Strategic Story for Businesses of Purpose

How purpose-driven businesses are using the art of human story-telling to propel their growth, align their teams, inspire their audience and transform organisations.

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As technology increasingly lowers the barriers to entry in markets across the world, making goods cheaper and competition fiercer, what is it that makes some businesses stand out from the rest? Genuine emotional connection between a brand and all of its stakeholders - employees, customers, partners and investors alike, is one of the strongest durable elements that remains. Whether this be built on shared values, insights, visions of the future or solid founding principles, this connection is woven together through story.

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Story telling is both an art and a science - but the common ground shared by all the above is a united purpose and mission. At the centre of every good story there is a moral, one which the universal truth narrative seeks to communicate. There’s a reason that its our stories that have often persisted across millennia to anchor in the shared beliefs that define communities, and today organisations are increasingly crafting and deploying them holistically to provide a strategy for tremendous growth anchored in unique, emotional bonds shared by businesses and the people they serve alike.

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The mistake people make is in thinking that the story is about marketing. No, the story is the strategy. If you make your story better, you make your strategy better. - Ben Horowitz a16z

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More than a great product, a compelling context and direction is what provides momentum - providing motivation, inspiration and investment. Every story teller adopts the narrative in their own image, and modifies it slightly before passing it on in a chain of human imagination and communication. This ancient need is what social networks have tapped into so well, and in the age of information overload, it matters more than ever.

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Looking to the future requires looking back and leveraging the past, using time tried and tested approaches woven into the fabric of human culture, and applying them to a high-tech new world. Arguably one of the most prominent and widely adopted structures is that of the Hero’s Journey.

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In the best stories, the moral is something essential which must be shared and passed on to members of a community. For a brand, this is the ultimate overarching purpose. Effective morals aren’t about features and benefits, they are the authentic articulation of why a company exists, and what they believe in.

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The Hero’s Journey was first outlined by Joseph Campbell in his book The Hero With A Thousand Faces - he codified the resultant narrative arc into 17 stages, the same structure used in Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, Biblical Tales, Star Wars and many more. There are 5 essential principles to understand and apply:

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1. The Broken World
2. The Hero
3. The Mentor
4. The Magical Gift
5. The Return Home

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The Broken World

The setting focuses on the injustices that need to be rectified in the chosen world, and this emotional pull is what provides the forward momentum. For businesses, this consists of the challenges and problems they seek to solve for their customers. It hones in on a clear fundamental state of disrepair, and not simply a minor inconvenience.

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The Hero

The protagonist is often a powerless but optimistic and imaginative outsider who dreams of a better world. They serve as an avatar, compelling audiences to see themselves inside the story - often through a shared vulnerability that people connect with. Brand have a critical role to play as the protagonists of the story they seek to serve.

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The Mentor

In the Journey narrative, the hero encounters an older, wiser character who reveals how much more is possible within them. This mentor guides them forwards, helping them to unlock a power within themselves, as well as uncovering new truths or mysteries. Story driven businesses are a customers mentor, and they empower customers to solve problems in collaboration with them, while providing the support and guidance needed to do that. This sentiment spurs evangelism: people love to spread the word about companies that inspire greatness, and cast them as the hero of the brand story.

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The Magical Gift

The mentor provides the story’s hero with a magical gift of some kind, which they can use on their journey to defeat the source of their / the worlds troubles. In a brand story, this gift is the product, service, or community and it should feel just as powerful, magical and transformative as those in fictional stories.

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The Return Home

The finale has a resolution which is mirrored in the brand story, by providing the customer with an illustration of the returns that come with interacting with them, and what they can now go on to give.

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Also called the Monomyth, this structure was developed through analysis of historical and folk stories passed through time. Paul Zak, a neuroeconomist studies the intriguing connection between brain science and economics, and has discovered that the chemical release of oxytocin in the brain during interpersonal experiences is what creates trust, and corresponds with economic transactions. Oxytocin release can be used to “hack” the brain in this sense. Effective interpersonal experiences are rooted in shared purpose and empathy.

