Storify Your Brand. Make it a thriller.

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SPEAKER_01 0:27

I have bad news. You know, content is the new clutter. Storytelling is great, is a great way to use content, you know, within your content, tell stories. And storytelling became very trendy a few years ago when marketers realized that it was a big differentiator and it caught on and on and on. But here's the new reality: storytelling alone doesn't cut through the noise anymore. A mediocre story is mediocre content. It's just more noise, it's just clutter. And you know, people will only care about your brand story. They'll only care about your pitch if you're pitching to investors or customers or distributors. They'll only care about it if the story is about them. That's why we keep turning the pages of a thriller. That's why we start the next episode of the Netflix series. Great storytelling grabs us from the first scene. It grips us right through to the very end. And it helps us learn something about human nature and ourselves. And that's the secret. Okay. So does your brand do that? Does it help us learn something? Does it help the customer learn about him or herself?

unknown 2:01

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 2:01

So when you storify your brand, make it a thriller. Okay. I've taken you know seven beats out of novels. And okay, a thriller novel, I you know, I still read physical books. I also read on Kindle. And a lot of times I'm reading something and I get to, and I'm like, you know what? I'm gonna stay up. I should turn off the light and go to sleep, but I'm gonna read another chapter. Why? Because there is something very powerful about it's not just any story, it's a story that I identified in and I've invested myself emotionally. Okay. A blockbuster movie, same thing. I'm not gonna go get popcorn until the break, which in Europe we have breaks in the States, they often don't. Um, you know, I've I'm just glued here, I'm just gonna stay here. And they write screenplays with formulas. Yes, they do, and the personalities are different and the scenes are different, but there are many beats, many points in the movie, in the novel, that something has to happen or you'll lose your audience. Now, one very important thing is what you leave out. I I do this all the time with my clients, and I say, why is that in there? And they start to say because they like it, and they realize that's the wrong answer. So, one really important thing in writing a brand story, a sales story, a pitch to investors is what you leave out. Honestly, it is probably the biggest discipline in writing stories. Uh, many fiction writers call it kill your darlings. There's something that happened in your life, and now you work it into the novel, and you just love it, man. You just love it. Isn't it great? And when you take a step back and look at it, it has no place, or it slows it down, or it takes away from the plot or the character or something. So really, um it's very important just to leave stuff out. I worked this year with uh I work every year with um the startups in the Basque region of Spain. And this year we did so much of it online. In fact, every year we did, but this year it became more important. Uh so we have a workshop, and then I have 40 startups that every month I work an hour with them for four months, and then in July they pitch at the event. This year the event was was more like a TV production. Okay. And so often they overcomplicated their pitch, and they got it down to five minutes and had to go down to five minutes, they had to throw stuff out. And again, I've been doing this for four years. This year I've been working on a novel, and and every year I have something new to say to them in addition to the normal stuff. And this year I was telling them your pitch should have seven beats, seven points in the story that the customer will be really, really interested in. And it's the same with your brand, it's the same with your online messaging. Leave out so much of what you may be tempted to put in there. Okay. So every story starts with a hero. No hero, no story. And okay, a hero is not the one who swoops in to save the day. Maybe at the end of the climax, yes, but but really we call it the hero because of Joseph Campbell, the hero's journey. And we are heroes in our lives. You know, when we do something great, very often there was a big decision, and you know, we have to tell the family that we're gonna stop doing something this way or whatever. So the hero is not rescuing one more cat from one more tree, the hero is struggling with a decision. And once the hero or the heroine makes that decision, then he or she has to make it work. And that's the key right there in a thriller and with your brand. The hero struggles in something. And where your brand and product can help, they may even be struggling, they will be struggling with that. And it doesn't have to be a Spielberg movie, but in telling your story, a little bit of drama there will be ah, the hero. Okay. And here's the here's the real thing: your hero is your ideal customer. So when you talk to an ideal customer, tell the story of a previous customer. If you have people using your brands, what was their journey? Okay, but let's start with them. Who are they? When you build your brand, start with somebody who resembles your ideal customer so much that the rest of your ideal prospects will identify with her and become endeared. Start there with your avatar, perhaps with an actual client. Uh, you know, or if you're just launching your brand, then create the client who is your avatar. Many cases in your in your brands, it's going to be a she. I, by the way, will be the client of some of you. I use men's cosmetics. I have been for half my life, thankfully, I believe. Okay. But there was a point where I kind of had to make that decision to start doing it.

