by Mongezi Mtati (@Mongezi) Increasingly, smart brands are encouraging their followers, fans and evangelists to share their own stories. More brands are setting up themselves up as platforms for customer stories that are worth sharing, rather than placing themselves as the headline act, ahead of the customer.
Brand evangelists, of whom there are many — as revealed in this Urban selfies campaign — come out in support when called upon to do so. They are the willing participants and evangelists of a brand story, a story that expresses both their support and individual personality.
Here are some examples:
No. 1 fans
The film industry is grappling with a lot, from consumers’ attention deficit to the ongoing debate about whether piracy affects the industry’s box-office sales as much it claims it does. In recent times, filmmakers have been finding ways to generate more multiplatform content that builds excitement and draws audiences to cinemas when the film is released.
Several months ago, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson (yes, the loud wrestler and actor who refers to himself in the third person on WWE) shared his and diet training regime in an attempt to build Team Hercules ahead of his lead role in the upcoming movie Hercules.
The intention was to challenge his fans to join the team and become part of the community. Enter film, tv and music journalist Stuart Heritage, a fan who not only took on the challenge but who also shared the record of his regime (which seems more like a daily dose of suffering than anything else).
In a recent article in The Guardian, Heritage shared his and The Rock’s slightly glamorous — read equally unappetising — diet of that day. He kept at it the whole day and went on to give his account where he also added some gruelling training, with humorous results.
Incidentally, in the first 10 days of opening at cinemas mostly in the US, some parts of Asia, Europe and Australia , Hercules (according to Box Office Mojo), has already grossed over $52 million – more than half of its production budget of $100 million. It opens in other regions, including Africa, between the first of August and 5 September.
Allowing people to write their own scripts means they become part of a story that spreads organically, building interest and appeal for the film.
Life-changing
Influential customer stories happen all the time; sometimes, they don’t follow campaign processes or brand messaging.
Natasha Clark, a blogging mother of two boys who writes Raising Men, recently took up marathon running and, with eight weeks to prepare, accepted a challenge that would change her life: the 21-kilometre Momentum Cape Times Knysna Forest Half Marathon.
A number of brands, such as Pick n Pay, Women’s Health and TomTom, partnered with her through the journey and supported her in her quest to change her lifestyle, something she shared on her blog and used to engage her readers.
According to Clark, she was supported with training, dieticians and meal plans by these brands. The story was picked up by a few platforms over the eight-week preparation and, although Clark can’t confirm where and how far it was shared, she says they reached 100 000 people. Many of her readers have since taken up running and are more likely to test the brands that supported her cause.
These brands, aside from what they say about themselves through campaigns, now have an authentic story told through the blogger’s change in lifestyle.
Place the customer first
Research by Nielsen shows that the level of trust, in recommendations from people they know, was at 84% in 2013 as compared to 78% in 2007. Most brands would go with branded websites, which people across the globe have responded to as saying they find those websites as 69% trustworthy.
We all tell our stories every single day and, as with Heritage, some brand evangelists become more vocal in influencing the buying decisions of their peers. But when you place the customer first, your brand’s story is more likely to spread organically as people share their experiences in an authentic way.
Customers’ stories, because of their sincerity and the trust they have built, foster more meaningful relationships that in turn increase sales and reach.
Listen
In this age where some customers have more influence and reach than the brands they gravitate towards, it’s worthwhile to listen — more than ever before.
Mongezi Mtati (@Mongezi) is the founding MD of WordStart (www.wordstart.co.za). Apart from being a kiteboarding and sandboarding adventurer, Mongezi connects companies and brands with measurable word-of-mouth. He contributes the monthly “The Word” column on word-of-mouth marketing and social media strategy to MarkLives.
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