Assignment Details

Explore and illustrate how signature stories or myths have been used to position a brand in your home market.

The brand may be local or global but the brand must be available in your home market.

Stories are a hot topic in marketing because they have been shown to be superior to facts in getting attention, being remembered, in changing opinions, in stimulating social activity, developing emotion, and, curiously, even in communicating facts.  Many firms have added journalists, editors, and filmmakers to their staffs to create or find meaningful stories and present them in a compelling way.Stories are often thought mainly to support tactical communication objectives, but there is also a strategic role Stories are often thought mainly to support tactical communication objectives – but there is also a strategic role.  Such stores we call signature stories because they represent some form of strategic statement about a mission, values, the brand, customer relationship, or strategic intent.  And they can do this much better than a recitation of facts, which usually ends up sounding not only boring but also similar to a host of other firms.

Consider the L.L. Bean firm that would like to communicate its innovation culture, its passion for the outdoors, its commitment to quality, its concern for the customer, and the functional benefits of the Maine Hunting Shoe.  Stating such facts is unlikely to create interest, credibility or even a connection to L.L. Bean.

In contrast, consider the following story.  Leon L. Bean, an avid outdoorsman, returned from a hunting trip in 1912 disgruntled because of his cold, wet feet.  With little resources but a lot of motivation and ingenuity, he invented a new boot by stitching lightweight leather tops to waterproof rubber bottoms.  The boots worked so well he offered them for sale via mail order as the Maine Hunting Shoe using lists of nonresident Maine hunting license holders.  Unfortunately, most of the first 100 pairs sold had a stitching problem and leaked.  Mr Bean faced a defining moment!  His response?  He refunded the customers’ money even though it nearly broke him and fixed the process so that future boots were indeed watertight.  This story communicates the L.L. Bean brand far better than any presentation of facts.