14. brand narrative
DESCRIPTION
brandingTRANSCRIPT
1 2
3 4
5 6
7 8
9 10
11 12
13 14
15 16
17 18
19 20
S T O R I E S
F R I E N D S
A U T H E N T I C I T Y
C O M M U N I T Y
O P I N I O N S
E X P L O R A T I O N
M A S S M E D I A
A D V E R T I S I N G
D I R E C T
M A R K E T I N G
21 22
23 24
25 26
27 28
29 30
31 32
33 34
The
cano
py re
pres
ents
the
coun
tless
ways the core story is retold and re-interpreted, spreading outwards in unpredictable directions.E
ach
indi
vidu
al b
ranc
h an
d leaf is
a new way of telling the story, but all are connected to the core story, the trunk.
35 36
37 38
39 40
41 42
43 44
45 46
47 48
49 50
51 52
53 54
55 56
57 58
59 60
Allow your ‘social managers’ to say whatever
the hell they feel like, treating your brand’s social
channel like an extension of themselves.
Post irrelevant drivel and cryptic nonsense.
Let your social channel be dominated by a small
clique of noisy, unhelpful followers.
Treat your social media channel like just another
customer service phone line.
Assume that consumers find your advertising copy
and press releases as fascinating as you do.
Cram your channel with product announcements
and money-off schemes.
Beg for more followers, or votes or whatever. Boast
about follow numbers and focus heavily on this as a
metric of value.
Link to every single positive review of your product,
day after day, without context.
Post an RT every time your brand gets mentioned.
Ignore media storms and memes as if they aren’t
happening, no matter what the ensuing outcry.
Hire cheap, inexperienced ‘social’ staff, on the basis
that only young people can understand social media.
Use a bunch of different blogger voices, most of
which sound like bad youth advertising voice-
overs from the 1990s.
S O C I A L M A R K E T I N GCreate a single authoritative voice that’s consistent
with your brand.
Deliver a pathway to great content, at least once
a day. Provide entertainment.
Monitor all the stats. Not just who’s following
but who is Retweeting, how many are landing
on commercial real estate and how much you’re
selling as a direct result of your actions.
Offer pathways to the accounts of personable
employees, whose Tweets correspond with the
goals of the brand’s.
Highlight advertising content in the context of an
editorial angle or consumer POV. ‘The Story of Our
Campaign’ or ‘Responses to Our New Ad’.
Make brand leaders have their say, as often as
possible. Get managers out there.
Link to genuinely good third party content, not
just anything that seems to be positive.
Respond to memes about your brand, as quickly
and thoughtfully as possible.
Understand that you are a leader, not a follower. You
are special, not just another social account holder.
Deal with customer complaints and enquiries in
an appropriate fashion. Don’t confuse customer
service with content marketing.
Staff your media channel with experienced leaders
who understand your core brand story, the media,
and completely get your commercial goals.
Use an authoritative brand voice that consumers
will respond to and respect.
S O C I A L M A R K E T I N G
63 64
65 66