Continuing the series begun here...
Step 2: Refine our STORY.
What story are we going to tell?
Our objective here is to create an authentic, genuine, and credible story around the product so that we achieve the ‘holy grail’ of marketing, i.e. get our customers and prospects to promote the story on our behalf…for free.
A critical part of this step is to recognize that ‘story’ and ‘message’ are not the same. It is not ok to say one thing and then have the actions of the product/brand/customer service send a different message. Everything, and I mean, EVERYTHING, has to support the story.
Let me give you an example.
After you receive your menu at the Rock Creek Restaurant in Washington, DC, the waiter comes over and says:
“At Rock Creek, we believe in only serving fresh, organic, locally-grown products. In fact, if it is not in the market in the morning, it’s not on the plate during the day. What’s more, we have a nutritionist on staff, who has worked to ensure that you can have an appetizer, an entrée, and a dessert, all for under 1,000 calories.”
In three sentences, the waiter has created a story for you, reinforced it, and made you feel comfortable that the experience is touching you on multiple levels (plus it is consistent with the tree in the middle of the dining room that this is a place in harmony with nature).
In another example, let’s look at Advil. It relieves pain, right? So, if a customer calls the 800 number with a complaint, we have to solve it. The worst thing that we can do is increase the pain of our customers when he calls in! The ‘story’ of Advil needs to extend beyond the simple product to include the experience around the product.
- What’s our story (1st)?
- How will we work to ensure that experience around the product only serves to reinforce the story (2nd)? [note, we will tackle this in a later step]
Some of the hard questions we will ask as we refine the story include:
- What story are we going to tell our customers and prospects?
- Will they believe that story?
- Will they remember the story?
- Will they tell the story to their friends?
And even later…
- How are we going to make sure that it is easier for them to share the story?
- What activities will we engage in along the way to ensure that the story is supported and amplified?
To guide us, we will use the criteria outlined in the phenomenal (and highly recommended book, Made to Stick ) known as SUCCESs.
- Simple
- Unexpected
- Credible
- Concise
- Emotional
- Story
Odds are we won’t get it right the first time. We will need to continue to iterate (which is fine). We are better off having an incomplete (but genuine and authentic!) story quickly than taking a long time to ‘nail it down’ (and most likely being wrong about it at that point anyway).