unknown 7:58

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 7:59

It's way too early to talk about us, the brand, and how good we are. Way too early. Start with the person who's struggling before they even know your brand. What's the challenge? What are they up against? Our heroine wants something, but it's not easy to get it. Something needs to change, but changing is a challenge. She's not even sure if she wants to take the challenge because it's so daunting, or at very least, it just requires too much energy and I'm busy and I got to get to work and I got to prepare something. Ah, it's just too much. I'll just keep doing what I'm doing. And so, in a thriller, you know, saving the world from evil, Harry Potter, the Matrix, Neo. Okay, he was trying to save us from the Matrix. So represent that, you know, in uh To Kill a Mockingbird, the lawyer had a client who didn't murder somebody, but he was on death row and he comes. And if he loses, not only does that client go to death row, he may lose the respect of his daughter because he's got a little bit of a problem, maybe, and we all identify with our imperfections. And so if he loses, maybe he'll move back in with his mother over the bakery and his daughter will disown him. Okay. That's drama, that's that's literature and filmmaking. So, what is specifically the challenge that your customers are up against when they decide when they're about to decide? What is it? Define what your heroine wants to achieve. What would she like to change? Be very clear with that. This is so but when you structure, then later you can you can tell your story concisely or or or or or more long. Uh, but but but define this, define this. Now, we hear of drama in storytelling. Um, you know, I know some presentation skills trainers, and they like to say, be dramatic. And that and I just laugh. I'm like, you know, it's not about yes, you can present with good voice and everything, but it's about the content. What's at stake? What's at stake? So, uh, you know, I I already gave away you know the the the lawyer might lose his daughter's love. Okay, Harry Potter might see the world be consumed by darkness. What is at stake with your customer? What are the consequences of of not doing anything? And I also, that's a great question, by the way, when you're sitting in front of a B2B customer or somebody is, and or you know, B2C as well. When they're like, okay, I'll think about it, say, hey, I understand. Okay, but um, what are the consequences of doing nothing? What are the consequences of staying with the vendor who you just complained about? Okay, what's at stake here? You this is where your content becomes dramatic, and this is where drama in business storytelling, if they get it wrong, what will happen? Okay, this is so critical. And all it needs to be is a sentence or two. Now, I like my startups, they were they were, you know, some of them were helping manufacturers. And if they did nothing, they would lose 17,000 euros a day. Oh, okay, now I'm paying attention. Okay, so yeah, the the the factory was not working efficiently. Okay. And if they didn't fix it, they would be losing, and as volume increased, they would lose between 17 and 22,000 euros a day. Oh, okay, that's drama. That's drama because what's at stake? Now that's a B2B situation. What's at stake with your customers? Um we're dealing in beauty here, wrinkles early. Um, what will happen if they decide to do nothing? What's at stake? So critical. Now every story needs a villain. Something stands in your hero's way, not just the challenge, but some other force. It does not have to be a person, it doesn't have to be Lord Voldemort, it doesn't have to be the Matrix. And you see, that's where the Matrix was personified by those, you know, two clowns, but it was something deeper. It can be a dynamic in the marketplace for some clients. It's new legislation, it's testing. Um, and and so what is that villain? It doesn't have to be one person, it doesn't have to be a role played by Donald Sutherland. It could be, but what is that villain? And the question there is what impedes or prevents your hero from reaching his or her goal? Okay, so if anyone has any questions at this point, go ahead, Irina. Uh you know, stop me, or we can we can keep going until the end, as you wish. I'm gonna take a sip of my coffee here.

SPEAKER_00 13:40

Uh it's nice. Maybe we can go through all these things, and yeah, you give some exam examples from B2B and B2C, and some of us in B2B, uh, but most of them, us as here as B2C, and it's it's about the customer, and you give a very interesting thing about wrinkles. You know, I was thinking like, because I bought I'm borted from El Real, this is the story, because at stake I say that's you know, like uh that you're not taking care of yourself and you don't pay attention to yourself and things like that. Isn't it like one of these very famous El Real slogans? It's sort of like a very, very short story. And the shorter it is, the more valuable it is, I think, you know.

SPEAKER_01 14:26

Oh, but the brevity is is all part of the work. Brevity is definitely so there's really two things there character and L'Oreal because I'm worth it. Uh and and and it's short. Uh, you know, when I say tell a story, it can, but it doesn't have to be, it doesn't have to be long. It and and and the the real art is is putting all these things down, and I have a worksheet that you can work with later.

