The power of storytelling by Miri Rodriguez

“Put customers at the heart of your brand story.”

This is the subtitle of Miri Rodriguez's book titled Brand Storytelling. Reluctant to write the book in the beginning because of too many things going on in her life—personally and professionally—back then, Miri believed that it was an important narrative because brands confuse what brand storytelling really is.

Using this as the impetus for writing the book, she says: “I share not only the many elements of story, but also the structure and mechanisms that exist to design a brand story that evokes emotion from your audience.”

Fast track to today, two years after the book was first published, Brand Storytelling has won the Independent Press Award 2021 in the Marketing & Public Relations category; the NYC Big Book Award 2020 for the Sales and Marketing category; and The Stevie Awards 2020-Book of the Year Silver award, Women in Business category.

“Brand Storytelling is not simply sharing content in story form. It is two fold in that it encompasses both the story of the brand as an entity, and transferring information in an emotional manner through a character, plot and conclusion to your intended audience. There is an art and science to brand narrative and both require deep understanding of the designing of stories,” Miri explains.

On Nov. 4, Miri will share the power of storytelling with PANA brand builders online. Through Miri’s talk, brand builders can formulate communication strategies that are infused with empathy and vulnerability. 

Brand Storytelling may just be the answer to raise positive awareness for the brand, boost emotional attachment and progressive affinity. 

“The business wanted data, but I found that telling the story of a customer's experience was much more persuasive,” adds Miri.

To provide a holistic approach to enterprise building, two other topics have been included in this event.

“Business Insights & Implications from the Recent Adversities” by Prof. Alberto G. Mateo, Jr., clinical professor and head of school, Executive Education and Lifelong Learning, Asian Institute of Management; and “A discussion on Brand Personas Resulting from the Pandemic from an Agency POV” by Leigh Reyes, chair emeritus (C3PO) of MullenLowe TREYNA.

To reserve a slot, interested PANA members must register at https://bit.ly/BrandMaster_2022. Non-PANA members may register and attend with a minimal fee of P1,000.

For details, visit PANA’s Facebook page or pana.com.ph.

The event is sponsored by SM Supermalls and P&G. Event partners are the Asian Institute of Management (AIM), MullenLowe TREYNA, media partners The Philippine STAR and BusinessWorld , and Katapult Digital.

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Editor’s Note: This article was provided by PANA.