For a longtime now, the phrase “story branding” has been banging around. It’s not a new concept, but the lingo has changed, making the modern application of the practice a bit cloudy.

Afterall, Estee Lauder figured out “story-branding” way back in the 1940’s. For Lauder, building a story-brand was just the natural evolution of her personality. By revolutionizing how products were introduced to women she virtually created the industry we know today.

Scanning through LinkedIn profiles you’ll see “brand storyteller” as a skill enough times to make your head spin. At times it can feel a bit like a box is being checked, rather than an earnest calling is being answered.

When I was growing up, to be described as a “storyteller” wasn’t a sought-after skill you’d proudly list on your resume. It meant you were a fibber, not to be trusted, fanciful, and certainly not to be taken seriously. It conjured images of gypsy fortune tellers drawing you in with promises of an omniscient view of the universe… if you’ll just drop another quarter in the slot …. I’ll tell you more… we know how that always ends, right?

How then can a company in the personal care and wellness space incorporate the filmy veil of story-telling into their brand strategy? In an industry that prides itself on transparency, manufacturing a “story” seems a little, well off-brand right?

And in fact, while most of us have heard the phrase, few brands in the beauty space have managed successfully to incorporate the actual practice of brand storytelling into an effective and workable marketing strategy.

Probably because the practice has become so vague and splashed over too many types of marketing communication that it bears a bit of refresher course.

Simply put, brand storytelling is just that – putting things simply. Start from the beginning, and keep your audience intrigued so they get through to the end. The end being a shopping cart or cash register. Wow that sounds easy, right!?!

But wait a sec, that’s not “brand storytelling”. Brand storytelling is where you explain every service and every ingredient and every inspiration that ever happened to a founder on their way to creating a product…. Right?

Nope.

Am I confusing you?

Probably.

And that’s why so few companies are able to truly accomplish this feat.

Storytelling is:

1) Creating a main character, (your customer, your founder, creative director, spokesperson, influencer);

2) Creating a desire for this character (good skin, good health, popularity, happiness, perfect mate);

3) Identifying a problem for the main character (bad skin, poor health, bad grooming)

4) Offering a solution and a plan for success (your product or service)

5) Showing that the solution worked!

And this formula isn’t something that can be done 30 times in a month by hundreds of influencers or conveyed through dozens of click-throughs on your website. It must be a sole brand strategy in order to be effective.

Why?

Why just once?

Because otherwise it gets really confusing and drowns your brand in white noise.

In his book Building a Storybrand, Donald Miller (available on Amazon) talks with “Science Mike” McHargue, who sums it up in this way:

“There’s a reason most marketing collateral doesn’t work…[it] is too complicated. The brain doesn’t know how to process the information. The more simple and predictable the information, the easier it is for the brain to digest. Story helps because it is a sense-making mechanism. Essentially, story formulas put everything in order so the brain doesn’t have to work to understand what’s going on.”

In essence, too many stories work out to be too much effort. And when customers have to work to figure out your story, can’t get to the bottom line of it within seconds of encountering you – they tune out.

Think of it as scanning through Netflix on a rainy Sunday afternoon. You click on a title and a synopsis of the program or film comes up. If it’s too complicated or requires too much energy to make sense of, most of us tend to just keep scanning the site. You keep scanning and scanning until something clicks and seems right. That’s why Netflix now runs the trailer the moment your curser pauses on the title, so there’s no thinking and digesting complicated synopsis’s. By auto running a trailer the viewer is immediately immersed in a story without needing to think and process what it is about.

The same is true if you don’t include anything to grasp onto in a misguided attempt at being mysterious. You just come off as sketchy.

In brand storytelling your narrative is like a movie – come up with an appealing theme, clearly and simply state it, drive your customer through it to the ending credits, and you’ll have done what so few are capable of.

In Estee Lauder’s case – the story was always very clear. In 1946, Estee started selling the velvety skincare her Hungarian uncle created in his kitchen (sounds familiar right?) She knew in order to make a sale, she had to touch her customer, define their problem, show her the results on her skin, and explain the products.

Early Estee Lauder ads were aspirational and approachable. One model was selected to represent the face of the brand at any given time (the main character?). The model always had beautiful skin – and she looks so happy with the great skin Lauder helped her achieve. Ahhh the goal! But despite the model/spokesperson, the main character for Estee Lauder was always the customer.

“Never underestimate any woman’s desire for beauty” was one of Lauder’s favorite slogans. Tells a story doesn’t it?

Estee was always hands-on in the marketing of her products. She sympathized with every aspect of her customer’s plight in the quest for beauty and happiness. (Identifying a problem). She attended the opening of every new store and beauty counter. She spent copious amounts of time interacting with consumers and store buyers. (Offering a solution and plan for success). The Estee Lauder model spokesperson is the summation of success, standing in for the satisfied customer, who has always been the center of the Estee Lauder story-brand.

Her business grew by glorifying the main character, defining her problem, and offering a plan for success.

One example is listed on the Estee Lauder website:

“Until the 1950s, most women reserved fragrance for special occasions. A woman would wait for her husband to give her perfume on her birthday or anniversary. Estée wanted to find a way for women to buy their own perfume, so in 1953 she created Youth Dew, a bath oil that doubled as a skin perfume. This innovation took the cosmetics industry by storm, changing the way fragrance was sold and transforming the fledgling start-up company into a multimillion-dollar business.”

Let’s fast forward to a more recently launched mega brand.

Glossier is a master of brand storytelling. You click on their site and they tell you the story up front:

Beauty products inspired by real life.

At Glossier, we’re thoughtfully creating a highly-edited collection of pared-down essential beauty products that reflect how you get ready every day—starting with your skin, then working our way up.

The solution is their innovative collection of skincare and makeup. Saving you time and making it simple. Glossier is the guide and they set out steps to success on the first page of their site.

Skincare is offered, but not so many options that your mind is boggled. The photos are clean and accessible. They draw you along, step by step, leading you to makeup, then fragrance and body care. It’s very hard to pull away from the page.

Social media images are varied, but all within reach of the signature Glossier style, which, my friends, is quite glossy, pastel, mildly provocative, and animal friendly.

The main character –> the Glossier enthusiast is celebrated again and again both on the website and on social channels. She’s come through the fire of using other brands and now has beautiful, clean and sparkling skin and makeup.

Glossier’s current slogan is “Revolutionary for its time, harnessing a certain come-as-you-are acceptance”.

Now that we’ve reached the end of this particular story we hope you’ll draw a little inspiration so you can start crafting your own story-brand narrative.

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