On August 28th 1963, a man got to his feet to speak in front of a gathered crowd.
The crowd was 250,000 strong. The location was the Lincoln Memorial in Washington. The man was Martin Luther King Jr.
The speech he began delivering, followed a script. He was constantly looking down at his notes. Reading verbatim.
Around halfway through the speech, gospel singer Mahalia Jackson, who was standing a few feet from King shouted out, “Tell ‘em about the dream, Martin! Tell ‘em about the dream!”
King looked at her. He slid the text of his speech to one side. He paused for a few seconds.
Then he said… “I have a dream.”
“It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal.”
So began the speech that King had not intended to give. But one that evoked emotion in millions of people. Emotion that helped change history.
It was one of the best stories ever told.
Why are we talking about this? Ever since there has been language, humans have been telling stories.
We think in stories. Remember in stories. Share experiences in stories.
Research has consistently shown that our brains process and retain stories more effectively than isolated facts or data. It shows that we are often driven more by emotional arguments than rational arguments.
This is just as true in the FMCG world. Our industry is driven by the stories that are told.
The stories you tell internally. To get people aligned behind a common direction. The stories you tell externally. To get suppliers or customers excited about opportunities and the solutions you can bring.
Success is not just based on who has the best data. Who has the best ideas. Who has the deepest pockets.
Success is also based on the stories we tell. And the best story wins.
This is particularly true for Category Strategies. But too many of them follow the same tired formula. They are information led. We’ve got a lot to tell you about this category and we are going to make sure we tell you all of it. They are often boring. You lose more of the audience at each step of the way.
This is the old way of doing things.
The new way is to be story led. Telling a story about how this category can and will grow. Making it interesting. And exciting. The audience stays with you at every step of the way.
So, how can you do this?
You need to build a simple, compelling narrative around the key things we’ve been talking about over the last few weeks…
The changing category landscape. Setting out who you are. The wider competitive set you are competing with. The opportunity for growth.
The role your category can play. Setting out the differentiated role you can play for consumers AND retailers. The superpowers your category has.
The direction the category is heading. Using an atomic statement. Something that is specific to your category. That inspires. That is meaningful not meaningless.
The big behaviour change(s) you can drive. Focusing on true category development. How you can make the pie bigger. By doing so you will take a bigger slice even if your market share stays the same.
Then design for this story. Use headlining not commentary. Use a very few magic numbers, not busy data charts. Use more visuals and less text.
A story that is easy to understand. That is easy to remember. That is easy to share.
The battle for category growth is a battle of stories. And the best story wins.
So, look at your category strategy. Are you telling the best story?
If not, you might need to “tell ‘em about the dream.”
Feel free to forward. We’re taking a short break from blog writing for the summer. We’ll be back in September.