Your audience is looking for stories, and the ones that resonate with them will generate leads and drive results for your brand. But is your brand telling the right story?
For your brand’s content to be successful, you need to implement brand journalism.
Through a combination of journalistic storytelling and brand strategy, brand journalism spreads awareness of your brand and influences purchasing decisions.
But what does brand journalism success look like? Take a look at these four brands who have implemented brand journalism programs and done them well:
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1. McDonald’s
Last year, rumors circled that McDonald’s had a secret contract with Coca-Cola which made their soda taste better. The fast food chain combatted the rumors by investigating its audience’s concern, providing factual evidence and distributing the information through its platforms.
McDonald’s’ brand journalism strategy helped them take control of their brand reputation, turn public opinion in their favor and mitigate what could’ve been a crisis.
Brand journalism helps you build a loyal following that will stick by your side when issues arise and threaten your brand. Share the stories that showcase your brand in a positive way to strengthen your reputation and attract supporters.
2. Starbucks
Starbucks uses brand journalism to highlight their employees. In 2014, the coffee giant shared the story behind employee Esther Asuncion’s artwork for the brand’s annual holiday mugs.
The story showed how Starbucks values their employees and creates a positive work culture. By focusing on an individual in their organization, readers were able to better relate to the brand, which resulted in an increase in word-of-mouth and sales for Starbucks.
Stories that come from employees are more likely to resonate with your audience because they’re personal. Empower your employees and share the good that they are doing for your organization. Not only will your audience trust you more, but your employees will feel validated as well.
3. Red Bull
With a print and digital magazine called “The Red Bulletin,” Red Bull shares stories on celebrities, sports, fashion and lifestyle. The stories aren’t directly related to their brand, but they are of interest to their intended audience.
By sharing content that places their brand in the background instead of the spotlight, Red Bull creates a larger brand narrative that is personalized for their audience.
News hubs or digital newsrooms like Red Bull’s are the perfect way to centralize your brand’s news and make it easy for your audience to find and share stories.
4. Verizon
For technology brands like Verizon, finding a way to connect with audiences through a product can be difficult. So instead of focusing on what people are buying, Verizon chose to focus on who was buying.
Verizon shares stories and customized content, profiling customers, including musicians, filmmakers and entrepreneurs, to show how they are using their products in new and innovative ways.
Brand journalism is all about telling authentic stories that focus on people. You can’t just focus on the benefits of your products; you need to uncover the deeper motives of why people are buying your products.
