The Dan Murphy’s Brand Story (And How You Can Mimic It)

The Dan Murphy’s Brand Story (And How You Can Mimic It)

According to the head of marketing for Dan Murphy’s, Yolanda Uys, we should “stop thinking of ourselves as marketeers or brand managers, but instead as storytellers”, speaking at the ADMA Global Forum recently.

“We live in world where information is thrown at us, we check out phone 150 times a day, and our attention span is less than a goldfish,” Uys said, adding that she was concerned marketers had “lost the art of storytelling”.

“Think of brand as a house with many, many doors,” Uys said. “Customers can come into your house in a myriad of ways, so your experience has to be consistent.

“No matter which door I come through, the brand experience has to be consistent. Your brand has to hang together as a cohesive whole. Your brand channel has to deliver your brand story in way that’s relevant to the customer you want to reach.”

Uys explained that a great brand story and creating great content for your brand is, in truth, no different to a narrative or tale, with a great character, theme, point of view, style and tone, plot and setting.

For Uys, the character represents the brand, the theme is the point of difference, the point of view is the content, style and tone represents brand identity, the plot is the service and the setting is the channel.

“If these are principles of great storytelling, how do we translate that to a brand?” she asked. But rather than tell, Uys decided to show the audience what that looks like, in retelling the narrative of the Dan Murphy’s brand.

Our character: Dan Murphy himself

“Dan’s family moved to Australia as Irish immigrants, and he worked in his father’s liquor store,” Uys explained. “Except he believed he could do a better job, and opened own liquor store across the road from his dad.

“He believed in the lowest price, quality, and to bring wine education to the people.”

Our theme: ‘No matter what your taste, you will always be able to enjoy the drinks you love at the lowest prices’.

This, Uys explained, was the mantra or clear point of difference offered by Dan Murphy’s.

“And coupled with that, we offer great service,” she added. “Dan used to train his staff firsthand, and handpicked both staff and products.”

Our point of view: price

“Our point of view is really about price, but it’s also about inspiration and excitement through buyer’s guides, which are long form stories about different drinks to try and the food to match with them.

“The discovery guide is all about taking journeys of whiskey etc. and putting it into layman’s terms.”

But Uys stressed, “Are you clear on what your personality of your brand is?”

Style & Tone: Immersion

“Dan Murphy’s is centred on discovery and immersion in a category, and taking the time to talk about the products is a key part of a brand.

“For us, it’s like browsing around in a library. Double Bay was our first concept store – we call them precincts – and we took a big part of the store out and put in a whiskey immersion section.

“For us it was about finding the style and tone of brand and putting it into everything we do,” Uys said, adding it was about “creating a world within a world”.

Plot: Dan Murphy fights for egalitarianism

“Whether it’s a $2 bottle of cleanskins or $200 bottle of wine, Dan Murphy believes we should stock those ranges. And we never question it,” Uys said.

“Brand promise doesn’t begin and end with the brand team, but with every member of our staff in stores. The lowest liquor price guarantee goes very deep.

“We have a price change team who get in about 5.30/6am every morning to go through every website and newspaper, and if they find a price that matches us they send a memo to stores to drop it before opening at 9am.”

Setting: our channel

“There’s this obsession with digital, Snapchat – all these channels we can use,” Uys began. “But if your channel isn’t helping tell your story, and bring your point of difference to life, you’re going about it the wrong way.

“We chose to go really big in digital outdoor. It’s the easiest way to deliver our promise. Our biggest conundrum was publishing prices in the morning, then a competitor would drop their price lower and we’d drop our price again – but we couldn’t get the message out. Digital outdoor can help us do that.

“The channel for us becomes a choice around the question, ‘How do we best deliver our brand promise in a way that’s meaningful for the customer?’”

“The power sits in the consistency and continuity as brand ambassadors, and this will continue to tell the story through time,” Uys concluded.

“This will become the greatest differentiator in a world of change – consistency and knowing who you are will become the holy grail, and the difference between good brands and great brands.”

