Strategic narrative

Storytelling allows people to cooperate flexibly and in large groups, regardless of spatial separation; to pursue common goals, work together as a network for the sake of a shared conviction. Let’s be clear: nations, currencies, religions, political parties, ideologies, human rights, laws – none of these ideas are intrinsic to people at birth. They are fictional phenomena, based on narratives, brought to life and shared by groups of people all over the world, without them ever having to meet or get to know each other in person.

Unlike facts, stories allow us to store information in emotional form, and make it more memorable – quicker to find, so to speak. In our brain, in addition to the language centre, they also stimulate the regions in which associative thinking occurs and our sensory impressions and emotions arise. Perceived stories are stored where we also store our own experiences: in episodic long-term memory. So we remember and believe many things that we hear, read or see as if we had experienced them ourselves.

Stories not only attract attention, but also community. Anyone who has sat around a campfire or seen videos of a Trump rally knows that. Why does this work so well? Powerful narratives can guide and unite. Thus, Duden defines narrative as a ‘connecting, meaningful account’. And now perhaps you can guess how we come to answer the actual question: what does all this have to do with brands?

Narrative is particularly needed when the aim is to move people to believe in something abstract. In the value of a product that goes beyond its functional use. In a strategy or vision, in a future I invest in, or am even required to make sacrifices for. Where acceptance and conviction are required, narrative serves as a steady, storytelling core on which (brand) messages, lectures or campaigns are based.

The principle: the strategic narrative, comprising just a handful of sentences, reduces these messages and connections to universal, human values and subjects and packages them in a memorable and tellable story. The elevator pitch in the written word.

Basic themes such as love, recognition, self-determination, belonging, sex, overcoming of obstacles, security, self-development or community speak to us on such a fundamental level that they attract attention and resonate even within diverse target groups and collections of listeners. It is true that some of these subjects are not contextual with regard to current events. However, we are particularly attentive and receptive to such topics that correspond with current social developments. That is why we might currently have the impression that we are surrounded purely by narratives of resilience and solidarity.