The Art of Business Brand Storytelling

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Consumers are exposed to thousands of commercial messages and ads every day! So, with all these huge commercial ads, how consumers can consider a brand and respond to its messages. Many People check their smartphones once every 10 minutes 96 times a day, therefore unless ad campaigns are attractive and clear in its’ purpose and call to action, consumers will skip & ignore them. How many marketing messages get stored in the average consumer’s memory? One or two? Three, if we are optimistic? Three out of several thousand! If this is partially true, there must be many companies out there who waste an awful lot of money on non-effective marketing.

Storytelling lets brands “get inside the heads” of a prospect’s customer. It creates emotions, paint pictures, and channel the desires, hopes, and dreams of a customer. Stories are the best ways to capture customer attention and hold it. people like to repeat, share stories and pass them around because they remember them. To retain customers’ loyalty in today’s aggressive competitive environment, marketers must create a personalized, relevant experience and differentiate a brand from rivals. The physical product itself no longer has influences that drive the bond between a brand and the consumer. Human beings actively seek stories and experiences in pursuit of a meaningful life. Similarly, companies need to communicate their messages based on values and clearly illustrate how they make a difference for ordinary customers seeking solutions to their problems. Companies need to rethink how to influence and build emotional connections with their audience and their employees. Storytelling and purpose branding can make widely impact on consumers if they join together. A strong brand builds upon emotional values and a good story communicates those values in a language easily understood by the audience. The stories that are circulating around the brand paint a picture of the company’s culture and values, heroes and rivals. By sharing these stories, brands define “who They are” and “What they stand for.” As a result, many companies started to open their eyes to consumers’ needs for an emotional dimension in branding.

The memory of powerful emotional images and events is more vital especially for women who are the household family purchasing driver. An investigation of autobiographical memories found that positive memories contained more sensory and contextual details than neutral or negative memories.

• Emotionally charged events are better remembered

• Unpleasant emotions are less remembered than pleasant emotions

• Positive memories contain more contextual details

• Emotional excitement helps memory to recall events

Nielsen studied brand memorability decay over a more extended period for several digital video ads and concluded that memories could persist either via repetition for specific types of memories or via implicit internalization. Emotional brand storytelling help consumers recognize and recall brand messages as their memory decay will last longer. An analysis of data reveals that Ads campaigns with purely emotional content performed better about double comparing with only rational content. Committing to the emotive branding approach requires a deep understanding of consumer motivation.

Subaru’s ads communicate “love” through a series of ads that puts the Autocar brand as a symbol of caring for those consumers love. Whether it is a father caring for his son or daughter, or a parent caring for their beloved pet, the series of ads are more about what the brand represents to the family by communicating the brand through stories, Subaru elevates its brand values and how it fits into customers’ lives.

In a fantastic story about a soap, Dove decided to include men in its great storytelling approach to marketing Dove’s emotional story. For years, Dove focused on real people and their stories, specifically women who are ‘real,’ not supermodels. Dove made its way by telling stories about beauty, whether it is the beauty of a mother and daughter relationship, or the beauty of a face and body generally viewed as an ‘average.

· It builds a more profound and stronger connection with the consumer.

· It adds a human nature to the content and Increases Brand Recognition

· Storytelling goes beyond advertising; it makes brands more trustworthy.

· Stories help share a brand message; compelling stories go viral.

Stories are the most successful asset to create brand loyalty, making people more willing to promote a product or brand by word-of-mouth, which is the best way to popularize a business.

A story that customers can relate to, and they can see themselves in will remain quicker in their memory than the story that starts with stats. A customer who may have a stubborn boss or face the same challenges with legal compliance might empathize with a hero who overcomes the same challenge or struggle. Therefore, marketers should not rely on the customer to interpret abstract information and concepts. Instead, they should tell the story of a similar person so the brain can visualize and experience the information vicariously. Relatability is essential when a customer puts himself in the hero’s journey with any story. Humans are programmed to respond to stories that they can see themselves in by default.

In his journey, the hero must undertake a conflict associated with struggle, risk, and danger to achieve a purpose he cares about to achieve the story’s goal. If a hero has no goal, no need, there is no reason to struggle or face the conflicts and no reason to confront risk and danger. The purpose establishes a hero’s story goal. All elements of the story are dependent upon the hero. The plot derives from hero and struggle. The beginning, the middle, and the end are made to serve the hero’s needs, and the plot is the servant of the hero. The brand has goals that matter to the customers, and sharing these goals encourages them to engage with the brand to achieve and fulfilling the purpose. Passion must be the driving force behind the hero’s pursuit. The company solution must strive to make a difference for the customer, who is the hero of the story facing struggles and obstacles in his buying journey.

