Written by Caroline Legrand
Edited by Allison Herrera
Digital advertisements and marketing are becoming more and more popular every day. With fast paced media and less in-person connection, it is more important than ever to make sure you are developing a relationship with your customers. At Uptown Girl Media, we do this by storytelling.
It really is as simple as telling a bedtime story, except it’s all about your brand. Add strategic messaging, and voila – you’ve given your customers a base to connect with you! Here is a little information about how a company does just that.
Away, an Inst-Famous travel brand selling luggage, became an icon for storytelling by literally writing a book with the launch of the company in 2016. Founders Steph Korey and Jen Rubio interviewed 40 creatives including travel bloggers and photographers to compose a book with all of their insights titled The Places We Return To. With the purchase of a book, customers received a gift card for a suitcase.
The Places We Return To also set the tone for their marketing practices to this day as Away maintains a blog and a quarterly print magazine titled Here. The production is separate from the commerce website and even has its own Instagram, @here.mag where writers share their city guides, travel tips and experiences.
One aspect of being a storytelling brand is telling the stories of your consumers. Away does this by sharing photos of followers who travel using their luggage. Most of the Instagram content is curated from user generated posts showing exquisite travel destinations and photos of iconic places and spaces. They also incorporate the hashtag #travelaway to keep all of their user content in one place.
Away derailed itself from a traditional retail model by not having a permanent storefront. Their Instagram shares pop-up locations when they happen, but the premise of the company and its interactions is that they are brand driven, not sales driven. Ultimately, that is what storytelling can do for your company.
Another brand we love that markets through storytelling is airbnb. They paint their marketing strategy as a wanderlust page that silently whispers, “you could be here”. It does exactly what their caption guarantees – “opens the door to interesting homes and experiences.” EXPERIENCES is the key word.
My father has always told me to follow my passions and that a career, life and money would follow. By telling your brand’s story and following the passion that started your company, it is possible to be a brand-driven organization and not worry (or at least over worry) about sales. Sales will follow passion. Share yours.