Image: Mccartneydesign




Latest News

Archibald Williams Wins NBA Digital, Activation & Fan Engagement Accounts For APAC
  • Media

Archibald Williams Wins NBA Digital, Activation & Fan Engagement Accounts For APAC

Independent brand and digital agency, Archibald Williams (AW) has been appointed to lead the NBA account across the APAC region. The NBA is one of the most prestigious sporting leagues in the world and basketball is one of the fastest-growing sports in Australia. Effective immediately, AW said it was “excited” to work across all digital, […]

QMS Champions Creativity As First Most Contagious APAC 2023 Sponsor
  • Advertising

QMS Champions Creativity As First Most Contagious APAC 2023 Sponsor

Leading digital outdoor company QMS has announced it is the first-ever inaugural partner for Most Contagious APAC, the landmark London event by creative and strategic intelligence company Contagious, which will be showcased in Australia on Tuesday, 12 December in Sydney and Wednesday, 13 December in Melbourne. Most Contagious is an event that delivers key advertising […]

OMG’s Annalect First To Get Meta’s Advanced Analytics
  • Technology

OMG’s Annalect First To Get Meta’s Advanced Analytics

Omnicom’s data and analytics division Annalect has partnered with Meta, giving it access to Advanced Analytics (AA) – one of Meta’s privacy-focused measurement solutions – to provide Omnicom’s clients with future-proof, next-level measurement. Omnicom is the first holding company to have access to AA. AA allows advertisers to combine their first-party data with Meta’s ads […]

AKQA Launches Eco-Conscious AI DIY Assistant Encouraging People To Gift More Sustainably
  • Technology

AKQA Launches Eco-Conscious AI DIY Assistant Encouraging People To Gift More Sustainably

WPP’s AKQA has launched Fixmas.gift, an environmentally conscious AI-powered DIY assistant, affectionately known as Fixie, for a one-stop solution for all things repair. Fixmas.gift hosts an array of guides and inspiration to empower people to prolong the lives of their belongings or purchase pre-owned items that need a little love and care. Fixie can: Help […]

Marc Collister: AI & Automation Set To Revolutionise Creativity In 2024
  • Opinion

Marc Collister: AI & Automation Set To Revolutionise Creativity In 2024

Marc Collister (pictured) of P2 Content Creators spills the beans on his 2024 predictions drawing from two decades of experience in the advertising, film and television industry. I’m certain it will come as no surprise that in 2024, we can expect our industry to move at breakneck speed again. With even more rapid shifts in […]

Opinion

by B&T Magazine

B&T Magazine
Zeno Group Australia Bolsters Client Offerings With An Expanded Creative Services Portfolio & New Senior Leader
  • Marketing

Zeno Group Australia Bolsters Client Offerings With An Expanded Creative Services Portfolio & New Senior Leader

Zeno Australia has announced expanded creative design capabilities and the appointment of Jim Michell (lead image) to its senior leadership team. The new moves support strong growth in the region. Zeno Australia’s clients, including Abano Healthcare, Motorola and Yorkshire Tea, can now tap into a suite of creative design services to augment the agency’s work […]

Assembled Media Inks TikTok Creator Campaign for BIC
  • Campaigns

Assembled Media Inks TikTok Creator Campaign for BIC

Assembled Media, is drawing upon the creative power of TikTok Creator Marketplace to help generate unique, impactful content for iconic stationery brand, BIC. The social activation campaign titled ‘A Pen for Every Side of You’ promotes the flexibility of BIC’s 4 Colours pen and is active nationwide on the BIC Stationery TikTok account. The campaign […]

Big data and analytics visualization technology with scientist analyzing information structure on screen with machine learning to extract predictions for business, finance, internet of things
  • Media

IAB Launches Fourth Module In Its Marketing Measurement Innovation Series

IAB Australia has launched ‘Evolution in Market Mix Modelling’, the fourth module in its Marketing Measurement Innovation Series, which has been developed by IAB Australia’s Ad Effectiveness Council. The module explores what is driving the increased use of MMM and how the technique is evolving with advances in computing power and machine learning to provide […]

Aerial view of a coal fired power station with large cooling towers emitting co2 into the atmosphere. With its lights already turned on the power station is illuminated in moody twilight.
  • Media

Scope3 Expands Carbon Measurement Capabilities To Include DOOH Advertising

Scope3, the collaborative sustainability platform leading the decarbonisation of media and advertising,  announced the addition of digital out-of-home (DOOH) to its emissions measurement. With DOOH ad spending predicted to grow from $17B in 2023 to nearly $24B by 2028, measuring this channel brings us one step closer to understanding the total impact of digital advertising […]

January 14, 2023 - New York, New York, USA: 2023 NRF Big Show press conference with Composition 2024 NRF Singapore.    Photo by Ian Wagreich / © Ian Wagreich Photography
  • Marketing

Now Open For Registration – NRF 2024: Retail’s Big Show Asia Pacific

NRF 2024: Retail’s Big Show Asia Pacific, is now open for online registrations for the main conference. Jointly organized by the National Retail Federation and Comexposium, Retail’s Big Show Asia Pacific will take place from 11 – 13 June, 2024 at the Sands Expo and Convention Centre in Singapore and is expected to draw thousands […]