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Zak’s research has shown that oxytocin is released during the climax phase of a story with appropriate audience interest: it’s why audiences feel a rush when the main character defeats his mortal enemy in a movie. The audience cares, and feels the victory as their own. Brand stories are no different - customers instinctively recognise and connect with the arc of the hero, and become emotionally invested in the outcome. As their emotional investment increases, so does their trust and connection.

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Brands successfully using this structure today include Apple, Tom’s and Warby Parker and Dove. For example Dove’s brand message is ‘you are more beautiful than you think’. Rather than being about the products, it fosters a culture that empowers people to love themselves as they are. The broken world is a place where people feel they need to present as someone they’re not, to be accepted or seen as beautiful. Dove’s products and mission exist not to fundamentally change the customer, but rather to bring out the beauty that’s already within them. Empowering them to present their confident and true self to the world.

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Dove have remained relevant by evolving their message to align with compelling story telling, legacy, effectiveness and shared purpose. Cementing a brand’s role as a mentor means discarding product-centred story telling that extols features and benefits in favour of a story that portrays how the brand will help their customers transform the world.

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The story itself must be lived and breathed by the members of an organisation, and woven into everything it does: from customer experience, to product road map, and into the day-to-day experience of working culture. Companies must go ‘all-in’ but the rewards they reap are significant and transformative.

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As well as making the marketing funnel more efficient and ensuring an investor pitch resonates, it provides an important framework for growth, and a valuable tool for scaling impact, all while inculcating its most closely-held truths and valuable beliefs. The right brand story attracts the talent an organisation needs and empowers them to advance it forwards, and if it cannot do this, it may need to pivot.

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Pivoting with purpose - almost every company is forced to evolve at least once in their life cycle, a shift in business strategy as a reaction to a number of different factors at some point, especially with young or emerging brands. The Lean Startup goes so far as to advocate these as a rite of passage for any agile organisation in an ever-evolving market place.  A pivot revolves around a key fixed point such as product, market, go to market strategy or business model, and brand story is no different. Understanding why the company exists in the first place clarifies what can change and what must remain immutable.

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In order for a good product to succeed in the market place, it has to connect with the right customers with the right expectations. If a product fails to live up to its promises, customers will quickly move elsewhere, and when choosing between two brands of the same price and quality, they’ll be more likely to chose the one that they trust.

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A great example of this is Birchbox vs Ipsy. Despite launching two years later and offering relatively similar product, Ipsy have outshone Birchbox by developing a better understanding of why people were embracing the product. They pivoted away from the contents and towards the emotional story behind them - developing a community centred around women’s self-expression. With Ipsy’s assistance, every woman could participate in this community, deciding the merit of different makeup products for themselves. Ipsy knew who their hero was from the beginning, and was able to figure out how to make sure their product delivered on its core emotional promises.

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A clear signal sent by the brand is that the voice of their users matters. Unlike traditional media outlets, influencers, forums and social media platforms present a way for people to connect with a more direct and relatable ambassador. On their homepage Ipsy state: ‘once you’re an Ipster, you’re part of something big - a community that’s leaving the rules behind and making unique beauty a real thing. And we’ll be with you all the way’.

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In contrast, Birchbox lacked a clear and coherent vision of who they were trying to empower. The CEOs told Fast Company in 2015 that the monthly subscriptions were a ‘tactical play’ and ‘trojan horse that let Birchbox slip into its customers medicine cabinets and bedside vanities.’ Such a comment reflected cynicism and a deep disconnect from their core customers, as well as their failure to develop an identity that could guide their product development.

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As well as functioning as a framework for growth, the story serves as the North Star during inevitable times of turbulence. True category defining companies earn their status by standing alone and founders intuitively understand the emotional core of their business, as it often reflects a pain they themselves have experienced, affording them a unique solidarity with their customers.

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As we enter the new paradigm of purpose, alongside the end of a very strange year, and the start of a new one - perhaps it is a chance to reflect on some of the narratives that we tell ourselves, and in what way we would like to pave the way forwards for new ones.

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