Every authentic brand has a story behind it. In “The Brand Mindset™”, Duane Knapp describes it this way;

“All genuine brands have a story, a legend about how they got started. On the surface, a historical account of the brandʼs beginnings may not be impressive. However, they can be very powerful because they offer inspiration and optimism for everyone else. Preserving and enhancing a brandʼs heritage as it becomes more successful provides inspiration and motivation for customers, employees, and external relationships.”

I agree with him. Here’s some of my favorite brand stories:

Moleskine:

The history of a legendary notebook

Moleskine is the legendary notebook used by European artists and thinkers for the past two centuries, from Van Gogh to Picasso,from Ernest Hemingway to Bruce Chatwin. This trusty, pocket-size travel companion held sketches, notes, stories and ideas before they turned into famous images or pages of beloved books.

Originally produced by small French bookbinders who supplied the Parisian stationery shops frequented by the international avant-garde, by the end of the twentieth century the Moleskine notebook was no longer available. In 1986, the last manufacturer of Moleskine, a family operation in Tours, closed its shutters forever. “Le vrai Moleskine n’est plus” were the lapidary words of the owner of the stationery shop in Rue de l’Ancienne Comédie where Chatwin stocked up on the notebooks. The English writer had ordered a hundred of them before leaving for Australia: he bought up all the Moleskine that he could find, but they were not enough.

In 1998, a small Milanese publisher brought Moleskine back again. As the self-effacing keeper of an extraordinary tradition, Moleskine once again began to travel the globe. To capture reality on the move, pin down details, impress upon paper unique aspects of experience: Moleskine is a reservoir of ideas and feelings, a battery that stores discoveries and perceptions, and whose energy can be tapped over time.

The legendary black notebook is once again being passed from one pocket to the next; with its various different page styles if accompanies the creative professions and the imagination of our time. The adventure of Moleskine continues, and its still-blank pages will tell the rest.

Hatch Show Print

Active since 1879, Hatch Show Print is America’s oldest working poster print shop and is now the guardian of a very special corner of Americana. Visited by thousands of people each year, the shop that produces hundreds of colorful posters annually has long been a downtown Nashville landmark. Each Hatch Show Print poster is a unique creation, individually handcrafted an inked onto paper in a technique that dates back several centuries. The process, known as letterpress, involves selecting (or, if necessary, carving) woodblocks, setting up wood and/or metal type, then inking and pressing these elements onto paper to form an image. Founded by the Hatch brothers, C.R. and H.H., the firm blossomed in the 1920’s under the steady had of C.R.’s son Will T. Hatch, who applied his own bold style in handcarving the woodblocks. For much of  this century, the firm’s vibrant, colorful posters served as a leading advertising medium for Southern entertainment, ranging from vaudeville and minstrel shows to magicians and opera singers, from negro league baseball games to B-movies. Beginning in the 50’s, Hatch’s biggest clients were Grand Ole Opry performers like Bill Monroe, Johnny Cash and Roy Acuff. Now owned and operated by the Country Music Foundation, Hatch Show Print produces restrikes of classic designs and continues to create new posters for current artists like Bruce Springsteen and The Rolling Stones that are cherished by music fans, graphic designers and art critics alike.

Cliff Bar

Clif Bar is named after my father, Clifford, my childhood hero and companion through the Sierra Nevada mountains.

In 1990, I lived in a garage, with my dog, skis, climbing gear, bicycle and two trumpets. The inspiration to create an energy bar occurred during a day-long, 175 mile bike ride with my buddy Jay. We’d been gnawing on some “other” energy bars all day. Suddenly, despite my hunger, I couldn’t take another bite. I thought, “I could make a better bar than this!” That’s the moment I now call “the epiphany.”

Two years later, after countless hours in Mom’s kitchen, the Clif Bar became a reality. And the mission to create a better-tasting energy bar was accomplished. Thanks Mom!

In each of these examples, they do more than just list the company’s milestones. They connect the brand to a cultural movement, associate the brand with a spirit that their customers identify with and overall, promote the fact that they’ve contributed something significant to the lexicon of the space their brand occupies.

Duane Knapp contends that the brand story should be treated as an important part of the overall brand blueprint, like your company name, logo and tagline. Done properly, it can act as a guidepost to help the company stay true to the brand as it grows, it helps customers know how to feel about the brand, and it can make the brand more valuable from a cultural standpoint.

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