What is Brand Storytelling and how to apply it through Design

If you still don't know the term, Brand Storytelling refers to a marketing strategy applied by brands to generate greater empathy with the customer. As the name implies, is to tell a story that identifies the company, its mission or its vision, to give it a more human or personal touch that can connect directly with the emotions of the audience.

This approach seeks to break with traditional buying and selling strategies that only focus on the product and its benefits. Instead, tell your company's story to the customer Appeal to their confidence and give you credibility. At the same time, how are they easy to remember and count, you are more likely to spread and get the message across, which will help you increase your clientele.

The history of a brand does not have to be very complex or elaborate, on the contrary, the simpler and more meaningful it is, the more impact it will have on the public. Once this story is defined, it must be captured visually. Weight and the importance of the graphic image let it be transmitted it's going to be the same as the story itself.

To translate the story into the visual language of graphic design, you have to first know which are the key elements that you are going to highlight.

What is the story about

The first thing you have to Identifying is what the story is about. Typically, the topics are as follows:

• La history brand
• Their products
• How they carry out their work
• El public to whom it is addressed
• What makes them different from the competition
• What the inspires
• Their values
• Obstacles that they have overcome
• Challenges to face in the future

These are just a few of the most common, and one story doesn't have to cover all of them. You are only going to use those who are heavier or add more value and that can capture the attention of customers.

An example is the logo of the Unilever brand. The letter U is made up of 25 icons that they represent the company's products, values, and resources. From a pot of cream or an ice cream that are some of their products, to a bird and the recycling icon to symbolize freedom and their commitment to the environment.

Another example is the Starbucks brand logo. The name was taken from a character in the novel Moby Dick, and the graphic image of the brand always had as intended to reflect the maritime tradition of the early coffee merchants. That's why the logo is represented by a two-tailed mermaid. Later, when the brand was merged with another coffee company called Il Giornale, the original logo was merged with that of the latter company, resulting in the one we see today. In summary, the Brand Storytelling of this brand reflects its history and its inspiration.

Research who your competition is

Find out which are the competing brands with yours and evaluate how are you different from them, y what elements did they use to bring your Brand Storytelling to life through graphic design.

Once you define this, you can enhance the elements that make you different, so that the story you tell is not more of the same or is confused with another company.

An example can be the following makeup brands: Clinique and Farmacy. The two offer similar products, all kinds of cosmetics, soaps, creams and makeup. Clinique specializes in high-quality, hypoallergenic and fragrance-free cosmetics. They have a A fairly wide target audience. Farmacy, specializes in producing cosmetics based on natural components grown on their own farms. The target audience is more specific, people who are more interested in responsible purchasing and committed to an environmental cause.

This difference is noted in the development of the graphic identity of each. Clinique highlights the quality of its products at a dermatological level and combines it with a fashionable and colorful look, while Farmacy highlights the natural elements of the components it uses and even includes wooden caps on the containers and flower illustrations.

Define what you need

The next thing you should do is define what elements you need to tell your story Full: logo, packaging, billboards, website, social media. You have to plan the channels through which the story will be told and how you want it to unfold.

Eg Linenfox brand is a clothing company made exclusively with Oeko-Tex Linen, a type of fabric free of any toxic. The mission of its founders is that clothing is simple, durable, quality and sustainable. They describe it themselves as simple and austere. As simple as their website may seem, it perfectly fulfills what they want to convey, simplicity and order. The logo is not overloaded and the letter i plays a bit to ripple like fabric.

If all the elements that we use at the graphic level agree with the story we seek to convey, no one is going to question the integrity and credibility of our brand.

 Start designing

By having all the previous elements defined, you can now search reference items, keywords, images, colors, textures, photographs, etc., according to your brand and from there, the only thing left is start designing a visual identity that is solidly and consistently fit your Brand Storytelling.