You might think that your brand narrative is completely timeless but Gareth Finch, MD of PR agency Bumpp, reckons that yours might need updating more often than you think—and not just for your consumers’ benefit.
A new CEO, a refreshed corporate strategy, or preparing for emerging audience needs in changing local and global markets, these are all reasons to review, update and future-proof your brand narrative. If your brand story hasn’t evolved with changes in your business, or the world around it, then now is the time for a refresh.
A strong brand narrative does more than describe what your organisation does. It builds trust, aligns internal teams and strengthens relationships with customers and external stakeholders. It does this by shaping how employees interact with each other and with customers, how sales teams pitch your product, or how your government affairs team might advocate for policy changes in your sector.
Here are four ways to ensure your brand story is relevant, resonates and is ready to accurately reflect your organisation.
1. Start with a Reality Check
Before updating your messaging, assess what’s already being said about you. What are customers, employees and stakeholders saying? What feedback do sales teams hear? If your organisation is in a regulated industry, does your messaging build safety and trust in a highly scrutinised world? Messaging must be grounded in real-world insights about your brand, not assumptions or aspirations.
2. Be Authentic About Being Authentic
Authenticity comes from clarity, consistency and evidence about what your brand stands for or believes in, not from clichés, baseless taglines or forcing a casual tone where it doesn’t fit. Corporate brands should focus on a distinct voice that reflects their values and objectives. To do this, your messaging should align with what the brand truly represents, how it goes about its business (sharing actual examples) and ensuring every interaction feels intentional and trustworthy to build credibility.
3. Embed It Across the Organisation
A brand narrative needs to be an integral part of company culture, across all departments, from HR and IT to sales and customer service. Every team should be made aware of it, what it means to their part of the organisation and how they will deliver on it. It should be consistently reinforced in internal communication and leadership need to model it and talk about it. A consistent message builds understanding and belief, and role-modelling its use ensures widespread adoption.
4. Let It Live in the Field
Once your refreshed brand narrative is in use, you’ll quickly know what works and what doesn’t. Messaging should be a living document that evolves based on real-world conversations. If certain phrases resonate, use them more. If some parts feel clunky or confusing, refine them. If you need to expand the narrative for a new audience or purpose, do it. Make sure to collect this feedback and insights so that your refreshed brand narrative can have maximum impact.
In short, a well-crafted brand narrative empowers teams to tell a consistent, compelling, evidence-based story. It helps organisations navigate interactions with customers and stakeholders with confidence. But to ensure that your messaging remains compelling it needs to evolve as your organisation, and the world around it, evolves.
Having an up-to-date, embedded brand narrative isn’t just helpful – it’s essential.
