A Great Brand Story is a Powerful B2B Marketing Strategy
Stories have power. They help us make sense of the world, find meaning, and connect with others.
Leading brands know this too. They recognise the ability of storytelling to inspire buyers, engage employees, and differentiate their company in a crowded marketplace. By anchoring their stories around proven narrative frameworks and story patterns, brand strategists can tap into timeless human motivations and desires.
Lots of brands turn to Joseph Campbell’s Hero's Journey as a framework for their storytelling. However, overreliance on a single narrative template risks generic stories that cannot stand out or align with a company's strategic needs.
In the hero’s journey, a hero sets out with a goal, they encounter some difficulties that they overcome, and then triumph in the end. It’s the default way to build a narrative around a business case study or a founder’s story. It works because because it’s so simple and so familiar.
What if brands broke free from this limited storytelling mould? What if, really, our hero didn’t know their goal in advance of setting of on their adventure. What if instead of embarking on a quest, the problem came to them? It turns out that there are many equally well-established forms of storytelling that can work for these situations.
Beyond the Hero’s Journey, there are at least seven other compelling narrative structures waiting to be explored. Each offers unique storytelling potential for brands seeking more creative ways to connect with customers and drive strategy.
By diversifying the narrative frameworks in their toolkit, forward-thinking companies can craft stories that better reflect their values, forge deeper stakeholder connections, and carve out a distinctive market position.
The future success of your brand hinges on purposeful storytelling. Are you ready to move beyond the Hero's Journey and unlock your brand's full narrative potential?
The Seven Basic Plots
The idea that there are seven basic, yet universal story structures was introduced by British author Christopher Booker in The Seven Basic Plots: Why We Tell Stories (2006). Booker identified these seven narrative structures following over thirty years of research into different stories from diverse cultures and periods of time.
Booker asserts that all stories or narratives–whether factual or fictional–fall within seven basic structural categories.
Overcoming the Monster
In this story, the main character embarks on a mission to overcome a hostile entity that poses a threat to them or their community. Examples include James Bond defeating supervillains, or Beowulf defending the Danes by destroying Grendel and his horrific mother.
For brands, this plot might apply when a company confronts an issue that threatens their future. A hostile takeover might be one example. Or COVID-19, when companies in every business sector told stories of fighting and winning against a real-world monster - a life-threatening novel virus.
Rags to Riches
This plotline shares the journey of a protagonist who begins in humble circumstances, only to ascend to success through personal growth, perseverance, and often with the aid of others.
Examples include the transformative tales of characters like Cinderella, and iconic stories such as Jane Eyre, Great Expectations, and Aladdin.
Salesforce is a great example of a brand using this narrative to tell the story of a company growing from a small software startup into the global CRM enterprise leader it is today.
The Quest
Sharing a lot of similarities with the Hero's Journey, The Quest offers a few subtle differences. Quest narratives have protagonists who receive a task and take a journey to seek a desired goal. Think Indiana Jones in Raiders of the Lost Ark, or Frodo in Lord of the Rings.
This narrative is useful when companies set out to accomplish something that feeds into their larger business strategy. For example, IBM’s story around their 10-year Smarter Planet. Their ambitious vision guided clients on a prolonged, challenging journey to transform infrastructure and industries, emphasising perseverance through trials to reach an important end goal.
Voyage and Return
Protagonists in a Voyage and Return narrative also undertake a journey. Their journey takes them into unknown territory, where they face unknown challenges. At the end of their journey or voyage, the protagonist returns home wiser and stronger.
Famous examples include Alice in her trip to Wonderland, Robinson Crusoe shipwrecked on an island, and Scarlett O'Hara returning to Tara in Gone with the Wind.
Brands might want to use this plot when looking to break new markets or to communicate a broader transformation in the company. As we’ll see later on in this article.
Comedy
Comedic plots focus on protagonists who are destined to be together but something is keeping them apart. The resolution or ‘return to order’ comes from the achievement of clarity, often resulting in a happy union, happy community, or happy home.
Famous examples include Shakespearean comedies like A Midsummer Night's Dream or Much Ado About Nothing, where lovers must overcome obstacles to their destined pairings. For a more modern telling, think Bridget Jones’ Diary.
Comedy's journey from confusion to clarity can attract even the serious B2B customers. Use humour to create a connection and build interest in the brand as the perfect solution to their needs.
Tragedy
Unlike the other six plots, tragedy encompasses the darker aspects of life. Tragedies tell the story of a protagonist’s downfall, the seeds of which are sown by their flaws, mistakes, or inability to heed warnings. Famous examples include Macbeth, Dorian Gray, and Bonnie and Clyde.
Tragedy is not a natural fit for most brands as it focuses on failure rather than success. The plot might highlight the value of the company’s solutions versus a tragic cautionary tale where it wasn’t used, but other more positive narratives might work better.
Rebirth
In a Rebirth story, the protagonist undergoes a difficult event that forces them to change their ways and become a better person. The all-time classic example of this plot is Scrooge in A Christmas Carol.
Rebirth narratives are an excellent fit for brands bouncing back from adversity. It shows how major change and challenges can lead to a stronger company. Take, for example, Apple’s renewal in the early 2000s because of its product innovation.
It might also suit B2B brands who want to inspire clients to overcome obstacles and become more resilient. The plot shows how major change leads to a stronger company.
