What's your brand story? | Jeff Freedman | TEDxBeaconStreet

Summary

The speaker emphasizes the importance of brands building strong relationships with consumers, akin to personal connections, rather than aggressively promoting themselves. Brands should focus on their 'happily ever after'— their aspirational goals that resonate with consumers. The core belief, or 'moral of the story,' is crucial for a brand's authenticity and differentiation. Using Boston Medical Center as an example, the speaker illustrates how uncovering a shared core belief can strengthen a brand's connection with its audience, leading to a more profound and lasting relationship.

Takeaways

• 😀 Building relationships is crucial for brands to prosper and persevere, much like personal connections.
• 🎯 Brands with strong relationships often have customers who are more forgiving, more engaged, and willing to spend more on their products and services.
• 📢 Brands should focus on storytelling that invites people into their narrative rather than interrupting with self-promotion.
• 🌟 A brand's 'happily ever after' is its aspirational goal that goes beyond profit, aiming to make a difference in the world.
• 🚀 Brands with a clear 'happily ever after' are more attractive and can differentiate themselves from competitors.
• 🤔 The core belief or 'moral of the story' is what truly makes a brand unique and guides its actions, not just its products or services.
• 🏥 Authenticity is key; a brand's core belief must be genuine and consistent across all audiences and communications.
• 🔍 Discovering a brand's core belief often involves understanding the motivations of those who represent the brand, such as employees and stakeholders.
• 🌈 Shared beliefs are the foundation for strong brand relationships; when a brand's moral aligns with its audience's values, loyalty and engagement increase.
• 📈 By focusing on their core belief and 'happily ever after', brands can foster deeper connections, leading to increased support and growth.

Q & A

What is the primary way brands often try to attract customers, according to the speaker?

Brands often try to attract customers by interrupting them through various media platforms, boasting about their greatness, and asking customers to take actions for the brand.

Why does the speaker compare a brand's approach to a person's behavior at a party?

The speaker compares a brand's approach to a person's behavior at a party to illustrate that self-promotion and interruption are not effective ways to build relationships, whether in social or brand interactions.

What percentage of emails from brands are mentioned as never getting opened?

More than 75% of emails from brands never even get opened.

What does the speaker suggest as a better approach for brands to build relationships with customers?

The speaker suggests that brands should focus on building relationships by sharing their story from the heart, demonstrating what matters most to them, and inviting people into their narrative.

What is the term used by the speaker to describe a brand's ultimate goal or aspiration?

The term used by the speaker to describe a brand's ultimate goal or aspiration is 'happily ever after.'

Why do the brands we love often give us a sense of belonging, according to the script?

The brands we love often give us a sense of belonging because they have aspirational goals that we want to be a part of, and they make us feel like we are part of their story.

What is the importance of a brand's 'happily ever after' in building strong relationships with customers?

A brand's 'happily ever after' is important because it represents the brand's core belief and purpose, which, when shared and authentic, can attract and connect with customers who believe in the same values.

What does the speaker mean by 'the moral of the story' in the context of branding?

In the context of branding, 'the moral of the story' refers to the core belief that guides a brand towards its 'happily ever after' and differentiates it from competitors, creating a deeper connection with customers.

Why is authenticity important when a brand discovers its 'moral of the story' or core belief?

Authenticity is important because a brand's core belief must be genuine to the brand's identity and values. Pretending to have a belief to attract customers will not lead to lasting relationships.

How did the speaker help Boston Medical Center discover their 'moral of the story'?

The speaker helped Boston Medical Center discover their 'moral of the story' by speaking with the people who worked there and asking why they did what they did, ultimately finding a shared core belief among staff and audiences.

What was the core belief discovered at Boston Medical Center that guided their actions and differentiated them from other hospitals?

The core belief discovered at Boston Medical Center was that 'life's greatest privilege is taking care of those around you.'

Outlines

00:00

🎉 Building Relationships Over Bragging

This paragraph discusses the ineffectiveness of interruptive and boastful marketing tactics, comparing them to an obnoxious party guest. It emphasizes that instead of constantly promoting themselves, brands should focus on building genuine relationships with consumers. The speaker highlights that more than 75% of brand emails go unopened and over 99.5% of banner ads go unclicked, suggesting that traditional advertising is not as effective as relationship-building. Brands with strong relationships prosper because consumers are more likely to engage with them, forgive their mistakes, and speak positively about them. The speaker shares their experience working with brands to help them tell their story and suggests that brands should invite consumers into their narrative rather than just bragging about themselves.