SPEAKER_00 14:53

Uh more sheets, we have more, right?

SPEAKER_01 14:56

I'm sorry?

SPEAKER_00 14:58

Do we have more slides?

SPEAKER_01 14:59

Yes, there are more slides, and and I'll go into, but I just want to answer that question.

SPEAKER_00 15:03

Okay, yeah, like maybe you know, as you're talking and each of the points, you know, the customer or something like that, everybody can think, and uh people can comment, you know, what you think you know, can be in your business, for example, who is can be video, you know, uh in a beauty company, you know, like uh just a little bit of comments that would be great, you know, to make a little bit of more interactive. Because we would like to hear from you, Boris, Hannah, Maximilian, everyone. Anna, please uh let's make it a little bit more interactive because we don't want yes to sit and things like that. But but please go ahead with the rest of the sessions, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 15:40

Jump in here, and if you don't do it during my talk, I'll just keep going. Uh, but we'll I'll give you room to do it at the end too. But but uh yeah, I've been a sales trainer for 20 years, among other things, and a pitch coach and and that. And I totally believe I say it all the time because I totally believe it. You get you get as much out of the workshop as you put in, and that's not just your attention, it's disagreeing with me. Yes, disagreeing with yourselves in a polite way, uh, you know, saying something doesn't work for me here, or oh, I tried that once and it worked halfway. Maybe, yeah. So so jump in, jump in. Yeah, okay.

SPEAKER_00 16:23

Disagree is great, yes, it's where the you know the truth is uh found. Okay, I go away.

