The small group of people who would eventually become Revive Brand Co., a maker of sports apparel and accessories, worked out of a garage for six years developing the startup’s brand. The crew — brothers Jonathan Santos and Cesar Santos, and Medin Gebrezgier — had met at the College of Southern Nevada. Cesar learned how to sew in 2011 on a small sewing machine, and now has full knowledge of the bag-making process. Jonathan learned about the operations aspect, working with Medin at the Small Business Development Center for years while developing his marketing skills.
It’s a story they feel is important for customers to hear.
“Customers in the digital age are faced with too many choices,” said Gebrezgier, Revive Brands’ marketing director. “There are so many products and services that are constantly demanding and competing for their attention. This is a good thing, because there now is an even playing field where big corporations and cash-strapped startups can compete.”
It also is a challenge, though, “because you have a smaller window of opportunity to convince the potential customer to buy your product,” Gebrezgier added. “This is why the story will always stand out as the reason for repeat customers who will share your company with others. Whenever you tell someone a story, they are taken on a journey.”
It is a journey that nearly all companies need their customers to take, and which customers often enjoy. The timeless power of stories to communicate culture, character, relevance and more is a precious tool for businesses.
Compelling, Honest, Authentic
“A company’s story, told well, can connect with costumers and help the company achieve its goals,” said Jason Roth, vice president of communications for Roseman University of Health Sciences in Henderson. “This is accomplished by communicating who you are and what you do to add value to your customers’ lives. This must be compelling, honest and authentic, so it’s relatable to your customers.”
There are, Roth said, many ways a company or organization can craft its story. The most obvious is to focus on what sets it apart.
“This is especially important in a crowded industry, where a customer sees the company and its competitors as virtually the same,” Roth said. “A company can tell what is interesting about the way it was founded, its founders, and the stories of perseverance and evolution that led it to where it is today.”
The company also can tell a story of its origin, focusing on the problem the company was founded to solve — “perhaps there was an interesting epiphany from which the company was born,” Roth said.
Another important way to craft a company story is to focus on the company’s values and how they are in line with the values of its target customer.
“When communicating a company story, the words are important, but so is the visual,” Roth said. “Customers are very visual, so companies must create a visual identity that tells the story and reinforces the brand.”
Yvette Auger owns Cosmopolitan Connections Inc., which does business as My Vegas Friends, one of the most successful networking groups in Las Vegas with more than 13,500 members. The story she tells is intentionally personal.
“Our free weekly Cosmopolitan Connections networking events help to connect our guests socially, as well as professionally,” Auger said. “We have had three Cosmopolitan Connections marriages, and two Cosmopolitan Connections babies from guests who have met at our events over the past seven years. I also met my own husband, Eric Auger, when he walked in the door of our event five years ago. This is a real testament for us all to get out there and network, as it worked for me personally and my friends also, both socially and in business.”
When a company’s story is both interesting and significant to the community it serves, “it helps the brand resonate with its target audiences,” said Marty Wood, director of marketing for Opportunity Village. “The Opportunity Village story spans more than six decades of serving people with intellectual disabilities; six-plus decades successfully developing programs and services that provide education, job training and employment placement for these wonderful people who merely want a chance at a life most of us take for granted.”
Wood says a company’s story must first be genuine.
“Fabricated claims might make for an intriguing story but would cause great damage when the truth emerged,” he said. “I’ve known several businesspeople who struggle to personally connect with their own brand, coming across forced and disingenuous. (The story) should be a part of the DNA of the company’s brand, and therefore communicated across all mediums.”
Wood’s own story is of a piece with that of Opportunity Village itself. On the day of his job interview, he was given a tour.
“Ten minutes in, I entered the employment resource center,” he said. “A movement caught the corner of my eye and I turned to see a woman with Down syndrome jump up and begin running toward me, clapping and screaming, ‘I know you! I know you!’ I just stood there frozen, not knowing what to do.
“She continued toward me and when she reached me, she gave me the best hug ever, and would not let go. My heart just melted and I thought. ‘I need to help people like this young lady.’
“I relayed this story to Ed Guthrie, OV’s executive director, shortly after. The next day, he offered me the job. That was almost seven years ago and since then I’ve experienced many other powerful and heartwarming moments.”
Mark Wayman, an executive recruiter for gaming properties and founder and CEO of The Foundation in Las Vegas, likes to share a story that communicates who he is and how his firm reflects it.
“When I started my executive recruiting company 13 years ago, it came about in a unique and unusual way,” Wayman said. “We had just sold SRD, a counterterrorism software company, to IBM, and I was considering my options, including retirement. A CEO friend called and asked me to do some recruiting. When I told him that was not my core competency, he said, ‘You are on the board of Make-A-Wish. You do this for me, I’ll pay you, and you can donate a portion to Make-A-Wish.’ To this day, we donate a portion of each executive placement to a dozen national and local charities.”
But even storytelling can take a wrong turn. Not being reliable or transparent can turn customers and clients off, warns Lori Goodwine, public relations director for CIM Marketing Partners.
“In business, honesty is still the best policy,” she said. “And that honesty has a direct impact on how a company presents its character, its culture and tells its stories. For every company that misleads customers, there are hundreds of businesses waiting in the wings for the opportunity to pick up that customer right where you dropped them off.”
“Customers aren’t interested in being sold or told what to do,” said Tami Belt, owner and CEO of Blue Cube Marketing Solutions. “They are interested in learning about what a company can offer them. Educate, inform and entertain. People remember stories, not statistics.”
Communication, she added, is a two-way street. The old adage rings true: Seek first to understand, then to be understood.