05:02

🌟 The Power of a 'Happily Ever After'

The second paragraph delves into the concept of a brand's 'happily ever after,' which is its aspirational goal that goes beyond profitability. The speaker argues that brands consumers love have a higher purpose that resonates with their values. Using examples like Habitat for Humanity and the American Cancer Society, the speaker illustrates how these organizations inspire support not for a product but for a cause. The speaker then questions brand executives about their brand's ultimate goal, often met with generic mission statements. The speaker suggests that a brand's true 'happily ever after' is its reason for existing, which should be something that consumers want to be a part of, and this is the first step towards building strong relationships with consumers.

10:02

🛣️ The Moral of the Brand's Story

In the third paragraph, the focus shifts to the 'moral of the story,' which is the core belief that guides a brand towards its 'happily ever after.' The speaker explains that what makes a brand unique is not its actions or even its products, but its 'why'—the reason behind its actions. Using Harley-Davidson and The North Face as examples, the speaker shows how these brands' core beliefs about freedom and exploration, respectively, guide their actions and connect with consumers who share these values. The speaker argues that a brand's core belief must be authentic and consistent across all audiences to build lasting relationships. The speaker shares a case study of Boston Medical Center, where despite serving diverse audiences, a core belief in caring for others was found to be the unifying moral that guided the brand and resonated with all stakeholders.

Keywords

💡Relationships

Relationships in the context of the video refer to the connections that brands establish with their consumers. The video emphasizes that strong relationships are crucial for brand success, as they foster loyalty and trust. The script mentions that brands with the strongest relationships prosper and persevere, suggesting that these relationships are the lifeblood of brands.

💡Brand Storytelling

Brand storytelling is the art of communicating a brand's narrative to engage and connect with audiences. The video discusses how brands with strong relationships view and share their stories differently, focusing on authenticity and emotional connection rather than self-promotion. It is illustrated through the speaker's work with brands to help them discover and articulate their unique stories.

💡Happily Ever After

In the script, 'Happily Ever After' symbolizes a brand's ultimate aspiration or goal that goes beyond profit or market dominance. It is the brand's reason for existing and is meant to resonate with consumers on a deeper level. For example, Habitat for Humanity's 'Happily Ever After' is a world where everyone has a decent place to live, which is a noble cause that people can rally behind.

💡Core Belief

The core belief of a brand, as mentioned in the video, is the fundamental principle that guides its actions and decisions. It is the 'moral of the story' that is implied in all aspects of the brand's operations. For instance, Harley-Davidson's core belief is that freedom is exhilarating, which is reflected in their motorcycle designs and the experience they offer to riders.

💡Authenticity

Authenticity in the video refers to the genuineness of a brand's values and actions. It is crucial for building lasting relationships with consumers, as inauthenticity can lead to distrust. The speaker argues that a brand's core belief must be authentic to the brand for it to resonate with audiences and create meaningful connections.

💡Market Domination

Market domination is mentioned as a common but less inspiring goal for brands. The video suggests that brands that focus solely on being the best in their market may not foster the same depth of connection with consumers as those with more altruistic 'Happily Ever After' goals.

💡Customer Service

Customer service is briefly touched upon as one of the typical business goals that brands might list in their mission statements. However, the video argues that superior customer service alone is not enough to differentiate a brand or build strong relationships; it needs to be part of a larger, more inspiring narrative.

💡Innovation

Innovation is cited as a common differentiator that brands might claim, but the video suggests that innovation alone is often a temporary advantage that competitors can easily match. It is more impactful when it is tied to a brand's core belief and contributes to its 'Happily Ever After'.

💡Community

Community is used in the video to illustrate how brands can demonstrate their core beliefs through actions that benefit society. For example, a bank might talk about its community involvement, showing that its actions align with a broader goal of supporting the well-being of the communities it serves.

💡Differentiation

Differentiation in the context of the video is about what makes a brand stand out from its competitors. The speaker argues that true differentiation comes from a brand's core belief and 'Happily Ever After', rather than superficial attributes like products or services.

Highlights

Building relationships with people is key to brand success, not just interrupting them with self-promotion.

Most brand communications are ignored, with over 75% of emails unopened and 99.5% of banner ads not clicked.

Brands should focus on building relationships rather than constantly trying to sell.

Strong brand relationships lead to customer loyalty and forgiveness during mistakes.

Brands with a strong relationship with consumers are more likely to have their emails opened and ads clicked.

Brands should share their story from the heart and invite people into their narrative.

The ultimate goal of a brand should be about more than just profitability; it should be an aspirational goal.

Non-profit organizations like Habitat for Humanity and the American Cancer Society have clear 'happily ever after' goals.

