Let the brand have the light of humanity

Stories can make people feel the same joys, sorrows, anger and happiness as the protagonist, and can give people a very emotional experience. Telling a good story can give a brand a new look. How to make a brand have the light of humanity? The author of the following article explains to us, let's take a look.

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As an entrepreneur, they hope that their company can increase its valuation and continuously obtain financing in RMB and USD; as a self-media or independent worker, they hope to package themselves and become experts in a certain field with countless fans worshipping them; as a mature enterprise or entrepreneur, they hope that each of their brands and each of their product lines will have a group of loyal customers who will spread their brand for free.

If a company wants to maintain market confidence, it needs to have a super good story to support it. Lei Jun recently told a small example of his own experience, which was very vivid. Lei Jun said: "Xiaomi flew by standing on the vent. In the past few years, because Xiaomi was at the vent, it received the best valuation at that time and the most capital pursuit.

Nowadays, smartphones, software, hardware, and the Internet are no longer popular. Once they are no longer popular, they will lose the attention of capital, and if they are no longer popular, it will cause the loss of talent in the company.

Now car manufacturing is a hot topic, and it can attract enough capital and talent. Therefore, Xiaomi's car manufacturing is inevitable and necessary. Therefore, Xiaomi needs a car manufacturing story. "This example also vividly illustrates the importance of stories, which can be reflected in real-world decision-making.

02

Hitchcock is a famous master of film art. He once said that there are three elements that determine whether a movie is great: story, story, story.

In Hitchcock's definition of a great film, there is no mention of directors and famous actors. Let's take some of the greatest films in the world: The Shawshank Redemption has a good story; Forrest Gump has a good story; To Live has a good story. If there is no good story, no matter how good the actors and directors are, it will be useless.

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Take the mobile Internet era, which has just passed its peak, as an example. The story can determine not only the greatness of a movie, but also whether a person, a product, or a company can become great.

For example, if you put the photos of Jack Ma, Robin Li, and Pony Ma side by side, who will you feel the most three-dimensional and real? Whoever is the best at telling a story can make you feel the most three-dimensional and real image. Telling a story from a different angle can reshape a completely new character. If I say that there was a woman in ancient times who had the courage to break through the arranged marriage and was brutally killed by her second uncle, this is a story.

Another story is about a prostitute who was caught having an affair with her adulterer by her husband, so she killed her husband, but was eventually killed by his brother-in-law. These two stories are about the same person, but the feelings they give people are completely different, and the images they create are completely different.

04

A brand saved by stories, Subway: Before Subway met Jared Fogel, it was only the fourth largest fast food chain in the United States, struggling to survive in the gap between McDonald's, Burger King and Wendy's.

But soon Subway's opportunity came. A franchisee in Chicago told Subway's marketing director that a man only ate Subway and successfully lost 200 kilograms. So they wanted to invite this person to be a spokesperson to promote Subway's healthy concept.

The marketing director originally refused: We are not a weight loss summer camp, and what if we get sued for these unrealistic health promises? However, under the insistence of franchisees and advertisers, this man who lost 200 kilograms became the image spokesperson of Subway.

He is Jared Fogel, who successfully lost 245 pounds (about 222 kilograms) by eating only Subway sandwiches for several months. Jared's story of losing 245 pounds by eating Subway has been told in various ways for 10 years, attracting a large number of fans for Subway. Subway's sales have also doubled, successfully becoming one of the three major fast food chains in the United States.

05

Researchers at the Center for Neuroeconomics at Claremont Graduate University in California, USA, found that stories can activate the "love hormone" in our brains and quickly activate certain areas of the brain when people experience romance, emotional fluctuations, and sex.

In other words, the story allows people to feel the same joys, sorrows, anger and happiness as the protagonist, and can give people a very emotional experience. In other words, many people don’t care whether Jared’s story is true or not, they are just experiencing Jared’s life.

06

I have written an article before about how brand stories can be told using the logic of a hero with a thousand faces , with four dimensions: departure, enlightenment, test, and return. To put it in more colloquial terms: a good story has a complete structure and can be continuously advanced. A good story has a beginning, development, climax, and ending.

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To tell a good brand story, we must grasp these three rules. The first rule is to tell the story about the audience rather than what you are interested in. The second rule is to fill every cell of the brand with stories. The third rule is to see the light of humanity in the brand story.

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The first rule: tell the audience what you are interested in, not what you are interested in. There is a saying in the Internet circle that only people with great empathy can be great product managers. Because we realize that people are naturally self-centered, and everyone feels more about their own feelings. Therefore, many people create stories that can only move themselves, but not the readers at all.

So you'd better study what can impress the readers you want to attract. Chen Nian of Vancl is a negative example. Although Chen Nian has always been very good at telling stories and packaging himself, he suddenly publicly criticized Jay Chou. You should know that many of Jay Chou's fans are Vancl users. This move angered a large number of fans and made them give up Vancl.

Of course, there are product and management reasons for Vancl’s failure, but the problem with the story is also the key reason.

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The second rule: Fill every cell of your brand with stories. Before this step, you must think carefully about where you or your team can tell stories or give stories color; what other overlooked things in your industry can be used for marketing; how your story can be presented in a more creative, impactful, and impressive way.

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The third rule: See the light of humanity in the brand story. What is the only criterion for testing a good story? It should be able to move people! So what can move people? Humanity! It is hard for us to imagine that a cold and stereotyped article can move readers.

A story that can move readers can contain inspiration, unique characters, surprising reversals, and try to make readers involved. Inspiration. This is actually easy to explain. Readers are often more willing to believe that a flesh-and-blood hero overcomes failure through unremitting efforts and finally succeeds.

This is the biggest secret of why the stories that Yu Minhong and Ma Yun have been repeating for many years have always been popular. Unique character. Going with the flow is poison in the eyes of the audience, because it is impossible for a character without characteristics to impress the readers.

Why is "Bright Sword" so popular? Because there are few people like the protagonist Li Yunlong, who dares to love and hate, is rough but delicate, rude but shrewd. How can the audience not be moved by his story?

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Focus on storytelling, tell good stories, continue telling stories, and let stories reflect reality, and you and your business will reap unexpected rewards.

Author: Liu Yichun

Source: WeChat public account "Liu Yichun's Brand Business Innovation (ID: shangyeyiguohui)"