Why Branding Starts With Compelling Storytelling

Creating a brand is complex. It involves carefully selecting and assembling a series of building blocks to shape an enduring concept. It’s about truly understanding the needs and wants of now, while also speculating on the future. And it requires storytelling. By this, we don’t mean crafting a fictional tale, but rather weaving a narrative anchored in reality and grounded in a genuine brand promise.

The starting point, then, has to be the ‘why’: is this brand fulfilling a need or space; is it a radical rethink, or a brief for a moment in time? Does it align with the zeitgeist or is it looking beyond fleeting trends? Too often, storytelling happens at the end of the project – almost like a press release to sell an idea. This may work temporarily, but the consumer will see through it. Which is why the ‘why’ is fundamental to crafting a unique narrative.

How the story develops, how it’s directed and how it evolves seamlessly through the brand’s lifetime is key to its longevity. We see it as building a solid foundation to grow from – and this is where branding becomes exciting.

Leigh Banks, Spinach Branding director of branding, shares our approach in creating successful brand narratives.

What, in your opinion, makes for a powerful brand narrative?

A compelling story that articulates a business’s unique characteristics, including its personality, backstory and reasons for being. A strong narrative enables a brand to connect with clients and customers on an emotional level. This is crucial, as decisions are often driven by emotions rather than rationality. Among these emotions, love, respect and desire are the most influential. Strong brands recognise this and craft meaningful, authentic stories to evoke such feelings.

Does it matter how small or big the company is?

Not at all. Take Richard Branson, for example. He’s a master at creating the challenger brand narrative – taking on the establishment and testing the status quo to great success. Branson started Virgin by selling records from the back of a van. So, the company’s size isn’t as important as its belief and purpose – without which there wouldn’t have been a compelling narrative for Branson to build upon.

What projects has Spinach Branding been involved with that highlight your approach?

We’ve collaborated with several clients possessing unique brand narratives. Three that come to mind are Soho House’s halo brand Cowshed, Italy’s iconic drinks brand Campari and the fine wine specialist Maze Row.​

In each of these commissions, we assembled extensive project teams across multiple agencies, disciplines and channels to deliver in line with our initial positioning work. Although two are established brands and the latter a new brand conceived alongside the client, they share a vision for creating powerful, timeless branding and design rooted in narratives unique to each.​

With today’s consumers navigating a complex web of communication channels, how should businesses best tell their brand story?

The fundamental principles remain: identify the target audiences and understand how they consume information. Based on this knowledge, assess which mix of channels offers the best returns. For instance, an engineer spending the day out of the office in a transit van is more likely to be influenced by strategically placed radio advertising than by the latest multi-platform social campaign. Similarly, there are generational and cultural differences. Understanding the customer, applying common sense and thinking beyond the conventional will significantly contribute to an effective communications strategy.

Communication platforms are also ever-evolving, as is technology. What are the challenges for a consultancy like Spinach Branding in keeping up with the pace of change?

The breadth of expertise required to operate effectively across all channels is always a challenge, especially as various platforms continually evolve. Whether a consultancy possesses all the expertise in-house or partners with complementary agencies, the main narrative still needs to be managed across multiple teams.

And the risks?

Consistency is paramount: the brand narrative must remain uniform across all channels, encompassing language, photography and design. The risk lies in the potential dilution of messaging as it disseminates across agencies. Therefore, it’s vital for the lead branding consultancy to act as the guardian of the brand proposition and narrative. Ultimately, this ensures the team has a clear understanding of how to communicate the brand effectively.​