Brands should have a 'happily ever after' that consumers want to be a part of.

Brands need to have a core belief that guides them to their 'happily ever after', which is their moral of the story.

The core belief of a brand is what makes it unique and should be the reason behind its actions.

Harley-Davidson's core belief is that freedom is exhilarating, which is reflected in their products and brand image.

The North Face's core belief is exploration empowerment, guiding their product development and brand messaging.

A brand's core belief must be authentic and consistent across all audiences and communications.

Boston Medical Center's core belief is that life's greatest privilege is taking care of those around you, uniting their diverse audiences.

When brands discover and live by their core belief, their 'soul' shines through, attracting consumers who share that belief.

Brands should stop bragging about themselves and instead focus on shared beliefs to build stronger relationships.

Transcripts

imagine you're at a party you're hanging

out with your friends eating drinking

laughing sharing stories you having a

good time then out of nowhere someone

jumps up on a table and yells out I am

the best catch in the house I'm funny

I'm smart I make a ton of money

obviously I'm good-looking so if you

want to have a good time come on over

and let's get out of here

chances are you and your friends will be

distracted for a moment probably a bit

shocked and mildly amused but then you

just get right back to whatever it was

you were doing that is after you make a

mental note to avoid that person for the

rest of your life

that is not how you build relationships

with people yeah that's how brands often

try to do just that while we're

listening to the radio watching TV

checking our social media feeds or doing

whatever else it is we're doing brands

try to interrupt us to tell us how great

they are why they're better than

everyone else and ask us to do things

for them well that works as much for

brands as it does for that person at the

party more than 75% of emails from

brands never even get opened more than

99.5% of banner ads don't get clicked

maybe Brad should spend less time

bothering us and more time building

relationships with us

relationships are the lifeblood of

brands the branch with the strongest

relationships are the ones that prosper

and persevere think of a brand that you

believe you have a strong relationship

with

chances are you're more likely to spend

a little bit more nit more money on

their products and services if they mess

up you'd probably forgive them you know

more likely to open their emails click

on their ads take their phone call or

speak positively about them you do that

not just because you like their product

and services you do that because you

feel like you have a relationship with

them you feel like you're a part of

their story

I've been working with brands for more

than 25 years to help them share and

tell their story and what I've learned

there in that time is the brands with

the strongest relationships view share

and live their story differently they

don't constantly brag about themselves

and beg people to do things instead they

share from their heart and demonstrate

what matters most to them they connect

with people and invite them into their

story and that's the type of story I

want to speak with you all about today

when I work with brand executives to

help them with their story one of the

first questions I ask is what is the

ultimate goal of your brand why does

your brand exist of course they're often

quick to jump on their website and show

me their mission statement which they

perfectly crafted with their marketing

and sales teams I think that some people

take a laminated card out of their

wallet so they can literally read me a

script that sounds something like this

to achieve profitable growth and be the

leader in every market we serve through

superior customer service innovation

quality and commitment

sure those are admirable business goals

but the brand's we love have much more

aspiration goals that we all want to be

a part of non profit - the epitome of

this right Habitat for Humanity wants

everyone to have a decent place to live

American Cancer Society wants a world

without cancer think about it these are

the brands that we often give our time

and money to in exchange for no direct

product or service that's a pretty good

relationship I call this reason for

existing your happily ever after the

brands we love truly believe that a they

guess exists for something much more

important than market domination or

profitability they believe they can make

a difference in the world and the people

they serve

their products and services are merely

just a means to a greater end

harley-davidson they want people have

more exciting lives the north face they

want people to appreciate and preserve

the outdoors when brands think of

themselves from this perspective we view

them differently we don't think of them

as selling to us we think of them as

helping us imagine if people saw your

brand from that perspective

in order for brands to have strong

relationships with people they must have

a happily ever after that everyone in

their story wants to be a part of

but that's step one just having a

happily ever after isn't enough surely

having one will make your brand more

attractive than other brands with more

selfish goals but a happily ever after

is really differentiating so the second

question I asked for and executives is

what makes your brand so special of

course they'll jump right back to the

mission statement some actually flip

over that laminated card to show me

their core values

innovation inclusive quality because

those we know are unique

of course most will just jump to their

products and services the bank will talk

about all they do for their community

they're great rates their personal

service or the technology company will

talk about their amazing functionality

their patented approach or their great

user interface and yes those are

differentiators but more often than not

they're just temporary advantages that

any competitor can meet or beat at any

moment in time in fact the more they

talk about them the more they sound like

