Power of Storytelling for Luxury Brands
Storytelling is an age-old yet extremely powerful tool to captivate consumers, cultivate lasting relationships with them and ultimately drive sales. Research shows that 55% of consumers who love a brand’s story are willing to make a purchase.
Luxury brands have been using storytelling approach to win consumers for a long time. By conveying stories around brand history, founders, designers, famous clients and products, brands become more than only an assortment of goods or services. Through storytelling, luxury brands engage, spur emotions, and become larger-than-life experience for its customers. Storytelling improves brand performance by increasing customer retention and loyalty.
In this hyper competitive era where brands are jostling to win consumer’s attention via traditional and social media, here are 7 key functions which luxury brands perform through storytelling:
1) Offer immersive experiences- Luxury brands leverage storytelling to engage consumers in immersive brand experiences. Whether through creative visual merchandising, captivating social media content, multisensory retail environment or experiential marketing campaigns, storytelling mesmerizes audience and draw them in their world. Hermès storefront looks more like a piece of art than a retail storefront. A powerful display of visuals and colourful art tells a story with every display. Rather than trying to sell a product, it evokes feelings and provide alluring experience.
Note: Storytelling can have magnifying impact at each touch point of the consumer purchase journey.
2) Communicate brand ethos- Through compelling narratives, brands can communicate their values, beliefs, history, pedigree, commitment to quality and craftmanship. Rolls-Royce is an everlasting expression of passion for excellence. It is a symbol of luxury and therefore the company mantra is that every piece of detail incorporated in their car is a story of luxury by itself. It is a work of art, completely personalised for an individual, by highly skilled artisans and designers.
Note: Storytelling is a perfect way to consistently share and reinforce desired brand ethos to consumers.
3) Convey brand differentiation- Storytelling permit these brands to convey their uniqueness effectively, exhibiting what makes them superlative. Rolex is renowned for its precision, durability, and performance. The brand's storytelling emphasize on the accomplishments of athletes who depend on Rolex watches in the most tough times. Rolex sponsors various sporting events, underlining the resilience and dependability of its timepieces. By linking itself with stories of audacity, determination, and brillance, Rolex strengthen its image as a symbol of achievement and success.
Note: Effective storytelling makes brand communication more effective in establishing unique positioning and brand differentiation in the market.
4) Build aspiration- Storytelling is very important to create dream factor in luxury brands. Brand stories arouse desirability among consumers. If one speaks about their own life experiences, people will connect it much better than if one just describes the product to them. Here is a classic case: To an interviewer in 1960 on the sets of Let’s Make Love, Marilyn Monroe said: “You know they ask you questions...Just an example, ‘What do you wear to bed? A pajama top? The bottoms of the pajamas? A nightgown?" So, I said Chanel N°5! Because it’s the truth! This statement made in a very casual way, made the perfume an instant hit, a classic, and became the perfume's greatest endorsement.
Note: Storytelling through celebrity collaborations can help luxury brands humanize their image and create aspirational value among consumers.
5) Showcase transparency: New generation of consumers are demanding and discerning. They not only want beautiful products but expect equally beautiful back stories. Tiffany narrates the entire craftsmanship journey of each diamond, including where its diamond come from, where they are cut and polished. Such transparency helps them to develop deeper emotional connect with eco-conscious consumers.
Note: Storytelling provides meaning to luxury brands and help consumers make informed buying decisions.
6) Develop trust -Authentic and credible stories build trust among the consumers. ITC Hotels belief is guided by the philosophy that luxury brands must have sustainable practices embedded in them. ITC Hotels have adopted Responsible Luxury as part of its endeavour to proliferate a movement towards planet positive luxury experiences. From optimising the use of natural light to meeting their electrical demand through wind and solar energy; conserving water through harvesting rainwater and attaining zero waste generation status by reducing, reusing and recycling the solid waste generated, every effort is made to preserve the eco-system around them. Such practices align with luxury consumers who believe in guilt-free pleasures.
Note: A long term, consistent story telling approach creates the desired persona in the minds of customers.
7) Evoke emotions- Luxury brands narrate compelling stories that directly touch the hearts of customers. De Beers' iconic slogan "A Diamond is Forever" is one of the most successful and enduring marketing campaigns in history. Introduced in 1948, the campaign strategically positioned diamonds as a symbol of everlasting love and commitment. Fast-forward to 1977 De Beers came with tagline “How else could two months’ salary last forever?” This simple tag line transcends simultaneously the logic of desire, interest, pleasure and need. The advertisement invented the modern concept of the engagement ring and the diamond’s relationship with love and marriage.
Note: Deep emotional connect with the consumers directly translates into higher lifetime customer value for brands.
Storytelling is thus an important tool to create winning marketing communication strategies. However, caution should be taken in terms of crafting storytelling content. Lack of consistency, truthfulness and relevance can make storytelling ineffective. Thus, luxury brand managers need to fine tune their stories to create magical impact!