Marketing: A Love Story

"Bernadette helped modern marketers see that stories are a choice. That’s a huge leap. Of course it’s true, but it means that we have to spend as much time and energy building and living a story as we do creating the products and services that match that story. If you fit in, you’re invisible. That’s what camouflage is for. There are many ways to stand apart, of course, and what Jiwa is arguing for is not simply standing out, but standing out in a way that resonates. Because people are busy. They are unlikely to care enough about your product to talk about it. But they’re certainly interested in themselves, and if you can resonate with who I am and more important, who I seek to be, then I’m on your team, and vice versa. Every single company that you can think of has done this! That’s why you can think of them. Lots of people sell sneakers. But if I ask you to name a sneaker company, you’ll name one that told a story well—or spectacularly poorly, which is almost a version of well."