These days, brand storytelling isn't just about clever commercials. It may not be about commercials at all, because people aren't interested in just being sold to. In addition to what you're selling, they want to know why you're selling it (beyond just to make money). As much as your customers buy your product, they buy what you stand for. They buy what you're about. They buy into your story. Which means you need a story to tell.
That doesn't mean spin doctoring or making up a story people will find palatable. If you fabricate or falsify your story you'll likely be found out, one way or another. The story has to have integrity. But truth alone doesn't make a story easy to tell, or to distil.
Some stories are complex. Some are muddled or muddied. Some are overwritten or under-edited. Or sometimes you're too close to a story to be able to see it clearly. In instances like these, it's helpful to simplify your story to the answers of just three questions.
1: What's the problem you're trying to solve?
This talks to that noblest of motivators - your purpose. What is wrong with the world that you're trying to make better? Why did you get into the business you did? What is it that gets you out of bed every morning, day after difficult day?
This is not about making money. It's what you might be doing anyway if money wasn't a thing. In narrative terms, it's your "call to adventure"; the reason for your journey. Think of brands you admire, ones that you believe are in it for more than just money. Think especially of successful technology brands like Google, Amazon, Airbnb. Many of them have openly articulated their purposes, but even if you haven't read them you probably have a sense of what the problem is they're trying to solve.
What is the problem Tesla is trying to solve? Its stated goal - or at least the first part of its stated goal - is to "accelerate the advent of sustainable transport". The implied problem it is trying to solve is that the world is dangerously reliant on fossil fuels. That is a big, bold, bad-ass project.
10X Investments, where I'm currently spending my time, is trying to solve the problem of too many people retiring with too little money.
22seven, where I worked previously, is a budgeting app on the face of it. The problem it and its founders wanted to solve: people spend more and save less than what is good for them.
If you can reduce your answer to one short sentence, you're well on your way. Keep it clear and simple. The longer it is, the fuzzier your story will be.
2: Who or what is responsible for the problem?
If the first question tells people what you stand for, this one tells people what you're against. It gives you, in a sense, an enemy. It indicates who and what you're not, and so differentiates you.
An enemy is a crucial part of any story. Think of the last movies you watched. There was almost certainly a villain, a rival, someone to fight or overcome. Sometimes that enemy is internal - the hero is fighting his or her own demons. But there is always a struggle against something.
This doesn't just make for good drama, which is important. It also adds purpose to the story. Without an enemy, there is little to motivate the hero, and little reason to root for her.
In Tesla's case, the enemy is massive and established: it's the fossil fuel industry, including almost all car manufacturers. This "villain" may not be a very overt part of the story that Tesla tells, but it's always there implicitly. And it may not be an overt part of the story that Tesla itself has to tell - the climate change narrative is in the public discourse and other people are doing the job for Tesla.
This is a benefit that 10X Investments doesn't have. The enemy is also the status quo - the financial services industry, which, for generations, has made money off its clients (but not so much for them) by overcharging for products that under-deliver. But - at least in South Africa - this is not something the general public is aware of, so 10X itself needs to make the industry a large part of its storytelling.
What is in 10X's favour is that the enemy is visible and tangible. It's something you can point at and identify; it's the devil you know. This makes storytelling a lot easier. It's a big challenge to tell a story about someone or something that is more abstract.
This was a challenge that 22seven had, because what is responsible for our spending too much and saving too little is, primarily, ourselves: our blindness, impulse, unconscious habits and our lack of awareness of those habits. Not only is the "enemy" more obscure, but it is inside us, so there is psychological resistance and denial, which are difficult barriers for customers to overcome.
Of course these more esoteric enemies are present in the Tesla and 10X examples as well. As buyers and drivers of combustion engine cars, we ourselves are also partly responsible for the problem. And as willing purchasers of expensive, failing investments and financial products from the establishment, we're either ignorant or apathetic. But these are secondary "characters" and can come into the story later, or in more minor roles.
3: How are you solving the problem?
It's all very well to identify a problem and where responsibility for the problem lies, but that's not enough to build a business or brand on. You also need some good answers. And you have to tell people what they are. How, exactly, is your product helping? And how is it helping in a way that no one else is?
Tesla's answer lies in the second part of its goal: it is accelerating the advent of sustainable transport "by bringing compelling mass market electric cars to market as soon as possible". With their first models, they answered the "compelling" part: the cars were more beautiful, faster and safer than most others; they were objects of desire even without being electric. With the forthcoming Model 3, they'll answer the "mass market" part.
10X's solution to the problem of too many people retiring with too little money is to offer low cost index funds. Fees are the single most reliable predictor of a fund's success, and 10X charges less than half the industry average. On top of that, the more expensive funds (which is almost all of them) are active funds, which overwhelmingly perform worse than index funds and are also wildly inconsistent.
22seven started solving the problem of people spending too much and saving too little by, first, helping them become more aware of their spending habits and blind spots and, later, proactively nudging people to make better money decisions.
You can see how these solutions are fairly clear and simple. At the same time they are really just a beginning. Customers will want or need more information - and that additional information becomes an extended part of the story.
Unfold the story
Your answers to the three questions make up the bare bones of your brand's narrative. They're the basic, essential ingredients with which to start and on which to build. Without an important or relevant problem, without a believable and interesting enemy, and without a compelling solution, your story - and, arguably, your business - starts off weaker. But with all of those things in place, you can start to tell people what you're about, and continue to develop your story in more depth and detail over time.