A traditional story consists of the beginning, middle, and end. First, the scene is the set. Next, the progression of dynamic change creates conflict events and sets the parameters for the rest of the story. Plots describe the natural progression of escalating events. The conflict escalates but finally resolves, marking the end of the story. A brand storytelling content should include

· The hero who is a standard customer in a life journey facing challenges

· The Relatability of the story. When a customer becomes part of the story, puts himself in the hero’s shoes, then responds to what the hero is confronting.

· The authenticity that generates empathy

· Story setting, where and when

· Curiosity, a reason to care or be curious.

· A message of purpose and goal

· A plot of cascading events

· A Conflict and struggles that reveal emotions or empathy.

· A satisfying resolution ending.

“While traveling in Argentina in 2006, Blake Mycoskie TOMS Founder witnessed the hardships faced by children growing up without shoes. Wanting to help, he created TOMS Shoes, a company that would match every pair of shoes purchased with a new pair of shoes for a child in need. Blake Mycoskie created the company, and its purpose and goal were in a bold, clear message within these three words” One for One”.

The transcending message for a company’s core story shall include a level of conflict within that message. What does the company stand for, and what it fights for to help its customers to thrive? Without a conflict, there is no story, and there is no meaning for that core message. In the context of branding, the conflicts are the obstacles customers want to conquer. Thus, a brand supports its consumers in the pursuit of their aspirations.

It is the conflict that creates the dynamics of a good story. The conflict is the barrier that the hero seeks to overcome to achieve the goal. Through this conflict, A brand can make its stand while expressing its core values simultaneously. Effectively, building contrasts and opposites are just like the battle between positive and negative experiences, sweet and sour, or fun versus dull. However, in business, a conflict is not necessarily a negative thing. Instead, it is the mechanism for creating a distinctive brand.

American movies over the years often used the good and evil conflict plot for entertainment purposes. It is difficult to imagine a great film like Jaws without a hungry white shark, Superman without kryptonite, or the tale of Little Red Riding Hood without a fierce wolf. The teens would have had a wonderful summer at the beach, Superman would not have had a concern about the world, and Little Red Riding Hood would visit her grandmother and then go home. Boring and predictable events would not matter for anyone! No one

would pay to watch a boring movie without conflict, and a fight between the good and the evil forces and goal never accomplished. Conflict is the motivating force of a good story. No conflict, no story. When faced with a problem or a conflict, the audience instinctively seeks to find a solution. Conflict forces people to act. The characters must be challenged to take action because human beings do not make significant life decisions unless something challenges them. In the classical fairytale story template, conflict expresses itself as a battle between good and evil: the hero versus the villain. The struggle between good and evil communicates the narrator’s perspective, communicating their values and message to the audience. In storytelling, conflict is not harmful or a bad thing. On the contrary, it is a fundamental premise that the narrators can express their perception of right and wrong. Once a marketer decided on a possible transcending message for the brand core story, the next step is to assess the level of conflict within that message. How big a difference does a brand cause make, and what is it fighting to accomplish or help customers solve their problems?

Developing a conflict is about defining two opposing forces or even more. For example, determining the opposite of a brand helps explain the brand’s core story. Here are a few examples:

Apple:

It is about Inclusion, diversity, and privacy and its opposite is the Anonymous uniformity

Nike:

The will to win, inspiration, and innovation and its opposite is Losing

LEGO:

is about Creativity, imagination, and learning whereas its opposite is the Passive entertainment

Virgin:

Is about Insatiable curiosity and its counterpart is business as usual

IKEA:

Is about Cost-​consciousness whereas its opposite Design luxury for the few elite

Harley Davidson:

Is about the excitement of freedom whereas its opposite is boring daily routines

Without conflict, it is challenging to build and maintain a strong core story. If what a brand story is fighting for constitutes customer needs that have already been met, there is no solid adversary to drive the story forward. The world might say we would not need Nike if we were all born athletes winners. Marketers need to reassess purpose and where their brand is heading.