Merck's Narrative Transformation
Long known as one of the world’s leading pharmaceutical companies, by the mid-2010s Merck KGaA had moved far beyond its roots. While the company had diversified into other areas of science research and biotech, its branding and narrative remained strongly associated with pharmaceutical manufacturing.
According to Bernhard Fischer-Appelt and Rafael Dernbach, writing in Innovation: The European Journal of Social Science Research, there was also an issue as its "...distinction narratives were hard to differentiate from competitors".
When outlining their approach for Merck’s future strategy, the rebranding team - of which Ian Kirk, 1827 Marketing’s founder was a part - reframed around the central themes of curiosity, discovery, and a commitment to innovation and human progress. These values linked Merck’s diverse subsidiaries and the products they made and offered a clear vision to propel the brand into the future.
As part of the project, Merck also needed a new brand narrative to enable effective communication, both internally and externally. The brand strategy team suggested a Voyage and Return narrative arc to bring the new brand attributes to life. For a firm with a mission focused on curiosity and scientific exploration, a voyage into the unknown was a great fit. It offered an authentic, powerful match to what the company now did.
The Voyage and Return arc also provided a simple, memorable structure to reinforce the new brand positioning consistently. The idea was to always to consider if the Voyage and Return narrative structure was a better fit than Hero’s Journey. That way, Merck KGaA would not just have great stories, it would have a distinctive way of telling them that was aligned with the brand strategy.
The classic example of Voyage and Return is Robinson Crusoe.Using the stages in the plot’s development, the brand could outline the beats of their story:
| Stage | Story | Example from literature | How the brand can use this structure |
|---|---|---|---|
| Anticipation Stage and 'fall' into the other world | We first meet the hero when they're open to a shattering new experience. Their consciousness is, in some way, restricted. | Robinson Crusoe sets out on a voyage but ends up on a desert island. | Merck sets out to explore and made a (chance) discovery |
| Initial Fascination or Dream Stage | At first, their exploration of this disconcerting new world exhilarates because it is so puzzling and unfamiliar. But it's not somewhere they can feel at home. | At first, the island is idyllic. | Our discovery had fascinating properties and appeared to show great potential |
| Frustration Stage | Gradually, the mood of the adventure changes to one of frustration, difficulty and oppression. A shadow intrudes, becoming increasingly alarming. | But footprints in the sand suggest he is not alone. | We ask about the commercial applications of our discovery and the opportunities it could uncover |
| Nightmare Stage | The shadow becomes so dominating that it seems to pose a serious threat to the hero or heroine's survival | The footprints belong to cannibals. Robinson is nearly killed. | There were challenges in moving from scientific discovery to applicable technology, which we overcame creatively and in collaboration with our partners |
| Thrilling Escape and Return | Just when the threat closing in becomes too much to bear, they make their escape from the other world, back to where they started. The question posed by the whole adventure is: what have they learned or gained anything from their experience? | Man Friday steps in and saves the day. Robinson returns home a changed man. | Now we have a new technology that brings about an important and positive change in the world. Everything is different now. |
What does this have to do with a brand’s B2B marketing strategy? With this foundation in place, the company could craft consistent brand communications across channels and touchpoints. From social media to email marketing, case studies to educational content, a compelling brand story can help connect you to potential customers and decision makers.
Principles for Crafting Strong B2B Brand Narratives
With authentic stories that speak to B2B sensibilities, brands can forge lasting professional connections on a more human level.
The specific narrative formats, content vehicles, and activation tactics should align with your positioning and audience. But these principles provide some guidelines for developing a great brand story:
Ensure Authenticity: Stories should feel native to your organisation. Build narratives from your own values, truths, and aspirations rather than forcing a story.
Embrace your origins: Whether humble or grand, origin stories resonate by suggesting potential.
Map your journey: Chart your brand's beginnings, present status, and future ambitions to shape an authentic arc.
Know your audience: Tailor narratives to resonate with your target audiences’ values, motivations, and worldviews.
Convey your purpose: Align narratives to brand positioning so that you communicate your meaningful and differentiating reason for being.
Highlight shared values: Emphasise values like innovation, integrity, and partnership that resonate with your audience.
Speak to aspirations: Align with audience hopes like growth, community impact, or achievement.
Create a coherent story: Consistency and coherence across touchpoints is crucial for effective B2B marketing strategies. Your brand narrative is a single point of truth for communications that reinforce and build on each other.
Evolve the narrative: Measure impact and revisit and refine brand narratives as company directions shift. Heritage narratives will need to blend with new chapters as things move.
Being a Brand Storytelling Hero
For the earliest humans huddled around a fire, stories were a source of meaning, identity, and community. Millennia later, our fundamental need for narrative remains unchanged. The company campfire still draws us near.
Purposeful brand storytelling requires both insight and artistry, but delivers immense value. Narrative frameworks provide the archetypal scaffolding for brand stories that tap into timeless patterns that resonate. The principles we’ve explored, from crafting authentic brand narratives to aligning with audience values, offer guidelines for crafting strategic narratives.
By imbuing their brands with compelling narratives, B2B companies can forge emotional connections, transcend transactional exchanges, and form lasting relationships. They can spark loyalty not just to products, but to purpose. Brands become protagonists in customers' lives, playing a meaningful role in their own epic journeys.
A compelling brand narrative gives you a crucial marketing advantage. Don't leave your organisation's mythos to chance. Contact us today and let us guide you in authoring the next iconic chapter in your brand's story.