Whether you are a brand or a retailer, emotion is the new currency to get consumers to consume, and shoppers to buy. Today, marketers use actual currency in the form of price promotion, but this is costing too much and is no longer sustainable. If emotion is indeed the new currency, then stories are the critical new delivery system. If you want your brand to be a contending force in 10 years, you must write your brand story today, or you will be writing its obituary later. The million dollar question is — how do you create your brand story?

1. ost organizations adhere to an outdated
marketing platform of “generating
transactions that sell goods and services.”
While this transactional approach has successfully created
multibillion dollar companies, it is not sufficient to move
them into a successful future.
Here is a question all companies must ask: Can we
continue creating enough new transactions to generate
sustainable growth using the same marketing methods
that got us to where we are today? When we put that
question to clients the answer is always no. Senior
marketing leaders from all over the world tell us how their
strategies and plans deliver minor share gains only to see
those gains shift back to their competitors two or three
quarters later.
Companies must evolve the role of their marketing
function from “generating transactions” to “building
emotional relationships that lead to the sale of goods and
services.” Brands and retailers have a choice to make: be
meaningful and play a significant ongoing role in people’s
lives, or remain transactional, only thought of when
needed.
Starting today, the only unshakeable advantage is
to build an emotional relationship with your consumers
that is so strong, competitors can’t disrupt it. It is this type
of emotional loyalty that gives your brand a sustainable
competitive advantage. And there is plenty of in-market
quantifiable proof that brands bringing emotional meaning
to people’s lives outperform their competitors.
Whether you are a brand or a retailer, emotion is the
new currency to get consumers to consume, and shoppers
to buy. Today, marketers use actual currency in the form
of price promotion, but this is costing too much and is no
longer sustainable. If emotion is indeed the new currency,
then stories are the critical new delivery system. If you
want your brand to be a contending force in 10 years, you
must write your brand story today, or you will be writing its
obituary later. The million dollar question is — how do you
create your brand story?
44 May/June 2018 CANDY&SNACK TODAY
M
Continued on page 46
Creating Compelling
Brand
Stories
Understanding
the difference
between your
brand story
and the story
of your brand
is critical to
connecting
with customers.

2. Continued from page 44
Continued on page 48
THE SCIENCE OF STORYTELLING
To understand the science behind stories you must first
understand the science behind a consumer’s and shopper’s
thought process. Marketers are operating under the fallacy
that a person’s thought process is based on a collection
of facts that are analyzed rationally and logically. In reality,
the social sciences have taught us that the human thought
process is based on a collection of stories first experienced
emotionally, then rationally.
Story is the fundamental instrument of thought.
Whenever someone asks you a question, such as “What did
you watch on TV last Tuesday night?” your nonconscious
brain recalls the information in the form of a story. It is your
conscious brain that pulls out the fact, “I watched Big Bang
Theory,” stripping it from the story.
Humans remember through stories. This is not
something we just happen to do, it is something we virtually
have to do if we want to remember anything. This is a
simple human truth that is not being applied to how brands
develop communications.
THE ART OF STORYTELLING
To craft a great brand story there are three key things
marketers must understand:
1. There is a difference between a “brand story” and
“the story of the brand.”
2. You must draw a distinction between an emotional
territory and the emotional truths within that
territory.
3. There are three key elements to a strong brand
story.
Brand Story vs. The Story of the Brand
Whenever we ask a client to share their brand
story, we most often hear something like this: In
1925, Mrs. Margaret Moses baked her first batch
of oatmeal raisin cookies. The neighborhood
kids loved them and in a short while she was
selling them at the local bakery. They became
so deliciously popular she started her own
company, Grandma Moses’ Home Baked Cookies.
We continue to nurture that heritage today by
using only the highest quality natural ingredients
for the best homemade taste. They’re so good, you
can taste the love in each bite.
This is a great example of the story of the brand,
but it is not the brand story. The brand story and
the story of the brand are not the same thing. Lack
of clarity about this distinction is why the concept of
storytelling has struggled to be optimized in marketing.
The key elements of the story of the brand are the
brand’s history and the role it plays today. Making this your
brand story is akin to a friend only talking about himself,
expecting you to be interested every time he opens his self-
centered mouth.
Let’s face it, how many times will a consumers pay
attention to a brand’s backstory? What people love to hear
over and over again are stories about themselves, stories
that reflect who they are and what they believe emotionally.
IMPLICATIONS FOR RETAILERS
Any brand that wants to have a successful future will have no
choice but to find a powerful and authentic brand story. The
same goes for retailers, whether brick-and-mortar or online.
Within the context of stories and storytelling, there are three
things retailers must do:
ONE: Find the story of your brand.
TWO: Find the story for each category / store section.
THREE: Become adept at facilitating the telling of your suppliers’
brand stories in-store and online.
A retailer can find the story of their banner and for each category/
section in the exact same way a brand would. First, identify the relevant
emotional territories, and second, find the emotional truths within
those territories that are most directly supported by your banner’s or
the category’s benefit and attributes. But the third thing, becoming
adept at facilitating the stories of other brands, is something unique
to retailers. There is already a great metaphor for this in our daily
lives: libraries. A library is the facilitator of the telling and sharing
of stories. I think this is a really inspirational idea for retailers.
Imagine for a moment what a brick-and-mortar or online retail
environment would look like if it were created for the sole
purpose of helping suppliers connect their brand stories to
the retailer’s shoppers.
The key elements of a brand story are the emotional truths
shared between the brand and its consumers and shoppers,
reflected in every brand interaction and touchpoint. This is
the story a brand needs to tell. (See page 48 for an example
of a brand story.)
building a brand story
Marketers are
operating under the fallacy
that a person’s thought
process is based on a
collection of facts that are
analyzed rationally
and logically.”
Christopher Brace
Syntegrate Consulting
Emotional Territory and Emotional Truths
Marketers also must be clear on the distinction between
an emotional territory and the emotional truths within that
territory.
• Emotional Territory: Sits at the category level, so it can
46 May/June 2018 CANDY&SNACK TODAY

