7 Essentials to Kickstart a Brand’s Story
By Levina Kusumadjaja
Writing a story can be daunting. The thought of writing a narrative for a brand can feel intimidating for many creatives. There are immediate challenges, roadblocks, and questions as you open up that blank page. Where do you start? Do you start the story with once upon a time? What if you cannot think of anything to write? You start searching for visual inspiration to spark something in your mind and you start imagining stories of you growing up—hoping that something would come up. But... you end up staring at the blank page for 2 more hours and now you are feeling more defeated than ever.
Before we go on, let’s take a deep breath. You are not alone. Writing stories can be daunting. Even as a writer, I find that starting with a blank page can make me feel pressured and stuck. That’s why I never write stories from scratch, I always start with an outline. In my learning journey, there are 7 essentials that will help you build a story:
Characters
Who are they? Who is the brand and who is the ideal customer? Break down these characters’ personalities and you know so far about them. Tap into their interests, mindsets, and daily routines. For a brand’s story, the main character of the story will be the brand’s ideal customer, while the supporting character will be the brand itself.
Place
Where are they? Where does the ideal customer live? Where does the brand come from? A story set in the state of California (USA) will be very different than one that is set in the island of Bali (Indonesia).
Desire
What does the character want to achieve? What does the ideal customer long to experience? What are they looking for? What are their goals in life? Dig deeper into the ideal customer’s dreams and visions.
Characters’ condition before the problem was solved
What does life look like for the character? What kind of situation does the ideal customer find themselves in right now? Look into their lifestyles and habits. Think about what they are currently doing.
Problem
What is stopping the character from getting to his or her desire? Talk about the challenges that the ideal customer is facing. Do they feel rushed in their work? Do they feel uninspired? Are they stuck with a low budget without any solution for the business problems?
Solution
What will help the character get to his or her desire? In a brand’s story, this is where the brand comes in. The solution talks about how the brand can fill the gap in the ideal customer’s life, so that the customer can overcome their problem and reach their goal.
Characters’ condition after the problem was solved
What changes did the solution bring for the character? Talk about the impact of the solution for the ideal customer. Discuss what the customer can achieve now that the brand has solved their problem.
From there, just flesh out the 7 elements above in order and you have a draft of a story to start with. That’s really it! You don’t need a long paragraph or novel writing skills to write an awesome brand story, you just need to take the first giant leap: from a blank page to a potential outline. Try using these essentials the next time you want to write a brand story and see what happens.
Cheers!
Levina
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About the author:
Levina is a writer based in Indonesia. Because of Melinda Livsey, she recognized the power of brand strategy for every creative. She is sharing about her learnings as she goes to help creatives have fun in their growth and journey of building brands. Connect with her on LinkedIn and say hi!