Dreams make a good motivator in a core story. Harley-Davidson is selling a dream; Harley-Davidson’s concept of freedom contrasts with the norms that society places on people and the obligations that follow. The Harley-Davidson conflict lies in Life on the open road versus the straightjacket of “normal” life. The conflict lies between freedom and routine daily activities, which appeals to much a symbol of Americana as Coca-Cola, Pepsi, all who believe in the American Dream. Harley-Davidson is like McDonald’s, and burger king in being part of the culture of society.

Stories happen to characters, but they are about the problems and flowing events that story characters must face. Problems and struggles between the opposing forces are the elements that create conflict. When conflict becomes dangerous, it generates more suspense in its nature. Conflict implies adversaries. These opponents may be external or internal. They may be living beings or forces of nature. The risk and danger associated with the problems and flaws are what the audience cares about and wants to know. Characters must have an interest in the outcome of their struggles. They must have something at risk for which they struggle. There must be some danger to characters. This danger is not physical, but it is a threat to their motions, their reputation, or their self-image. Suppose characters risk nothing, face no danger, and have nothing to lose. In that case, the audience will never feel compelled to stick around to see how the story comes out.

Struggles are the actions a character takes to overcome conflict. No action internal or external means no story. Struggles require a hero and conflict to have meaning for the consumer. If the consumers put themselves in the hero’s shoes, they become part of the story, and they will engage and connect emotionally with story outcomes.

A story typically features a hero pursuing a goal. The hero looks like a Robin Hood fighting for justice and freedom in England. However, the hero’s path to achieving his goal is not problem-free. The adversary tries to fight against the hero, thereby forming the conflict. In the viral Robin Hood story, the adversaries were Prince John and the Sheriff of Nottingham, who must be eliminated for justice to prevail.

A traditional story emerges into three parts: beginning, middle, and end. The events’ progression and escalation create conflict and set the boundaries for the rest of the story. When the conflict escalates to the tipping point, it is finally resolved, marking the end of the story. A successful conflict requires a hero and a villain with opposing goals. In the hero’s journey, the adversary stands in opposition to the hero’s pursuit. By fighting against the adversary, the hero struggles toward his personal development and resolves the story’s conflict. To get customers involved in a story, marketers must identify the character’s problem and goal. For a successful story, the audience must engage with both the hero and the story’s dilemma.

One of the big modern-day corporate conflict stories is Steve Jobs returning to Apple after being terminated from his established company. It is a “Voyage and Return” plot story. What makes Steve Jobs return so compelling is the setting time. Apple was in trouble, and its innovation driving force has stopped. Returning to his visionary roots, his time away from Apple in Pixar movies contributed to the turnaround. Steve learned at Pixar the strength of story visualization and how that impacts the audience. He applied storytelling visualization in announcing to the world Apple’s first smartphone. Steve Jobs was motivated to make a change, and he successfully and brilliantly did a profound shift that affected the whole world by Apple’s innovative product, the smartphone.

The fatal mistake some brands make, incredibly immature new brands who believe they need to prove themselves, are positioning themselves as heroes in the story instead of the guide. A brand that sets itself as the hero is to lose unless there is a clear purpose and goal.

Domino’s Pizza, a brand once suffered by poor customer opinions of its quality. In a series of ad campaigns, the company explicitly acknowledged these complaints and announced efforts to improve. Dominos had to revive the brand. Dominos launched an ad campaign that has become legendary for its courage, sharing comments in social media from focus groups about what people thought of the product: “worst pizza I ever had”; “the sauce tastes like ketchup”; “the crust tastes like cardboard.” They even created a “Pizza Turnaround” documentary to document the process. Since then, their sales have grown substantially. Domino’s Pizza announced the first quarter of 2021 financial results showing a global growth of 14% despite the pandemic Covid 2019. In this successful brand storytelling effort, Domino’s leveraged all three elements in its favor: The character of a brand invested in customer satisfaction, the conflict with consumer disappointment, and the conclusion of making good on a renewed commitment to quality. The story’s purpose is that brand is caring and courageous about earning the satisfaction of its customers. The critical point is to focus on the customers, offering them a heroic role in a meaningful remembered story. Customers need to be heard, understood with the essence of empathy. Genuine empathy means letting customers know that brands see them and sympathize with themw

A hero character is the central organizing element of all stories. Stories occur to characters who are the driving force of a story, but not all stories are worth telling unless they have meaning and purpose. Sometimes, a brand may serve as a character hero, but there should be a valid reason to explain a goal or purpose around the character facing a problem. For example, it is better off to make a customer the hero of the brand story, telling stories about issues customers have met, and stories that customers can imagine themselves in.

