Would you toast a couple of newlyweds with a bottle of Gatorade?
Why do some brands fit and others don’t?
Do young kids dream of cruising their Kia Carnival across the country? Do you think a Harley Davidson rider is likely to own a cupcake shop?
Rationally, objectively, these statements could all go either way. And yet, we know there is only one “right” answer for each.
Brands are made to match the stories we tell
We use Champagne for a toast, not sports drinks. Kids dream of driving race cars, not family wagons. And Harleys go with tattoos, not cupcakes.
Why is that?
The simple answer is: brand. And brand is built on story.
Brand penetrates deeply to an emotional level
Champagne is refined and elegant and French. It’s delicious and bubbly and goes pop when it opens.
None of these things has any practical value for a bride who’s been starving herself for days to squeeze into a dress, and then spent all day in the sun, balancing on impossibly high heels.
A few gulps of Gatorade might do her some good. But Gatorade doesn’t suit the occasion. That is, it doesn’t suit the story of a wedding.
A wedding is a story of love. A young couple committing themselves to each other for the rest of their lives, in a tradition that stretches back for generations. It’s about joy and family and it’s the greatest day of their young lives, on display for the whole village to see.
The story of what we understand a wedding to be connects our hopes and dreams for the couple’s future with the traditions of the past.
What we need when we raise our glasses is celebration, not hydration. What we need is emotional, not practical.
We don’t make decisions with words
We make sense of the world deep in our brain where words don’t live. A place where feeling beats understanding. Down there, we can't explain why, we just know. That’s where we actually make decisions.
It’s called the Limbic brain and it’s where our non-rational, non-verbal, emotion-based thinking happens. It’s where we figure out how and why as well as who to trust and who to be loyal to.
We first make decisions that feel right to our limbic brain, and then we develop a logical argument with our rational, verbal, neocortex brain to justify the emotional attachment we’ve just made.
So if the emotion-based limbic brain always makes the decision and it doesn’t do words, how do you get through? How do you communicate in that place? With an ordered list of practical benefits? Probably not.
How about a string of words and sentences that convey familiar characters in relatable situations, with an underlying layer of timeless themes and everyday concepts? In other words, how about a story?
Story helps us to understand our culture. Underneath the words and characters are the themes and ideas that we connect with intuitively.
Getting back to the bride and that champagne…
What we want when we’re toasting the married couple is obviously not a thirst quencher (practical need) but a symbol that matches the narrative of celebration (emotional need).
And somehow, back in the day, those clever winemakers in Champagne were able to position themselves at the centre of that celebration. The pop and the fizz (and the light-headed feeling afterwards) all combined beautifully with the story of love and festivity and so Champagne was locked in as the beverage of choice for a wedding toast.
Story also works for Harley Davidson. They’re loud and dangerous and perfect for outsiders. They tapped into the stories we tell about rebels and tough guys: we “know” they have tattoos and we “know” they don’t bake cupcakes.
And what about the story of the family wagon? That’s the story of the sensible couple who value safety, comfort and being economical over speed, thrills and escape. That story is ideal for mum and dad in the suburbs, even if it’s not so ideal for their teenage kids in the back who dream of breaking free. But either way, it is perfect.
Brands make sense because their stories make sense
The truly successful brands like Gatorade and Champagne have etched a place in our culture. Just like the typical characters in a blockbuster movie, we know immediately who they are, what role they play and how they relate to us.
This is why the most successful brands are built on stories, not logical arguments. When the audience understands intuitively who you are, what role you play and most importantly how you relate to them, then you have a place in the culture.
And that is the goal of your branding.