3. 48 May/June 2018 CANDY&SNACK TODAY
building a brand story
be leveraged by multiple brands (e.g. beer and the
emotional territory of socialization).
• Emotional Truths: The beliefs and attitudes adopted
by a brand to give it a differentiated voice within the
territory (e.g. Dos Equis adopting “being interesting” to
differentiate itself within socialization).
A great metaphor for this is a table. The top of the
table is the emotional territory and the floor is your target.
The legs of the table are the emotional truths that ground
your emotional territory in the lives of your consumers and
shoppers in a way that is unique to your brand. Without the
emotional truths, you are just setting an emotional territory
on top of your target, not grounding it in their lives.
KEY ELEMENTS OF A STRONG BRAND STORY
A brand story that will grow your business consists of three
key elements:
1. The emotional territory (or territories) most relevant to
your category and brand.
Continued from page 46
Positioning Narrative
The Positioning Narrative is the role the brand plays in the lives of
consumers and shoppers, expressed in their own words.
“An integral part of protecting our natural world is recognizing
that the lifestyle and purchasing choices we make have a direct impact
on the health of our natural world. The cumulative effect of all those
little, everyday choices shapes the future for our children. This is why
I use ImaginEarth. I stopped using chemical detergents when a friend
told me about ImaginEarth. My first question was ‘does it actually get
your clothes clean?’ I tried it and have been using it ever since. Not
just because it does the job but because it lives what it believes: The
natural world is our greatest classroom and it needs to be protected.
We make sure our family has plenty of time outdoors to explore. We
volunteer with the local conservation society, pick up trash through a
school program and recycle. As I teach these values to my children,
and hopefully to their children, I give back a better, healthier planet.
This is my responsibility as a parent, and ImaginEarth’s responsibility as
a company.”
CASE STUDY: BUILDING A BRAND STORY
At Syntegrate Consulting, a brand’s story is defined through a Brand Meaning
Manifest. This document details the key elements of the story so the brand brings
real emotional meaning to consumers’ and shoppers’ lives. Following are the
emotional territories and truths — the first two key elements of any brand story —
the Positioning Narrative, and a print ad and in-store endcap to illustrate how the
brand benefit and attributes deliver against the emotional truths — the third key
element.
Emotional Trigger-Truth
I believe people are responsible
for protecting our planet, so when
it comes to the products I buy, my
attitudes are:
• Biodegradable and non-toxic
products are better
• Little, everyday choices can make a
difference
Emotional Trigger-Truth
I believe life is meant to be
experienced,
not watched, so when it comes to
raising my kids, my attitude is:
• People learn by being out in the
natural world and getting dirty
• Getting dirty is a good thing
Endcap display
Print ad
2. The emotional truths within the territories that the brand
will own.
3. Clarity on how the brand’s benefit and attributes deliver
those truths.
You must have all three to ensure your territories and
truths fit seamlessly with your benefit and attributes. What
a lot of brands are doing today is what we call “emotional-
layering” — finding a social cause or emotional territory and
layering it on top of the brand.
Let me give you a clear visual for this. Hold out your
left hand, palm up; now place your right palm on top of
your left and slide them back and forth. This is emotional-
layering.
The danger of emotional-layering is that it often seems
forced and inauthentic with the brand. Today’s savvy
consumers and shoppers will sense this and potentially be
turned off by it.
Now interlock your fingers, this represents the above
three elements being seamlessly linked. This is what makes

4. for a brand story that is authentic, motivating and unique to
a brand.
IMPLICATIONS FOR ACTIVATION
Once you have created your brand story, there are three
things to keep in mind when it comes to telling that story.
First, you are telling the story to drive sales, not to strengthen
your equity or to just raise brand awareness. If your story
doesn’t grow your business then the story is irrelevant.
Second, you do not need to tell every aspect of your
brand story through every interaction and touchpoint. Which
aspects you tell must be determined by your business
strategy.
If your growth strategy is to get new consumers and
shoppers, then only certain aspects of your story are relevant.
But if your strategy is to get people to use you more often
(i.e. occasion based strategy), then you might very well select
different aspects.
And lastly, there is a misconception that storytelling is
only relevant to content and promotions intended for social
sharing. Brands are creating mini-movies and consumer
promotions that have a great deal of emotional power
while their TV and print ads focus on brand benefits and
attributes.
If you have selected the story you must tell based on
your growth strategy, then that story can be told just as
effectively in a 30 second TV ad and a one-page print ad as
through a three-minute YouTube video.
Marketers are now realizing their brands need to offer
something more than a benefit and set of attributes. Brands
must go beyond meeting a need, they must create an
emotional want.
While it is the need for chocolate that brings me to the
candy aisle (online or brick-and-mortar), when faced with
a myriad of options, it is an emotional want that will drive
brand choice.
If no brands have created this want, then the decision
will be based on the lowest common denominators, past
experience and price. The most effective way to create an
emotional want is to tell a story that reflects the emotional
life and beliefs of your consumers and shoppers. C&ST
Contributor Info
Christopher Brace is CEO of Syntegrate Consulting, a
research-based, marketing strategy firm focused on helping
brands uncover new growth potential by evolving beyond
consumers’ rational needs to contributing emotional
meaning to people’s lives. Brace can be reached at
brace@syntegrate-consulting.com.
CANDY&SNACK TODAY May/June 2018 49