A brand story is a narrative that illustrates its origins, exposes why a brand exists, and the problem it solves for its customers in their struggle to find a solution to their problems. It resonates with the customer and attracts them towards brand values and core messages, even if they are not explicitly stated in the story. The hero takes the actions, experiences the conflicts, and undertakes the struggles of a story. Hero is at the core of every story element and event. No other element has meaning and relevance without a hero seeking a meaningful goal taking risks and overcoming conflicts and struggles. When a customer is a hero in the story, the product or service plays the supporting and guiding role, which helps the customer finds a solution or accomplish a goal. The hero character adds flesh and blood to the brand’s role in the story world. On the other hand, it also sheds light on the conflict and the passion that motivates the brand to advance.

The plot is an essential part of any story as it escalates the events in a hero’s journey in a logical order. It defines what the story is all about, what the hero will experience, and what it will achieve. It sets up the motivations, challenges, the goal, and the road hero takes to fulfill it. Story flowing events are vital to the audience’s experience. It must have a coherent composition to propel it forward and maintain audience interest. Once the conflict escalates to no return point, the hero decides, influencing the outcome result. The escalation of the conflict and the hero’s character progress development drives the story forward, building up to a climax, where the hero finally confronts the villain. The seven basic plots: Why We Tell Stories is a 2004 book by Christopher Booker, contained an influenced analysis of story plots and their psychological meaning. The seven plots are as follows: -

1) Overcoming the monster

It was featured in James Bond, Jaws, and many other movies. This plot is about a hero and an evil force. In a real-world example, this could be overcoming an addiction, fighting off a lousy boss, debt, beating an illness, or anything else that requires something to be defeated for the hero (customer) to win.

2) Rags to riches

Like Cinderella and Aladdin, the success and crisis apply to anyone with an undeniably incredible talent who wants to break through and be successful in the real world, like Photographers, musicians, artists, authors like Harry Potter J. K. Rowling.

3) The Quest

Lord of the Rings, seeking and finding. This is indeed the story of every beginning entrepreneurial journey where a product or service to be a long-lasting tool that can last along the way.

4) Voyage and return

The Time Machine exploring. Alice in wonderland. A brand assists the customer at their arrival destination. It could be language learning software, cultural etiquette training, photo guides, maps, and tours.

5) Comedy

Bridget Jones’s Diary. From confusion to enlightenment. The comedy plot involves confusion that must be resolved before the hero and heroine can be united in love.

In the real world, customers cannot seem to get out of their way. They are constantly finding themselves in one misadventure after another and could use a little assistance (the brand) to be led on the right path.

6) Tragedy

Romeo and Juliet, the price of fatal flaws.

Plots about divorce lawyers, grief counselors, self-help books, and anyone who helps their customer get through a tough time. Because this is so self-evident, it is not difficult to identify when a customer is going through a tragedy.

7) Rebirth

They are finding the personal light. But, unfortunately, in the real world, just like in “A Christmas Carol,” customers may not even know a problem exists until a brand shows them just how bad they were doing.

In most Hollywood films, screenwriters used these seven plot templates to build up their stories which often end positively, restoring harmony. Most plots revolve around a hero fighting evil, encountering a challenge, profound transformation in the hero’s character due to unpleasant or sudden shocking events, or a hero pursuing a dream comes true.

The company fights for justice. A brand is not afraid to battle against the dominating forces in the market: forces that have created a monopoly, which does not benefit the consumer. 70 % of consumers want brands to stand on social and political issues according to a survey. Following in the footprints of Nike and Patagonia, the list of brands holding social and political stands has grown to reach over every industry. Consumers’ social media feeds have recently become saturated with brands joining social justice conversations. However, consumers reported that brands do not always seem genuine, even before the Black Lives Matter movement. 53 % of consumers believe brands shall take a stand for public relations and marketing purposes and 35 % perceive brands speaking out as “jumping on the bandwagon.” Brands should not be scared to take a stance, but they will need to sustain their credibility.

According to a consumer’s survey, a brand’s stand is most believable when it is about an issue that impacts its customers and is relevant to the business. And it does not end there, a company will also need to be clear about what it is doing to back its messaging by action. When consumers agree with a brand’s stance, 37% will recommend that company to their friends and family, and 36% will buy more from that brand. If brands genuinely consider making a difference by taking a social and political stand, understanding, and aligning with consumers’ best interests is vital for creating a successful campaign and powerful results.

