Brand identity: create your brand story like the great storyteller

A brand story is a beautiful way to attract your target customers to engage in your products or services. So in order to begin, let’s answer these questions;

What is your brand?

Do you have a story in regard to your business products or services that can connect with your customers?

Before you begin answering those questions, and pondering what’s the need for a brand story? First, do you know Jesus Christ was a Great storyteller during His earthly ministry?

Jesus was fond of using parables when He wants to convene an important message or lesson to his disciples or the people he taught.

So I believe this is one of the reasons the crowd was drawn to Him, chasing after Him from one town to the other. According to Mark;

“Again crowds of people came to him, and as was his custom, he taught them”.

Mark 10:1

Second, the use of story or parables was so important that Jesus didn’t preach to the crowd without using parable and this was evident in Matthew 13:34;

Jesus spoke to the multitude in parables; and without a parable He did not speak to them.

Third, Jesus knew some lessons were taught better when using a story analogy.

For example, if He taught plainly about how to ‘love your neighbour‘ instead of the story of ‘The good Samaritan’, or ‘repentance‘ instead of the story of ‘The prodigal son’, or ‘helping the poor‘ instead of the story of ‘Lazarus and the rich man’ and so on.

Many people wouldn’t have remembered what He taught or even pass on the lesson till today. Certainly, Jesus understood the power of stories to teach lessons people can relate to real-life experiences.

Good Brand Story

Notably, most successful brands are good storytellers, just like Jesus they understand the need to connect with their target customers.

Therefore, as a Christian entrepreneur, you have to be intentional about building your brand story from the get-go.

Good brand story connect to the emotional state of your customers, research has shown that 95% of people patronize a brand base on emotions rather than logic.

Therefore, you have to harness the power of a good story to build your brand which can get you the right ambassadors for your product or service.

Let’s take a look at 3 important things to keep in mind when building a brand story, they are: 

• Be consistent
• Be simple
• Be honest

1. Brand story must be consistent

First, find your narrative and be consistent this means whatever story theme you have chosen for your brand it must be consistent with your business vision.

For example, in the bible, Jesus’ story about love, forgiveness, repentance, giving, and the rest were consistent with His vision (Salvation).

Nevertheless, there can be variations in the stories but it should all align with the main theme of your business vision statement.

Therefore, having a clear vision act as a checklist for the kind of products or services your business diversify into to have consistency with your brand story.

2. Brand story must be simple

Second, it doesn’t matter how great your products or services are, or its attributes, but if you can’t convene your brand story with simple words or analogy that connects with your target customers you would lose their interest.

Therefore, find a simple way to describe your brand, this can be called a slogan for your product or services.

For example, here are seven simple ways Jesus describes Himself in the bible.

1. The way, the truth, and the life —“Jesus answered, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” John 14:6
2. The true vine —“I am the true vine, and My Father is the Vinedresser.” John 15:1
3. The good shepherd —“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” John 10:11
4. The light of the world —“I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” John 8:12
5. The resurrection and the life —“Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die.” John 11:25
6. The door ––“I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture.” John 10:9
7. The bread of life – “Then Jesus declared, ‘I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.’” John 6:35

3. Brand Story must be honest

Thirdly, your brand story must be authentic and true to its brand.

That is to say, you can’t craft a beautiful story just to get your customers excited when your product or services doesn’t match up.

So, I believe the aim of every brand story is to be authentic to your target customers. Ultimately, also get them to engage with your brand for long-term sustainability.

In addition, your goal isn’t just to make huge sales one-time because that’s how far a dishonest brand story can get you rather aim for stories that bring repeat sales.

Also, keep in mind, this is related to one of the 10 commandments for business —Thou shall not make value proposition in vain. Therefore, every Christian entrepreneur should adhere to honesty.

Takeaway: The good thing about a powerful brand story is that it lives on just like the parables of Jesus that was told over 2000 years and still very relevant to convene its core lessons.

Therefore, build a brand story that is consistent, simple, and honest to stay relevant for a long time.