StoryBranding

Until this book was written, "brands are stories" was merely been a marketing cliche. Delving into how stories influence our behavior, this author has discovered that the association between stories and brands deserves far more than a passive understanding. There are many books for marketing practitioners and and students on the subject of branding, but none like this. Modeled after the way stories work, StoryBranding provides a unique planning process for creating authentic brand identities. It also reveals a number of concealed traps that other branding approaches often overlook. Drawing on the persuasive power of the stories, the author argues that there is a great deal of wasted effort put against creating advertising messages that do too much tell and too little show. To help brands resonate with their audiences, the author shows marketers how to approach the development of all brand communications the way story writers approach their characters, plots and themes. The author includes sample "Story Briefs" and "I AM" statements that help brands achieve a greater degree of authenticity than traditional creative or brand briefs. As a successful and highly experienced veteran of the advertising industry he has spent a great deal of time investigating the inner workings of story. The book is forwarded by one of the most respected story educators and researchers of story science, Kendall Haven, author of Story Proof: The Science Behind the Startling Power of Story. Over the span of his 35 year career, the author has worked for major advertising agencies in New York, Chicago and Los Angeles. He now is the owner of his own agency which has been sited as one of the fastest growing agencies in Chicago. He shares many anecdotes from his long career and his struggles with his agency's own brand identity. His down-to-earth style and humor make this a highly enjoyable and informative read.