Mastercard launched a similarly out-of-touch campaign as part of the 2018 FIFA World Cup. The brand proposed to donate 10,000 meals to starving children in developing countries for every goal scored by Messi or Neymar in the international tournament. It caused an immediate social protest, indicating that the multi-billion-dollar company donated the meals regardless of which players scored. Eventually, Mastercard admitted and agreed that it would donate the meals, yet was left red-faced, proof that specific topics, such as starving children, should be tackled very properly in marketing campaigns to avoid backfire

After President Trump temporarily blocked America’s borders to refugees, Airbnb aired a Super Bowl ad to criticize the order, called “We Accept.” Airbnb also promised to provide short-term housing for 100,000 displaced people and donate $4 million to the International Rescue Committee. Their campaign “Acceptance starts with all of us #weaccept” was a well-received campaign by the audience, marking a significant impact.

In the wake of the travel ban, many people shared their sentiments on social media, sparking some emotional debates. To steer the conversation toward the topic of acceptance, Airbnb showed support for immigrants and refugees and achieved its goal of starting a conversation by sharing their message during the most-watched TV event of the year, using powerful imagery, and creating a hashtag.

All companies have the authentic raw material for telling their own stories. Marketers shall build a corporate brand on the real-life stories told by the employees, customers, and working partners. Stories anchored in the corporate culture create a solid and authentic brand for a company. Clothing brands like Patagonia and The North Face have consistently supported causes that work to protect the environment. Patagonia’s campaigns have always helped the brand’s environmental vows; all the profits made over 2016’s Black Friday sale were donated entirely to local environmental NGOs. Moreover, Patagonia’s subversive ‘Don’t buy this jacket’ campaign helped raise awareness over the dangers of fast fashion and the importance of recycling clothing.

What Patagonia has recognized is that doing good is good for its business. “The real message of ‘Don’t Buy This Jacket’ is don’t buy this jacket if you don’t need it. if you do need a jacket, make sure you buy something that is built to be repaired, has a clear purpose. So, it’s not about encouraging people to not own things; it’s about changing people’s relationship with stuff and being not just thoughtful consumers but thoughtful and careful owners of stuff.”

Every great hero needs a great villain. Villains are the opposing force of a story that challenges the hero and drives the action. A good villain is a complex evil character whom readers and viewers simultaneously love and hate. Unless marketers define the brand’s villains, the hero will not stand out brightly. Stories with heroes and villains might inspire the customers to change. The Audience empathizes and mimics heroes’ behavior and suppresses the behaviors embodied by villains. A good villain makes a story a lot more entertaining and exciting for the viewers as it keeps the suspense growing across the progression of story events. Villains and adversaries give context to the story plot in a way that no other character can do because they make the audience see the level of evil or opposition through the Villain’s eyes. Villains in the content marketing perspective often are not people or objects. Customer frustration, overpricing, confusing processes, terrible customer support, slow service, and the complicated purchasing process could be the adversary forces of antagonism that a heroic brand shall conquer. According to research, 66% of respondents felt it is essential for brands to take a public stance on leading social and political issues like immigration, human rights, and race relations. Marketers can use these causes to invent an adversary force in brand storytelling.

Southwest Airlines builds its pricing model around the villain of competitors’ hidden fees. The Carrier celebrated customers and underscored core values such as low fares. While other low-cost airlines charge for seat choices, checked bags, and even water, Southwest does not. In 2015, Southwest Airlines launched the “Transfarency” campaign focused on the carrier’s low-fare message and newly refreshed livery and interior. The 2017 campaign -Behind Every Story is the Reason for Transfarency, built on Transfarency through the emotional telling of customer stories and their reasons for flying. They reminded customers that they were at the core of the carrier’s purpose: connect passengers to what is essential in their lives through friendly, reliable, and low-cost air travel. They made up a unique trust for their no-hidden-fees pricing strategy: “Transfarency,” which is a philosophy of treating customers honestly and fairly, and low fares stay low—no unexpected bag fees, change fees, or hidden fees. Southwest Airlines created this villain in their marketing all the time, and people like it and engage with it.

At the corporate level, a brand core story revolves around values connects with an audience with similar values and beliefs, which invites them to become brand loyal tribes. A purpose message surrounding a brand helps shape a company’s identity if it uses storytelling narrative techniques that enable an emotional response from the audience and make meaningful connections. The message should not be confused with a slogan or logo. A tagline is a short, catchy expression that incorporates the story message used in company advertising.

