How to create a brand identity with storytelling
How to create a brand identity with storytelling
Did you know that consumers remember a brand 22 times better when it's associated with a story? In a saturated market, storytelling is a powerful method to build a strong and memorable brand. Here are the key points to achieve this:
- Identify the core of your brand: Clearly define your mission, vision, and values.
- Create a captivating story: Highlight your values, your customers, or your product.
- Adapt your narrative to visual and digital: Ensure consistency across all your platforms (website, etc.).
- Analyze and adjust: Measure the impact of your stories and adapt them to remain relevant.
In Switzerland, with its 4 national languages and diversity, storytelling is also a tool to overcome language barriers and establish an emotional connection with a diverse audience. A well-thought-out story can increase brand loyalty and revenue. Ready to tell yours?
How to Write a Good Brand Storytelling?
Step 1: Identify the core of your brand
To build a solid and coherent storytelling, it is essential to start by identifying the core of your brand. This involves defining your mission, vision, and values. Without this foundation, the consistency and impact of your storytelling may suffer.
To define this core, it is essential to involve your entire team. This requires a thorough analysis of your current position, collective reflection on your aspirations, and collaborative work. This approach will help shape a strong and differentiated brand identity, particularly important in the Swiss market.
Analyze your current brand position
Start by evaluating the experience your brand currently offers and how your customers perceive it. This step is crucial to identify what sets you apart from your competitors and determine your competitive advantage. Examine your touchpoints: , communications, products or services, and even interactions between your employees and customers.
To structure this analysis, define five human traits that reflect how you want your brand to be perceived. For example, do you want to be seen as reliable, accessible, high-end, or close to your customers? Also, analyze your competitors' promises to position yourself. In Switzerland, where quality and precision are fundamental expectations, this analysis can reveal opportunities for differentiation.
Use the results to identify differentiation axes, whether in your offer, your message, your prices, or even in the training of your teams.
Write your mission, vision, and values
Once you have clarified your current position, it's time to lay the foundations of your brand identity. Your mission should clearly express your purpose, values, and what makes you special. It should be concise, memorable, and able to convey your company's vision in a few sentences.
Take the example of Swisscom: their mission, "Empowering the Digital Future," reflects their goal. Their vision, "Innovators of Trust," shows their long-term ambition, while their values - "Spark Passion, Aim High, Stand True" - reflect their commitment.
Your mission should align with your long-term goals and inspire both your employees and customers. In the Swiss context, where 86% of consumers prefer brands perceived as authentic, this authenticity can become a real competitive advantage. Ensure that your mission resonates with all your stakeholders - employees, customers, and investors - and creates a strong emotional connection.
Organize team workshops to gather contributions
To define the core of your brand, involve your employees through work sessions. These sessions, bringing together representatives from different departments, allow for a deep exploration of your company's identity, founding principles, and the problems it aims to solve.
The benefits of such an approach are significant: 63% of employees are motivated in companies that have clearly defined and communicated their purpose, compared to only 31% in those that have not.
During these workshops, test and adjust your mission statements with a small group, possibly including customers or mentors. This external validation ensures that your message resonates with your target audience. However, remain flexible: your mission may evolve over time, but it must always strike a balance between consistency and adaptability.
Once your brand's core is defined, integrate it into all aspects of your business - marketing, product development, etc. A consistent brand identity can not only strengthen your image but also increase your revenue by 20% or more through its consistency.
Step 2: Build your brand story
After defining the core of your brand, it's time to turn it into a captivating story. This story should reflect your values, highlight what makes your brand special, and, above all, resonate with the Swiss population, rich in its cultural and linguistic diversity.
The essential elements of an effective brand story
A brand story is based on four fundamental elements: a credible protagonist, a relevant problem, a distinctive solution, and a strong emotional connection. The protagonist can be your brand itself, its founder, or even your customers. This character must embody the values you have defined beforehand.
The problem represents the challenge or need your audience faces. In Switzerland, 62% of consumers want content that addresses their concerns. Your solution must demonstrate how your brand meets this need in an original and effective way.
Finally, the emotional engagement is what turns a simple interaction into a memorable experience. Did you know that emotionally connected consumers are 2.4 times more likely to remain loyal to a brand and make repeat purchases? This emotional aspect solidifies the relationship between your brand and your audience.
A good story also incorporates a moral lesson that guides your brand's actions and choices. This is particularly important in Switzerland, where 86% of consumers believe that authenticity plays a key role in their purchasing decisions.
Choosing the right storytelling method
There are several ways to tell a story, and the choice of method depends on your industry and audience. Here is an overview of three common approaches:
| Method | Description | Advantages | Ideal for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Founder's story | Highlights the brand creator's story | Establishes a human connection and inspires trust | SMEs, startups, artisanal brands |
| Customer-centric story | Tells customers' experiences | Provides social proof and fosters identification | B2C services, health, education |
| Product story | Focused on product features and benefits | Showcases expertise and justifies value | Technology, industry, luxury |
The founder's story is particularly suitable for Swiss companies looking to highlight values of authenticity and proximity. It humanizes the brand and establishes a direct connection with customers.
The customer-centric approach, on the other hand, is ideal for showing the concrete impact of your brand. It turns your satisfied customers into true ambassadors.
Finally, the product story is perfect for companies offering technical or innovative solutions. It demonstrates the value and differentiation of your offerings while educating your audience.
Regardless of the chosen method, your story should be tailored to visual and digital platforms to maximize its impact.
Ensuring message consistency in all languages
With its four national languages and cultural diversity, Switzerland presents a unique challenge. 64% of Swiss regularly use more than one language, and multilingualism contributes to 9% of the national GDP.
