I was watching the Hulu documentary about Victoria’s Secret founder Les Wexner, and aside from the nefarious subtext, I was struck by his clever creation of the Victoria myth. When I worked at Victoria’s Secret PINK early in my career, job number one was building meaning for that pink-spotted dog. It was that depth of character and attention to detail that helped break out an entire category. And with billions in sales each year, even after a huge shakeup, Victoria’s Secret still dominates when it comes to brand recognition.
Even with the many decidedly more feminist and hip underwear brands that have burst onto the scene, none have come close to VS’s brand recognition, for better or worse. ThirdLove, the closest upstart competitor is estimated at millions, not billions, by comparison.
Whether it’s London sophistication embracing its sexiness, Ralph Lauren’s wealthy former gentlemen enjoying the fruits of blue blood multi-generational wealth, or any of the iconic hip hop or outdoor brands , emerging marketers have a lot to learn — and a lot to avoid — when examining the mythmaking of legendary lifestyle brands.
For starters, the old brand roadmap is dead. It used to be all about aspiration. The unattainable. Show off and even turn your back on customers. But distant superiority is decidedly out of date in a changing society focused on inclusion, self-acceptance, and the breakdown of social hierarchies, all while saving the earth. Instead of brand personas indicating excess, indulgence, and exclusion of non-conforming sections of society, create them to signal human connection, authenticity, and value that benefits the world, not just two-dimensional rich people.
The days when brands could singularly steal our attention by plastering our doorways with catalogs and magazines and capturing us in physical stores are over. Customers are the Queen and brands have to keep up with us, not the other way around. We tell stories faster, in bite-sized chunks, and they are dynamic, evolving from moment to moment.
On the other hand, today’s start-and-run culture can learn a lot from the mega-success of lifestyle brands like Victoria’s Secret, Red Bull and Ralph Lauren, even if they don’t have omnichannel mega-dollars to spend. That is, the value of a finely engraved narrative universe.
Where the old lifestyle brands were more static, the Tik Tok and Instagram lifestyle brand conventions lose a crucial element: the backstory. Many of the old iconic brands had an entirely elaborate backstory. Unlike an origin story, the backstory will never fully feature in the narrative, but rather inform it. Fiction writers often do exercises to understand what makes their characters the way they are. They describe early experiences that shaped their character’s worldview and behavior. These details may never appear on the page, but instead make the character more believable and more well-rounded.
Here are some lessons for building a universe of stories for your brand:
1. Delve deeper into where your product meets the desire of the audience.
Go one step further in your person to understand the emotional world of your client. Most founders start businesses when they see an unmet need, but to be successful in the long run, it’s imperative that you stop and listen to the customers who will live with your product. It is in that discovery that the true story and the true value proposition lie. Embrace the nuances and capture the customer’s emotion, then build the story with these details in mind.
2. Do not seek perfection or manufacture insecurity.
Remind your customers that you know they’re already great. The old way of doing things is rooted in a scarcity mentality and nobody wants that anymore.
3. Create a cinema-worthy ‘movie’.
Even if you’re a B2B company that sells a utility, like ZenDesk, which has done an amazing job of capturing human characterization in their ads, create a relatable story arc. Top it off with escalating action and plot points along the way that give your character a journey. One where the brand is a hero helping customers save the day for themselves or someone else.
4. Welcome and include.
Think of your brand as a welcoming welcome mat and an open door to an inviting home where like-minded people feel invited. He really isn’t the red velvet rope and stern publicist with a clipboard that he used to be. Brand leadership is an opportunity to build people and transform the world forever. So go ahead and do that. And do it through a narrative that hooks people and keeps them wanting more.
Opinions expressed here by Inc.com columnists are their own, not those of Inc.com.
Source: www.inc.com