SPEAKER_01 16:31

I'm gonna go back and share my screen. You see it, right? Here we are. Great. So, you know, the villain, the villain doesn't have to be a person, the villain could be age, uh, bad pH when you wash your face at night. These are things I do, by the way. Um, yeah, I age. I'm not as young as I used to be. Fortunately, I uh I started this half a lifetime ago, and I think I'm doing all right. Okay. But um, when when I tell the story of, you know, one time I was in a department store 30 years ago. Now I probably would do it online. I had to engage with the brand before. And the salesperson took me through these things, and you know, what what what are the consequences of getting it wrong? You know, what pH when you wash your face at night? Oh, well, that's your villain. PH, plain old soap. There's a villain there, okay? Night creams and day creams. Uh, if you just put cream on, there's a problem there. That that could be a problem, okay? So we know who the villain is now. It's Donald Sutherland, or it's age, or it's pH, or it's a distributor in a state or a country where they have legislation and certain testing they don't approve of. Okay, uh this is what you're up to. But in building your brand, it's your customer. Now, of course, there's a plot. This is the plan, this is the moment. This starts when the hero says, I'm going to get my way out of it, and here's how I'm going to do it. And it could lead to conflict in the sense of this isn't going to be as easy as I thought. Uh, but the decision to do something has been made. Now it's time to devise a plan. And the plan can and should be with your brand's help. The this slide and the next one can be intermingled. Okay. I've taken seven points from 15 to 20 points in blockbuster movies and and and thriller novels. Um, so I've taken seven out of 20. Um, and you know, we can mix them here, here, especially at this point. So you can at about at this point introduce the brand, but merely as part of the subject. Um, and I'm gonna tell you more in the next slide, but still stay a little bit longer with we came in and helped, and here is the plan. Here is how she or he did it. Um again, I was writing fiction 40 years ago, and then I got into international business and marketing and pitching and building brands. And back 40 years ago, I was living in Spain, wanting to be the great American writer like Hemingway in Paris. I was in Barcelona, and and uh in and I learned that the word plot in Spanish is argumento, argument. That was 40 years ago. Do you know what I learned this year? That plot, the word comes from when the writer plots out the conflict and working through it. They many writers, plot-driven writers, very often have a board, a pin board, and they are like a marketing plan, they are working through the escalating conflict and how it gets resolved. Well, again, you can keep it very, very short, but what is that plot? What is that plot? What plan does the hero or heroine have in getting to the goal? How does she plan to get to the top and what could go wrong? Aha. Now is the time to introduce yourself. This is where a lot of brands get it wrong in a pitch or even in the story. They start off talking about the product. The brand, you know, product and brand, I know the difference. Okay, but our product will help you. Okay, uh, but I want to suffer a little bit more. Honestly, the human psyche does not want instant success when it comes to giving you their attention. Your brand is so damn good, you help everybody succeed. Yeah, I'll keep scrolling. Ah, you know, honey, I'm gonna go make some popcorn. Tell me what I'm missing. I'll make the popcorn with you. Okay. What do we want? We want, believe it or not, we I'm not saying we enjoy, we get pulled in by struggle. So start with, don't start with how good you are and how good your brand is. Start with the struggle that I mentioned earlier. But at some point we need to meet that mentor. And and when we suffer through all of that, now we want to meet you in a business situation. In the once we understand the struggle that the ideal client, who is me, is going through. Now I want to learn about you. Now I'm eager to learn about you. But if you start telling me about you too early in the story, I don't care. I don't care. I don't want to learn too much about you until I know that the story is about me and it hurts, and there's hope, and that hopeful place. You can hold my hand and bring me there. Okay, who are you? Who's this person who just wants to take my hand? Yeah, that's when we want the mentor. That's when the trust has been built enough that we want to learn about you and why we should continue to trust you. Again, you can you can mix these two, the plot and the mentor really go together. I would even say start with a little bit about the plot. And then talk a more about she and getting through it, and then talk about your brand now, very late in any customer conversation. And that could be a pitch, that could be online when you engage somebody with your brand and your copy. Very late is when you should introduce yourself. Very late. Too many people introduce themselves. Yeah, I mean, you go into a meeting and you shake your hand and you exchange cards, but when you're talking through telling your story, that mentor comes in late. That mentor comes in late, as does the don't propose a solution too early. Don't introduce yourself until you introduce the solution. And then you know you've got you've fought through the plot, you've you've held the hand of the customer. Now we need a resolution. Your hero reaches his goal. So now his life is better. How? How is his life better? What has changed during the story? I mean, you can have a I have a worksheet I'm going to give you later. Um uh what is it that's changed? Very specifically. It doesn't have to be too long, but you need to write it down. What's changed? What is what is it that was worth doing? Well, then tell why. This is in literature, this is the theme. It's also called the moral of the story. A story needs a lesson learned, otherwise, it's a flat story. So if you got the drama and the tension and the goal, and and and again the consequences and and the plot and the mentor and the villain, at you know, then your story is just dying for the moral of the story. Now, in fiction and and and it can't be too obvious, but in brand building, yes, it can. Yes, it can, because we have a lot fewer words to to and a lot less time. So we can get there. And then they struggled through, they got it, and her life is better now. If it's you know, her skin is she's happier with her appearance when she goes out. Okay, why did you tell this story? Well, that's your answer right there. So storify your pitch. You have a hero, heroine. The challenge, what mountain do they want to climb? How high is it? Is it rocky? Is it snowy? Is it crazy? Okay, what's at stake? Yeah, you know, nothing. I don't need to climb the mountain. Ah, well then you'll never get your badge of honor, you'll never join the club. You'll what's at stake if they get if they do nothing, what are the consequences? If they do it but do it wrong, what are the consequences? Need a villain, it doesn't have to be Lord Voldemort. It can be the forces of human nature, of the marketplace, of the industry. It could be time and age and dry skin and wrong pH. That's your villain. Need a plot. How am I going to get out of this place and get to my brighter future? Who's going to help me to oh, it's you. Tell me a little bit about yourself. Okay. And then it needs the resolution. But the story in branding is not over. Because now it comes for questions. Here's, but not the questions from the audience. Aha. Yes, you if your audience is asking questions, you're online with customers, or there's a system where they can ask, yes, answer them. But if they're not moving forward, you need to ask them questions. This is now we're moving into sales and in different situations. So I know we're talking about brand building today, but when you are in front of high-stakes buyers, don't just answer, you make your pitch. If that's your sales plan, it's weak. You are responding and they control the show now, and you're answering every and so you answer and you go, Did I answer your question? And they go, Yeah. And then they hit you with another one. Yeah, that answer their questions, but don't answer them with so much information that they get bored, they think you're BSing them. Um, you know, answer them concisely and then ask them a question. And in sales training, there are different types of questions that you should ask throughout. Okay. So that's me. That's uh a little bit more. And if you want, you can download the worksheet. You can get this PowerPoint presentation, and you can get uh a worksheet uh to fill it out and and and and just answer these questions as you go about uh building your brand.

SPEAKER_00 28:15

And I'll give you I will put this link into the great okay. All right, email follow-up with the video recording tomorrow.

SPEAKER_01 28:27

Great