5 Ways To Improve Your Brand’s Storytelling

If you attended the Advertising Week conference in New York City this month, a mentalist may have read—and blown—your mind. There’s a good chance you waited in a line longer than the Great Wall of China to hear Will Smith’s YouTube talk. And perhaps you heard Gary Vaynerchuk drop quite a few F-bombs onstage to Ken Auletta’s amusement. But one thing’s for certain: There’s no way you caught all 290 sessions in four days. In case you missed it, I’ve collected a few nuggets of advice for brand storytellers and content marketing pros.

1. Get goal-oriented. Before starting a campaign, determine how you’ll measure success. Sivonne Davis, vice president of marketing at L’Oreal USA, advises that marketers stay true to their brand’s identity and purpose, while also differentiating themselves in the marketplace. Understanding your customer profile will help you tailor your content strategy to meet your customers’ needs, she said. “Any good story starts with knowing your audience.” While many brands dream of becoming a household name, Coca-Cola has a different storytelling goal. As a legacy consumer brand, recognition alone doesn’t cut it. “A lot of people will wear the Coca-Cola T-shirt because they love our brand, but then they’re drinking a Starbucks,” said Kate Santore, Coca-Cola’s content excellence lead. In an effort to translate brand appreciation into purchase intent, her team’s stories follow the brand’s ethos and draw insights from those working at every level of the company, from truck drivers to packaging designers. “We don’t engage in any story we can’t back up,” says Santore. “We’re not telling stories for the sake of storytelling.”

2. Follow the data story. When Under Armour bought the MyFitnessPal health tracker app in 2015, it also […]

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