their competitors what Altan makes of

brin unique is not what it does who it

does it for how it does it what makes a

brand unique is why it does what it does

what is that core belief that guides

them to do what they do it's no

different from what makes you and I

unique all right it's not what we do or

how we do it it's why we do what we do I

mean there are many brands that make

motorcycles but only Harley truly

believes freedom is exhilarating that's

why they make bikes that let you ride on

the open road it's why they give you the

freedom to customize your own bike and

it's why they're so loud

if you believe freedom is exhilarating

and you want to have a more exciting

life you should consider jumping on a

Harley or the very least buy a t-shirt

I

call this core belief the moral of the

story and just like in the fairy tales

we read it the moral is rarely stated

directly or called out but it's implied

to throw it every aspect of the story I

mean nowhere in Tokyo does it say lying

makes you look bad but that's clearly

the moral of the story or North Face no

where do they necessarily say

exploration empowers us but that's the

core belief that guides them to their

happily ever after it guides their

philanthropic approach it cuts their

supply chain practices and its course

it's why they go to great lengths to

create technology and outerwear and

footwear and equipment and other things

so that people can explore virtually

anywhere the moral of the story is the

core belief that guides a brand to its

happily-ever-after and just as you and I

connect with people who share our

beliefs brands connect with people who

share their beliefs and the deeper the

stronger the belief the deeper the

connection but that core belief the

moral story has to be authentic to the

brand a brand can't pretend to be

someone it's not in order to build

relationships with people that wants to

attract that works as much for brands as

it does for you and I those

relationships never last

the moral also have brands also can't

have a different moral for each

different audience that's like having

multiple personalities

again not a great formula for building

relationships with people

of course brand executives will often

say to me there is no way we can find a

core belief that is shared among all of

our audiences right we serve people

across different industries different

geographic regions different

demographics it's impossible and I'll

agree audiences are different for brands

brands have many many different

audiences but they all share a belief

their hearts are all in the same place

and that's what connects them

I'm gonna share a story with you when I

was working with Boston Medical Center

to help discover their story and help

them find their morale it seemed almost

impossible to find a core belief that

was unique to them and that they shared

with all of their audiences specifically

patients who are primarily lower income

racially diverse people living in the

inner city and

the donors who are primarily wealthy

individuals living in the suburbs of

Boston but we knew a core belief existed

but we needed to find it and to do that

we needed to speak with the with the

people who worked at Boston Medical

Center and represented the brand and

asked them why they did what they did

why do these amazing doctors and

surgeons choose to work at Boston

Medical Center when they can work at any

place in the world why did all these

people work so hard and often volunteer

their time for some of the programs like

the domestic service domestic violence

services or the substance use disorder

programs or the food pantry and why was

everyone there so committed to providing

exceptional care without exception it

was because they all shared one core

belief from the bottom of their heart

they all truly believed that life's

greatest privilege is taking care of

those around you

what was that a belief that they shared

with their audiences well clearly the

donors believed that they were giving

thousands of dollars to help people in

the communities around them well what

about the patients they weren't treating

anyone and they weren't generally giving

substantial donations to the hospital

but when we spoke with them and met with

them at their homes we saw a different

perspective we learned that they were

missing critical doctor's appointments

so they could stay at home to take care

of a child or a family member or so they

can go to work to help make sure that

they had food on the tables for their

families they had friends and relatives

staying at their houses and sleeping on

their couches because they just need a

large

anyone needed a few dollars or a meal

they were the first to give it perhaps

more than anyone they believed life's

greatest privilege is taking care of

those around you and that's the moral of

the story that is the core belief that

guides everyone at Boston Medical Center

to do what they do that's the core

belief that ultimately differentiates

Boston Medical Center from all those

other worlds around hospitals just a

stone's throw away and it's the core

belief that defines every one of their

audiences regardless of who they serve

and how they serve them

when Boston Medical Center framed their

story around this moral around this core

belief instead of bragging about

themselves people and they gave more

money they made more doctor's

appointments and ultimately they built

stronger relationships with Boston

Medical Center

relationships are the lifeblood of

brands and the strongest relationships

are built upon shared beliefs so brands

need to stop jumping up on those tables

and screaming about how great they are

they need a different approach

brands don't need a script they need a

soul of course you can't define a soul

but when a brand discovers its

happily-ever-after why it truly exists

and they live by the moral of their

story it's that core belief that guides

them to do what they do their soul

shines through and

when a brand reveals its soul

everyone who represents the brand can

act accordingly

everyone who shares that core belief and

that goal will be attracted to the brand

the relationship between the brand and

its audiences will grow stronger and

everyone will live happily ever after

thank you

[Applause]

you