INTRODUCTION

I want to tell you a story…

This book aims to be an alternative to traditional marketing handbooks. Rather than a textbook, it is first and foremost meant to be an enjoyable “storybook” to which the reader can dip into. They can read short tales about some of the world’s leading brands: their origins, their actions, their innovations, their beliefs and in some cases their demise.

However, like many good storybooks, it’s more than just stories: it was written to communicate a message. In this case, it aims to help businesspeople – from general managers to marketing managers to aspiring marketers – think about and understand more of the principles of good branding.

To this end, all of the stories have a “moral”, highlighting a principle or a lesson from which other brands can learn.

The power of a good story

This book is far from being the first to recognize the power of a good story. Scheherazade managed to keep herself alive for 1,001 nights by leaving her stories unfinished overnight, keeping her husband, the young sultan, in suspense. Troubadours and minstrels earned their living telling stories and singing for their suppers. Novels, movies, comics and, some might say,parts of the press are all modern forms of storytelling. It seems that, as a race, we humans love a good story.

Stories aren’t just for enjoyment, though, they have long been a powerful tool for teaching; the interesting expression of the particular to make or illustrate a more general point.

Jesus used parables as the basis for His teaching. The Karma Sutra may have a role as a manual for sexual techniques but it was originally the story of a young maiden in India. The Victorians loved their rhyming Cautionary Tales. Aesop told his fables.

The Archers, the BBC radio series that has run for over 13,000 episodes, was originally intended as a drama-based educational programme. The Government hoped farmers would listen to the stories but simultaneously pick up messages that would help them feed a still-rationed Britain.

Once upon a brand

Today’s companies are increasingly recognizing that one of the best ways to help ensure a prosperous future for their brands is to tell stories about themselves and their brands. Not only does this ensure all of their employees know and understand their history but it helps teach them about the values and the behaviours that they wish to encourage. Compared to PowerPoint presentations and traditional training sessions, stories are more engaging, better remembered and provide the heroes, the “role models”, that employees can aspire to or follow.

Nike has a number of Ekins (Nike backwards), senior executives who spend much of their time serving as “corporate storytellers”. They tell the company’s stories to everyone from vice presidents to sales reps to the hourly workers who run the cash registers at Nike’s stores. Nelson Farris, Nike’s Director of Corporate Education and the company’s chief Ekin, is on record as saying: “Our stories are not about extraordinary business plans or inancial manipulations; they’re about people getting things done.”

One of the stories an Ekin might tell is how legendary track and field coach and Nike co-founder Bill Bowerman, who on deciding that his team needed better running shoes went out to his workshop and poured rubber into the family waffle iron. The real power of this story is that it is not just an engaging tale of how Nike’s famous “waffle sole” was born, but also a demonstration of Nike’s spirit of innovation.

The stories spread

As such stories are told and retold, their impact spreads, reaching far beyond a specfic company’s employees. The stories are told to, heard by and retold by two other groups of people.

The general public – you and I – are hearing these stories more and more frequently. We find them on the Internet, on TV, in the newspaper or on the radio. They are becoming part of the social currency around brands and often have a very positive effect on the overall perceptions of the brand in question.

One example is the Nordstrom story to be found on page 104 – A tired old story? Not only does it teach Nordstrom employees what the brand’s values are and what behaviours are expected of them, but when customers and non-customers hear it, they learn about a retailer that takes real pride in its customer service.

Because of their power of influence, some brands are explicitly using their stories both internally and externally. For brands like Apple, Nike, Virgin, Coke and innocent, stories are integral to their PR strategies. Coke uses digital storytelling at its Coca-Cola World Centre in Atlanta, from which the Iris Bell story, Daddy’s good luck charm, comes (page 76).

Admittedly, stories aren’t always positive. Some stories can be damaging: Nike’s The stitching and the e-mail is a classic example. A story that Nike must wish had never become so public but which is on page 60.

The second group of people who are now hearing and retelling stories is made up of business leaders and marketers, who are hearing and reading stories about other brands and even their competitors. For this audience, such stories can play two roles. The “morals” of these stories can offer lessons about what they might want to do – or not do – with their brands and in their marketing. The stories also raise the inevitable question: “Shouldn’t we have stories to tell about our brand?”; starting their hearers on a search to identify anecdotes about their own histories.

This book hopes to play a role in the spreading of this new breed of brand stories beyond their internal audiences, and to provide inspiration and lessons for business and brand mangers everywhere.

A few are more general stories which talk about specific aspects of branding, insight and innovation. The title story – The prisoner and the penguin on page 15 – is not just a heart-warming story but also a demonstration of the power of good branding and the role that visual icons can play.

In search of a good story

The specific stories in the book have been collected and selected by me over a number of years. Some I know from first-hand experience or from having worked on the brand, some come from talking to people who were involved. Others come from research and hearsay, but I have tried to give credit to the books, newspapers, magazines, websites and people who provided them.

To the best of my knowledge they are “true”, but some may have been altered, exaggerated or amended with their telling and retelling, so I hope anyone who knows better will forgive any liberties they feel may have been inadvertently taken.

Finally, with this book as proof, I believe the real power of stories is in their telling and re-telling. They may grow and change but the best live on and on. They are enjoyable and can be educational, so I hope you enjoy reading the ones here but I also hope you enjoy re-telling these stories.

Finally, if you know a great brand story that isn’t included then please do send it to me at [email protected] because I love hearing a new story even more than I like telling an old one.

The other characters in the story of this book

The story of this book is a long one and there are many characters that have played an important part in its writing and to whom I owe my thanks:

The friends, family, colleagues and clients who have shared their stories.

Lou Ellerton, who helped in so many ways, from encouraging me to keep going, for suggestions and ideas, for editing and proof reading (of which I needed lots!).

Dawn Childs, who designed and redesigned the cover for me and who created the illustrations which help add the character I wanted for the final book.

My fellow Directors at The Value Engineers, who have supported and encouraged me along the way.

To Adam, my brother, for timely support, suggestions and for first telling me the story of The prisoner and the penguin.

And of course to my wife and family, who have put up with my scribbling.

Giles Lury

The Value Engineers