Brand storytelling is a tool for telling stories, not for its sake. Instead, marketers used stories to deliver messages positively to the company brand.

But what is a well-defined message? Without a strategic purpose, there is no reason to tell stories. For example, “Just Do It” is Nike’s slogan; however, their message is that every game is about winning. With effort and determination, everyone can be a winner. Nike is fighting to help the customers be more confident about themselves, overcome restraints, and “Just Do It” to win. Nike is fighting a lack of self-confidence and hesitation. According to Nike, if anyone wants to win, quitting is not an option, and reaching a goal might require sacrifice.

In a Nike controversial commercial in 2018, Colin Kaepernick focused on sacrificing moto initiated a vast debate in social media between the audience who split between disagreed and agreed on that message: Although Nike lost a slice of its angry customers, Nike successfully received a large scale of brand recognition created all over the news and in harsh debates between potential consumers. The controversial Ad won the award for outstanding commercial at the Creative Arts Emmys. According to Business Insider, the ad was successful, despite its high risk. It was trending on Twitter for millions; Nike received more than $43 million USD worth of media exposure.

Nike fully invested in the cause and the heroism that Kaepernick portrayed. That heroism role was the essential part of Robin Hood storytelling ad confronting the adversary forces of disagreed Trump supporters during the escalation of conflict events. Nike saw an opportunity of polarization throughout divided America then used it as a marketing tool. Despite the backfire from some Americans, the campaign was a successful hit. Nike Stocks rose by 5% in the weeks following the ad’s release.

The possibility for animal testing is still a massive risk worldwide. No laws against testing in cosmetics in over 80% of countries. Cruelty-Free International estimates that approximately 500,000 animals are still used in cosmetics testing every year. Anita Roddick established the Body Shop beauty brand in 1976. The founder wanted her company to stand for important values associated with brand identity. An important message accompanied the brand, launched by an alliance with internal employees and customers in 1989. The Body Shop, which has over 3,000 stores in more than 60 countries, was the first international cosmetic brand to campaign against animal testing in cosmetics in 1989, opening the way to a U.K. ban in 1998 and European Union-wide ban on animal testing in 2013. The Body Shop continues its efforts to fight passionately against animal testing on products and ingredients, which is cruel and unnecessary. The Body Shop implemented a Robin hood storytelling plot fighting for animals against the adversary forces of greedy unworried competitors. The brand usefully delivered its message and won in some ethical battles.

Since the beginning, Volvo started as a car brand associated with safety as a purpose-based company. Volvo is always proud of its invention, the 3-point safety belt, and the millions of lives it saved over the years. Volvo waived its patent rights to allow other car manufacturers to use this technology.

In 2021 Volvo changed its direction towards electric cars and green energy as a sustainable strategy towards the future. Volvo’s ambition is to become a fully electric car company by 2030 and climate neutral by 2040.” Sustainability is now as vital as safety to us, and climate change is the ultimate safety test.” The CEO of Volvo cars announced this direction of the company in a YouTube video, “Volvo Cars Moment Recharge “with the hashtag #ForEveryonesSafety​. The company posted a catchy ad, “The Ultimate Safety Test,” to emphasize to its customers and the world that the biggest threat to safety now comes from climate change. In the new ad, a spokesperson takes viewers on a tour of Volvo’s safety tests over the years and then moves up north to the arctic pole, where he asked whether a 100-foot drop is suitable as the ultimate safety test. A collapsing glacier delivered the shocking answer, interrupting the ad with a bold reminder that the biggest threat to safety is not on the road. According to Volvo, today, climate change is the ultimate safety test. Volvo currently cares about climate change as a brand purpose alongside safety.

Since the beginning, Volvo started as a car brand associated with safety as a purpose-based company. Volvo is always proud of its invention, the 3-point safety belt, and the millions of lives it saved over the years. Volvo waived its patent rights to allow other car manufacturers to use this technology.