Your main message must remain consistent while taking into account the cultural sensitivities of each region. For example, French-speaking Switzerland appreciates a warm and relational tone, while German-speaking Switzerland values precision and efficiency more.
A concrete example: a Swiss company that adapted its marketing campaigns to cultural specificities in German, French, and Italian saw a 40% increase in engagement. This localized strategy respects regional particularities while strengthening the overall brand identity.
"If I sell to you, I speak your language. But if I buy, 'dann müssen Sie Deutsch sprechen' (then you must speak German)" - Willy Brandt, former Chancellor of Germany.
To ensure effective communication, rely on local experts to adapt your messages. This does not mean a literal translation, but an adaptation that considers emotions, cultural references, and even humor specific to each region.
Before launching your campaigns, test them with representative groups from each linguistic region. These tests will help you identify elements that work on a national scale and those that require customization. Once refined, your story will serve as the basis for developing a strong visual and digital identity, which will be addressed in the next step.
Step 3: Apply storytelling to visual and digital elements
Once your brand story is well defined and adapted to the different languages spoken in Switzerland, it's time to translate it into concrete visual and digital elements. Let's see how to bring your story to life through your visual and digital supports.
Bringing your story to life through visual design
Your logo, colors, typography, and images are the visual foundations of your story. To start, identify the central emotion you want to convey. A brand focused on innovation might choose bright colors and modern shapes, while a company valuing tradition may prefer more subdued tones and classic fonts.
The color palette plays a key role in how your brand is perceived. In Switzerland, for example, red evokes strength and reliability, while blue inspires trust, especially in sectors like finance.
The typography should reflect your personality. A modern sans-serif font is ideal for tech companies, while a serif font can convey a more classic and reassuring image. If your brand targets multiple linguistic regions in Switzerland, ensure your typography supports the specific characters of French, German, and Italian.
The iconography and images should complement this visual identity while respecting Swiss cultural diversity. Avoid regional clichés and opt for visuals that resonate with your entire audience, regardless of their background.
To ensure consistent use of these elements, create a visual style guide. This detailed document will serve as a reference for all your communications, ensuring continuity in the appearance and tone of your brand.
Integrating storytelling on digital platforms
Each digital channel has its specificities, but your message must remain consistent everywhere.
Your website is the core of your digital presence. From the homepage, your value proposition should be clear, supported by harmonized visual and textual elements. On social media, adapt your tone: LinkedIn will highlight your expertise, Instagram will reveal the behind-the-scenes of your brand, and Facebook will encourage interactions with your community. For email marketing, personalize your messages by integrating narrative elements that strengthen the relationship with your customers.
To maintain this consistency, develop a brand storytelling guide. This document should include your main story, key messages, tone of voice, and visual elements. A dedicated team can oversee the implementation to ensure your story remains aligned across all channels.
After establishing a solid foundation for your digital storytelling, it's time to explore formats that further captivate attention: videos and interactive content.
Leveraging video and interactive content
Video and interactive formats make your story more immersive. Did you know that 91% of consumers want to see more online videos from brands, and that 93% of marketers believe interactive content is more engaging than static content?
Short videos, lasting 15 to 60 seconds, quickly capture attention. They can highlight a specific aspect of your story, such as your founder's passion, the behind-the-scenes of creation, or customer testimonials. These formats are particularly effective on platforms like TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts.
Interactive content, on the other hand, invites your audience to actively participate, strengthening their connection with your brand. Offer quizzes to help customers identify suitable products, surveys to gather their opinions, or tours to explore your premises.
Interactive animations also provide a unique experience. For example, allowing users to interact with 3D objects can be an excellent way to present technical or complex products.
Authenticity is essential in all your content. Consumers easily spot stories that sound fake, which can harm your image. Ensure that each element of your storytelling faithfully reflects your values and mission.
These visual and digital elements enrich your brand identity, creating a consistent and memorable experience at every customer touchpoint.
Step 4: Track and Improve Your Brand Story
To ensure that your brand story maintains its impact and aligns with your audience's expectations, it is essential to monitor its performance and adjust it regularly. In Switzerland, 81% of consumers state that they must trust a brand before making a purchase, underscoring the importance of this approach.
Measuring the results of your storytelling
To assess if your story resonates with your audience, rely on specific indicators. Analyze interactions such as likes, shares, comments, as well as brand mentions and associated sentiment. These data show if your story truly engages your audience. Additionally, conversion rates are a key indicator: effective storytelling can increase them by up to 30%.
Tools like Google Analytics, surveys, and your CRM are your allies in tracking engagement and reach of your content. Consider segmenting your analysis according to the main languages spoken in Switzerland to identify important local differences.
To go further, complement this data with qualitative feedback through surveys or questionnaires. Did you know that people retain between 65 and 70% of information when presented as a story, compared to only 5 to 10% for raw data? These insights help you adjust your approach over time.
Adapting your story to market changes
Once the performance is analyzed, it is crucial to adjust your storytelling based on market changes. In Switzerland, digitalization now influences 29% of in-store purchases. This highlights the importance of staying up-to-date on industry trends and new consumer expectations, especially around themes like sustainability and innovation.
Adjustments can also result from internal changes, such as a shift in your business strategy or a modification of your target audience. These elements must be integrated into your narrative to ensure its relevance and alignment with your positioning.
Organizing regular review sessions
To ensure that your story remains connected to market expectations, set up regular review sessions, ideally twice a year. These meetings allow you to assess the performance of your channels, taking into account the specificities of the different Swiss languages and cultures - French, German, and Italian.
Involving your marketing, sales, and customer service teams in creative workshops is also a great idea. These exchanges provide valuable feedback from the