Cameron Sterling

Your Brand’s Story, by Cameron Sterling

Your business’s story enables your ideal audience to find alignment through shared values and purpose. It invites them to be the hero in this story. This narrative also helps your business focus on what it does best for the people it serves.

Origin stories inspire me. Before I majored in history at Kenyon College, before I became an editor and a student at Brooks Institute, before I worked with three iconic photographers, I have been drawn to stories of past events that shape the present. 

The phrase "A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away...” and Joseph Campbell’s “hero’s journey” were my primers.

“About” pages often miss the opportunity to show and tell an origin story that is useful to potential clients.

Your business’s origin story leads to the present and points to the future to enable your audience to understand the context around what your business can do for them. Founders and partners are often the hero of an origin story. This is especially important for people who buy from small businesses and have an early adopter mindset or a low risk tolerance.

When your origin story is understood together with your business’s purpose a more complete brand narrative forms for your audience. It is important to note that your business’s origin story is different from its purpose. To clarify this difference, its origin story is how it came to exist, what makes it competent and worthy of attention. Its purpose is why it does what it does, why it does it the way it does, and why it matters to its clients. How your business pursues its purpose may adapt, but why it pursues its purpose should stay consistent. This reduces your buyers risk.

These story elements enable your ideal audience to find alignment through shared experiences, values, and purpose with the goal of inviting them to be the hero of your business’s story.

When I worked with Richard Avedon and Hiro I learned how their business stories created emotional trust with their clients. They were compelling choices because they had a professional process, their results were consistently arresting, and their clients became hero’s in their success story.

The story that informs why your business solves a problem is a key part of what its audience needs to know. Brand narratives are universally needed and always in motion. Don’t miss the opportunity to tell the story with words and visuals that your audience needs to know to decide if your business is the best solution to their problem.