Creating narratives and telling stories in brand advertising - the "Relationship Age" of brand advertising

Brands use a "story" to connect with their audiences - these go beyond the products on offer, speaking to the person about what the brand is and what it can do for them.   A brand narrative ties in with the element found in persuasive artworks of telling a story - in both cases, the story is used to pique the emotional interest of the audience, often to great effect.  Today, in what digital brand strategist Peter Thompson (2012) calls "the Relationship Age", the story around the brand is more important than the products themselves.  "There is almost infinite demand for meaning…the new growth will come from hand-crafted, relationship-based businesses that can think like a small company and move resources like a large company.  The next big drive…will be a return to human values and relationships."
People have always bought into an emotional experience but they are now doing it more than ever.  Over the course of this semester I have looked at many brands who have catered to this this very well in different ways; in this post I will look at a few notable examples.  This should help inform the next stages of my work; analysing what makes these narrative campaigns so effective should help me understand what I can do myself.

Paul Mitchell

The Paul Mitchell website caught my eye first when James from Equator presented it to us in third year as part of a presentation he gave to my class.  I thought about it again when researching narratives in brand advertising, as Paul Mitchell have a very strong set of values and practises which was presented clearly on the site and reflected in the visuals.  Many people only know the brand as a line of high-quality haircare products.   The story that can be found at paulmitchell.com tells of the aforementioned hair line, but also of the team behind the products, their beliefs and commitments to good causes.  The homepage (Figure 1) is a perfect starting point for this - the dual images of "Live Beautifully" and "Feel Beautiful" represent the two sides of the company which link together, both in real life and through the repeated use of the word "beautiful".  

Figure 1

The Paul Mitchell campaign is prime example of the use of persuasion in brand advertising.  Persuasion is identified by the perceived benefit which both the persuading party and it's audience will have.   The #GivingIsMyStyle project demonstrates this, as the audience is invited to "join" the Paul Mitchell family by instagramming their voluntary or charity work, thus contributing to the company's charity donations.  Overall the Paul Mitchell customer is persuaded by both the products on offer and the emotional benefit of giving money to a company which will pass proceeds on to charitable causes.  

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Figure 3

Paul Mitchell are upfront and proud about their anti-animal testing beliefs, which catches a certain kind of ethically conscious audience.  

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The overall perception of the Paul Mitchell brand, after viewing the website, is that the company extends far beyond the haircare products.  The narrative that has been built around their ethical practises and general caring attitude towards customers and team members alike means new customers feel inclined to involve themselves in the "family" and loyal customers will stay emotionally invested.

Lush Cosmetics

Lush are similarly committed to ethical practises, however in this case it is their major selling point and the narrative around this encompasses all facets of their brand, through product packaging, advertisements and in-store experiences.  By pushing their practise though multiple platforms and marketing it to a particular customer, Lush's story tells itself.

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Bright sugary visuals also suggest the natural processes of making products - the swirly mix of product and food dye looks not unlike geothermal rock formations.  This theme of nature and safe products is continued through images like the one below, showing products which look like they smell great and even look edible.

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Like Paul Mitchell, Lush are committed to working with charities, in this case through their work with co-operatives in Africa.  Images such as the ones below emphasise the human aspect of the brand, further presenting the "hand-crafted" selling point of Lush products as well as respect for the farmers from whom they get their products from.  By doing this Lush draw in ethically conscious customers who are concerned with fair-trade produce, another big selling point in today's market.

Figure 9

The involvement of people in creating Lush's products is also shown through their packaging designs - a portrait of the worker who makes each product is shown on the back of each label, as a kind of guarantee that whatever natural concoction being bought was not made by a machine.  This personal element speaks to Thompson's aforementioned desire of the public to feel as though care and compassion has gone into the creation of the product.

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Nandos 

Nandos are an interesting one as they offer a service more than goods (however some products can be found in supermarkets), yet similar themes can be seen in their advertising in terms of a personal aspect.
This screenshot from their "Our Food" page shows an emphasis on home-grown produce which is fresh and prepared in a healthy way (grilled).  This shows an element of care which has been put into the food on offer at Nandos - by presenting the healthy aspect of their practises, Nando's make their customers feel as though their wellbeing is being looked out for.

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The visuals suggesting a family friendly environment make the brand appear to be about the customer experience over the food.   Again, a potential customer viewing this page would feel like their trip to Nando's would be well catered for.

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Nando's approach to how it views its employees is similar to that of Lush and Paul Mitchell - "it's the people that make the chicken" show a high regard for customer service and employee care.  

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Nando's present a story where the person is at the heart of the brand - whether as a customer or as an employee.   This is what makes it different from chains such as McDonalds or Pizza Hut where the food remains very central to the advertising and brand identity.   This is also evident through some of the visual styles used in Nando's brand promotion - the hand-crafted papery style shown below continues the impression of big personality, warmth and a personal touch to the service.  Photos of the Nando's founders (figure) give the impression that Nando's is a "heritage" brand. 

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So what I can take from looking at these particular brands and how they go about telling their story is that people are past the product-centred approach, instead looking for a human element in any brand they are going to invest themselves in.  As Thompson writes on his blog: "How many times have you visited the 'About us' page of a company's we site before the product page?  The fact is that you are looking for people, for other warm-bodied human beings.  We do this because people don't care how much you know, until they know how much you care." (Thompson, 2012). 

References

Thomson, Peter J. 2012.  Peter J Thompson - Digital Brand Strategy with Peter J Thompson.  "The future of customer relationships." [online article] Available at: http://www.peterjthomson.com/2011/12/relationship-age

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All images are screenshots from the following websites:

Fig 1. [online image] Available at:

paulmitchell.com

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Fig 2 [online image] Available at:

https://www.paulmitchell.com/our-story/

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Fig 3 [online image] Available at:

https://www.paulmitchell.com/our-story/caring-for-our-planet/

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Fig 4 [online image] Available at:

paulmitchell.com

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Fig 5 [online image] Available at:

https://www.paulmitchell.com/our-products/

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Fig 6  [online image] Available at:

https://www.lush.co.uk/kitchen

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Fig 7  [online image] Available at:

https://www.lush.co.uk/kitchen

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Fig 8  [online image] Available at:

https://www.lush.co.uk/kitchen

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Fig 9 [online image] Available at:

https://www.lush.co.uk

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Fig 10 [online image] Available at:

http://www.peterjthomson.com/2011/12/relationship-age

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Fig 11 [online image] Available at:

http://www.nandos.co.uk/menu/our-food

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Fig 12 [online image] Available at:

http://www.nandos.co.uk/menu/nandinos

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Fig 13 [online image] Available at:

http://www.nandos.co.uk/careers

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Fig 14 [online image] Available at:

http://www.nandos.com/our-story

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Fig 15 [online image] Available at:

http://www.nandos.com/our-story

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