What do you do first when you meet someone you don't know? You ask them questions. You do this to get to know their story. Where are you from? What kind of work do you do? Do you have children? And so on. You don't ask these questions just because. It's a way to make a connection with someone. You're looking for shared values and experiences. These create a connection and trust. If you're on vacation abroad, being Dutch is enough of a shared value to make contact with strangers who are also Dutch. Despite not knowing these people, you still have a connection with them and a certain trust in them. Simply because you probably share some of the same values, experiences, and stories.
As a consumer, you also want to establish a connection and trust relationship with a brand. You want to know the brand's story to determine whether or not you want to form a connection with the brand. If your values align with those of the brand. It's the answer to the question of whether the brand can become part of your identity. In our opinion, a brand is a story with a promise. That's a nice idea, but the most important question remains: "What is the brand going to tell?"
The core story: the mother of all stories
To find out, it's good to first look for the brand's core story. The core story is the (inspiration) source that all the stories that the brand tells and will tell have a connection to. It's the story of stories, the story where the brand's core values come from. The beauty of it is that every brand and every company has such a story. This core story contains everything you are and what you do. It brings everything together: history, mission, inspiration sources, goals, and of course the reason for existence.
This core story has all the ingredients of what a good story needs:
The core story is therefore the mother of all stories. This is also where Simon Sinek's Why can be distilled. In short, we explore the function of the core story by looking at a globally known company (Apple) and a Dutch icon brand (HEMA). With both brands, we will distill the characters, setting, plot, and theme from their history.
APPLE INC.
The well-known computer company from Cupertino, California, produces both hardware and software products.
HEMA
Eight years in a row the most indispensable brand in the Netherlands, but now in heavy weather in its home market Netherlands. You can wonder if abandoning its core story in recent years has contributed to this. No longer sailing on its own course, but looking at what others such as Action, H&M, and Albert Heijn do. In the meantime, the new CEO has changed course.
The core story and the stories thereafter
You can't keep telling the core story about the origin of the company endlessly in your campaigns and content. You can't keep living in the past. Let's take a closer look at the core story of Nike and then see how Nike creates other stories from this story.
Nike was founded in 1962 by athlete Philip Knight and his coach Bill Bowerman. Co-founder Bill Bowerman was a former Olympian and coach at Oregon University. He was also actively involved in the development of better materials and training methods for athletes. Bowerman always tried to get the most out of his athletes and their equipment. This dual approach made him a successful track and field coach. Together with Philip Knight, he started Blue Ribbon Sports and sold Tiger Shoes, which they imported from Japan (later known as ASICS). Bill Bowerman made his first Nike shoes for Philip with an old waffle iron. Famous quotes from Bill include: "Everything you need is already inside," "If you have a body, you're an athlete," "The magic is in the man, not the 100 miles," and "There's no such thing as bad weather, just soft people."
This specific core story is no longer told by Nike today, but it is still the (inspiration) source for all the stories that follow. The theme of Nike is that every person is an athlete who can challenge themselves to surpass themselves. Whether it's Just do it, or the theme of Nike during the 2012 Olympics in London: Find your greatness.
The story of Nike always revolves around the motivation to surpass oneself. The characters of Philip Knight and Bill Bowerman have also been dropped and make way for other characters. These can be consumers, brand ambassadors (in the case of Nike, athletes), or people at the brand. The setting also changes with the stories. The setting at Nike can also be a world football championship or the Olympics. But also, for example, the background of many American girls in the 1990s who do not do sports. From this setting, Nike created an emotional commercial in which young girls explain the benefits of sports for them. The title of the 1995 commercial was: If you let me play... Of course, closed by their world-famous tagline Just do it.
The core story is therefore important for all brand stories that will follow. Characters, setting, and plot are subject to change, but the theme remains. The theme that wants to convey something and teach us. The theme that gives meaning to our world. By telling the theme from other characters, settings, and plots, you ensure that the stories remain current, but you maintain the soul of the company.
The core story is step 1 in the True Story Canvas. This allows you to position your brand based on authenticity on an A4.