a consumer should choose the brand in question, even if its offerings are more expensive than the competition, for example.

How to Share Your Brand Story

Having an interesting brand story isn't enough — you need to then make sure your story is told consistently across all of your sales channels and that consumers can learn all about what is a brand story when it comes to your business. The internet has opened up so many possibilities for sharing any business information from your website to all of your social media profiles, news outets, and yes, even through a your swag. Therefore this is exactly where you want to focus.

Sharing your compelling brand story could be done through your content marketing, social media, blog posts and implemented into your very product or service. Make a specific piece of content that explains your brand story. Divide that story up across mediums: text, video, or graphics.

Not only that, but you also need to explore effective brand storytelling when answering what is a brand story. It's not just about your story but how you tell it. You need to develop the skills to write great stories about your brand in a way consumers will want to read. Think about a great story that pulls you in from beginning to end. Use those characteristics to shape your brand story.

You can also invest in branding agency services to help you solidify your brand story within your advertising, branding, and other services to make sure that your story is always interwoven with everything you do.