In 2021 Volvo changed its direction towards electric cars and green energy as a sustainable strategy towards the future. Volvo’s ambition is to become a fully electric car company by 2030 and climate neutral by 2040.” Sustainability is now as vital as safety to us, and climate change is the ultimate safety test.” The CEO of Volvo cars announced this direction of the company in a YouTube video, “Volvo Cars Moment Recharge “with the hashtag #ForEveryonesSafety​. The company posted a catchy ad, “The Ultimate Safety Test,” to emphasize to its customers and the world that the biggest threat to safety now comes from climate change. In the new ad, a spokesperson takes viewers on a tour of Volvo’s safety tests over the years and then moves up north to the arctic pole, where he asked whether a 100-foot drop is suitable as the ultimate safety test. A collapsing glacier delivered the shocking answer, interrupting the ad with a bold reminder that the biggest threat to safety is not on the road. According to Volvo, today, climate change is the ultimate safety test. Volvo currently cares about climate change as a brand purpose alongside safety.

At Danish shipping company Maersk Group, the central message has always been that trust, connection, people, discipline, punctuality, disciplined execution, and constant care. Every time the company is paying attention to details, doing it right for the first time is the foundation of a reliable business. In return, their customers can be safe knowing that things are always on track. The passed away founder of the company used to express his message in two words “constant care,” a term that, to this day, is firmly rooted at the heart of the company and its core story. “Imagine if a restaurant was like shipping” is an ad by Maersk featuring a story clip inside a restaurant. A couple was rolled out of the restaurant on a rainy night due to complex overbooking. The customers are the heroes and the victims, simultaneously facing a conflict of overbooking, price rise, and uncertainty of their orders. The company emphasized its solution to the problem by introducing Maersk spot, loading guarantee, easy online booking, and fixed price. The company continues to deliver more core messages around its brand core values.

Here are some more inspirational examples of other brand’s core stories:

Harley-Davidson is about independence and power, freedom to travel, living a life without rules.

Apple is about innovation and shaping technology to benefit human needs and recently added privacy.

Greenpeace is battling for the global environment.

Virgin is about being playful, modern, and energetic.

LEGO is about kids’ imagination, creativity, fun, learning, caring, quality, people promise and play.

Adidas builds on a passion for sports and a sporting lifestyle.

Pepsi is about “Excitement of Now.”

Coca-Cola is about to “refresh the world in mind, body, and spirit, and inspire moments of optimism; to create value and make a difference.”

BMW is about sophistication.

Ford is about to make people’s lives better by making mobility accessible and affordable

Uber is beyond simple.

Redbull is about energy, boldness, adrenaline, actions, and adventures.

Ikea is about to offer a wide range of well-designed, functional home furnishing products at prices so low that as many people as possible will afford them.

United airlines write on its website: “We are committed to providing a level of service to our customers that makes us a leader in the airline industry. We understand that we need to have a proud product and employees who like coming to work every day. Our goal is to make every flight a positive experience for our customers”.

When a company contradicts its values and commitment towards its customers, it is a severe problem. United airlines faced two major public relations disasters. The first one,” united breaks the guitar,” in 2009. The second one was more brutal in 2017 when a passenger violently dragged off the plane to free up seats for dead-heading employees. The core message of these two stories is that a brand did not learn from its past mistakes and continued to mistreat its customers taking benefits from a non-availability of enough competition in the U.S. airline industry. When a brand feels some monopoly over its market, it does not care anymore.

Musician Dave Carroll filed a complaint about his guitar, mishandled and broken while in United Airline’s custody in 2008. The company refused to compensate or take any responsibility, which eventually led Carrol to publish a song on YouTube in 2009 about his horrible experience traveling with united airlines. The video went viral and passed 150,000 views within one day, prompting United to contact Carroll to say it hoped to correct the matter. The video had 5 million views by August 2009, 10 million by February 2011, and 15 million by August 2015. It has roughly 20.7 million views and 212,000 likes as of July 2021. Within four weeks of the video being posted online, United Airlines’ stock price fell 10%, costing stockholders about $180 million USD in value.

The second biggest Public relations crisis occurred in 2017. Dr. David Dao, a Vietnamese American passenger, was injured while being forcibly removed from a fully boarded, sold-out flight to Louisville International Airport. The incident Video went viral, and United Airlines stock plummeted. The company mishandled the incident, and the CEO issued two apology letters as the first one was bad. As a result, United’s consumer perception dropped to a 10-year low. A consistent lousy reputation is difficult to recover despite aggressive marketing, brand building, and corporate storytelling messages.

A company without respecting and fulfilling its purpose core values and actions will not positively affect the business environment. A corporate core story must be strengthened and anchored throughout the company and integrated across all departments and sections to enhance brand identity internally and externally. Without a consistently excellent customer service experience, a brand loses its credibility and trustworthiness.