I’ve been a brand storyteller for over fifteen years, and a common question people ask is, “How do I tell my brand story with video?”
On the one hand, it’s a difficult question to answer because there are many variables—it truly does depend—and there is an endless supply of existing content out there.
On the other hand, there is a lot of advice on the best way to tell a brand story in any medium. One answer often given is, “It’s not about you; it’s about the customer.”
False.
Seriously.
It’s about you AND the customer. The symbiotic relationship between brand and customer is the fertile ground for storytelling.
When you tell your story by allowing people to imagine a new future based upon the relationship between you and your customers, you enable people to grow and evolve. It’s not about telling people about what you do. It’s about showing people what is possible.
The best example of telling a brand story with video is the myQ Garage Master Docuseries on YouTube.
It chronicles different Garage Masters in six episodes, from woodworkers and designers to entrepreneurs and bartenders. It showcases the company’s products in clever ways by showing how each person uses them in their space.
Five Crucial Questions to Ask When Telling Your Brand Story
Most importantly, the docuseries asks five crucial questions for customers:
1. What is essential?
What are the bare essentials of this company’s products as a customer? Safety, reliability, and security.
2. What is desirable?
But there is so much more than the essentials. By showing how other people have built out their garages, their stories permit people to identify their own desires and dreams.
3. What is possible?
The possibilities truly are endless, but using your desires and dreams as a guideline, you, as the customer, know what you want and don’t want. It helps you to distinguish between wants and needs.
4. What is available?
Another way to fuel desire and possibility is to show what features are available and products in action in the real world. It’s one thing to read a sentence describing how to open your garage door with a mobile app; it’s another to see it in action. Watch the episode featuring The Wood Whisperer for an example.
5. What is next?
This is perhaps the most critical question because it reveals how the relationship between brand and customer continues. It’s not about selling everything all at once; it’s about constant evolution.
Together.
Personal Impact
Recently, I bought a Chamberlain garage door opener to replace an old opener that had failed. The new opener came with the myQ app, which I thought was just a novelty at first. But then I watched this series; my mind was open to new possibilities.
Yes, it met my essential needs of security and safety. But it also introduced me to fascinating people doing extraordinary things in the world. I can now align my imagination, hobbies, and business goals with an area of my home that I initially ignored.
All because of a brand telling unique stories through video.
Photo by Point3D Commercial Imaging Ltd. on Unsplash