top of page

Craft Your Brand's Narrative with Confidence:
Six questions to Define Your Unique Story and Build Your Marketing Strategy

As a business owner, defining your brand story is crucial to creating a strong marketing strategy that resonates with your target audience. Your brand story sets the tone for your messaging, shapes your identity, and helps you differentiate from competitors. This questionnaire is designed to guide you through the process of defining your brand's narrative by prompting you to consider key elements such as your brand's values and personality. By completing this questionnaire, you'll gain a clearer understanding of your brand and be equipped with the foundational knowledge necessary to develop a successful marketing strategy. Trust yourself, and let's begin crafting your brand's story with confidence.

1) Why does your brand exist?

What are you trying to do by building this brand? This speaks more to mission and philosophy than business goals. What gets you up in the morning and drives you to get the work done?

2) What makes your product or service uniquely interesting?

Define 3 unique characteristics of your brand that differentiate you within your category. Eg: We're fast, we're good and we're friendly.

4) Why does the world need this?

Or why does your consumer need this?

5) What are your truths and your values?

The four truths or values that make your business who it is. These values are non-negotiable and not observing or living up to them would be considered a fireable offense in your organization. If your company was ever sold to a huge conglomerate, these are the four things that could never be changed about your product or operation without losing the core of what it is you make.
 

  • Start with a verb. Values are meant to guide behavior and decision-making. Move away from lofty words like “Integrity” and toward clearer directives like “Do the Right Thing,” “Tell the Truth,” or “Follow Through.” A good rule of thumb is that it should fit easily into a sentence like “We really need to _____ in this situation,” or “I want you to _____ when that happens.”

  • Keep them short and sweet. The most successful values are concise, memorable phrases. Whole Foods’ values lose some of their power with winding statements like “We practice win-win partnerships with our suppliers.” Aim for something simple and punchier, like “Create Win-Wins.”

  • No more than four. Memorability is the most important quality in a value, and any more than four guarantees they won’t be easily called to mind. Zappos is a great story, to be sure, but even after their revelation they still went on to create a list of ten values. Southwest Airlines has no fewer than 30 listed on their Careers Page. Challenge yourself to prioritize.

  • They should be authentic. We like to say that we’re anthropologists, not architects. Your goal with values shouldn’t be to sculpt something new from the clay, but to extract what already exists within your culture. Ask yourself, “Who are we when we’re our best selves?”

  • They should balance each other out. Sometimes a set of values might seem at odds with itself, but this isn’t necessarily a bad thing. If you’re a sales-driven, competitive organization, you may want your team to “Play to Win”—but not at the expense of “Helping Each Other.”

  • They should support your mission. Try your values on for size by examining them within the context of your mission statement. If everyone fully embodies your values, can you successfully deliver on your mission?

  • They should empower autonomy. Think back to that decision you called to mind a moment ago. Done right, your values should help your team reach the same conclusion you did—giving them the autonomy to do their jobs well.

6) Name three brands that you love.

They can be brands from your niche, or anywhere! Try to include a website url.

Add your links!

Add any relevant links to your website, social media, a Dropbox or Google Drive folder with any assets you'd like us to review.


Oops!  Missed something.  Just scroll up to see what it is.

3) Who is your brand for?

Be specific with this one. Define your niche and think about this one in layers. The more specifically you can define this person, the more likely you'll be to catch their attention. For example, "Our product is for career-oriented women, aged 35-45, who have trouble sleeping at night and like organic supplements." All of these attributes start to build a pathway to a very specific audience.

A great example of a brand who has nailed this is Hendrick's Gin. They don’t label their audience by age, as many brands do. Instead, they focus on the “state of mind.” Their concern is not how old someone is, but rather the attitude they have. Hendrick’s doesn’t want to exclude someone because they are out of an age bracket.

By focusing on attitude, Hendricks can create an immersive experience for the right person. Their branding does not necessarily attract a certain age demographic, but rather a certain type of person, a curious person. This approach is the foundation of all of their marketing efforts and is one of the primary reasons why they have been so successful.

bottom of page