The Two Main Characters in a Brand’s Story
By Levina Kusumadjaja
What is your favorite childhood bedtime story? Do you still remember what happened and who the characters were? Was it a Disney story, or was it a classic tale from your hometown? Whichever story you choose, no matter how different they may be, there are 2 things that every story has: a plot and a character. In fact, most stories have more than one character. When it comes to brands and brand strategy, there are two main characters that take part in the brand’s story: the brand itself and the ideal customers.
When you’re writing a story, knowing your characters is important. When you know the characters well enough, you will be able to put them in any storyline appropriately. The plot can change over and over again, but because you deeply know the characters, you will know where to place them in the story as who they really are. This approach makes the characters sustainable. The characters don’t have to be replaced when a new storyline comes in—you just have to place the characters in the story wherever they fit best.
The opposite of that is starting with a storyline without knowing the characters. Every time you write a new plot, you have to come up with new characters because from the beginning, you don’t start by knowing the characters. You just purposely create characters for that particular storyline. This approach forces the characters to be outdated very quickly. You will have to reinvent the wheel every time the storyline changes.
When you know exactly who your characters are, no matter what the plot looks like, you know exactly how your characters will behave and how they will fit into the plot. When you know the brand and their customers really well, you know exactly how to connect them in every possible circumstance. So, instead of forcing your client’s brand to fit a certain narrative for that particular time or trend, you help your clients understand their brand and the customers they want to reach. You focus on helping your clients understand how they brand can emotionally connect to their customers, regardless of the different storylines in the marketplace—the different trends and seasons that are happening.
This is why the 2 characters you will focus on in strategy workshops are the brand and the ideal customers. The process begins with understanding who the brand is, the core of the business. Here you dig deep into the brand’s purpose and vision, and where the brand wants to become in the future. After knowing the brand, the next step is to get to know who the brand wants to serve. These people are called the brand’s ideal customers. You and your client now will dive into what the ideal customers think about, struggle with, and do on a daily basis. Only then will you be able to find out how you can help the brand connect with the customers.
So, brand strategist, don’t fall into the trap of focusing on trends and storylines. Focus on understanding the brand and their customers. Just get to know these two characters—get to know what they are thinking, what they are struggling with, and what they like and dislike. If you know them well, you will know how they will behave and how you can emotionally connect the two of them in any situation.
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!