6 min
The Power of a Great Brand Metaphor Resoundcast - the branding podcast from Resound, a creative agency
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- Marketing
There’s any number of highbrow ways to kick this article off.
Where to start?
In going with a splendid example of a no-frills metaphor, I’m torn between:
William Shakespeare: “All the world’s a stage.”
Vincent Van Gogh: “Conscience is a man's compass”
Dr. King: “We will transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony.”
Eminem: “You don’t get another chance / life is no Nintendo game.”
Simon and Garfunkel: “I am a rock. I am an island.”
And finally, assistant to the Regional Manager Dwight Shrute: “Always the Padawan, never the Jedi.”
Decisions, decisions…
Intentional and Artful
Whatever you pick, an artful metaphor can prime our minds with a clever, inventive shortcut. If the comparison is clear, obvious, or something we use every day, we don’t even think about it. Although there’s no harm in slowing down to ponder the fact that an elephant in the room—an ultra-obvious, overriding fact or secret no one wants to talk about—weighs down the atmosphere, and creates the same claustrophobic tension as a seven-ton mammal wedged against the walls.
Of course, metaphors aren’t literal.
Ones that try too hard, make no sense, or get their wires crossed end up on internet lists of ‘worst metaphors written by high school students.’
Take THAT to the bank and smoke it!
It was one peach cobbler of a tax audit.
The backyard oak tree was a proud, brown, twelve-foot column… with branches and leaves.
I could do this all day…but I’d rather pivot to how B2B companies, national brands, and pretty much everyone presenting themselves or their services to the world can, (and should), use metaphor to help people grasp their remarkable identity.
Built thoughtfully, and with the truth in mind, a good brand metaphor fleshes out an organization’s qualities, strengths, values, expression—everything that helps someone resonate with that brand’s story.
https://youtu.be/ReIOEXKW1iI
Metaphor Brings Clarity to Your Brand’s Story
In previous articles, I discussed all the components of building an authentic brand identity. I followed that up with a series on understanding your brand’s story through the lenses of a brand’s history, location, and archetype.
Assuming you’ve done the work of pinning down those aspects of your brand, how do you go about actually composing and narrating your brand’s story?
Lots of ways, actually.
But the one way I’ve found especially helpful is the brand metaphor.
The literal story of your brand, after all, is often not something that most people can grasp on an intuitive level…even if you’re able to see how your pest control company is the hero of a grand epic tale about termites and roaches. When you try to tell that story literally, the focus is going to get stuck at just killing bugs.
Nothing wrong with killing bugs.
But your brand story should be told in a way that resounds outward in distinctive visual and verbal expressions—something that can be uniquely expressed by a logo, a choice of typeface, or a company name. “We kill bugs” is not unique or distinctive. So, instead of a brand story that ends at what the brand literally does, a href="https://resoundcreative.
There’s any number of highbrow ways to kick this article off.
Where to start?
In going with a splendid example of a no-frills metaphor, I’m torn between:
William Shakespeare: “All the world’s a stage.”
Vincent Van Gogh: “Conscience is a man's compass”
Dr. King: “We will transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony.”
Eminem: “You don’t get another chance / life is no Nintendo game.”
Simon and Garfunkel: “I am a rock. I am an island.”
And finally, assistant to the Regional Manager Dwight Shrute: “Always the Padawan, never the Jedi.”
Decisions, decisions…
Intentional and Artful
Whatever you pick, an artful metaphor can prime our minds with a clever, inventive shortcut. If the comparison is clear, obvious, or something we use every day, we don’t even think about it. Although there’s no harm in slowing down to ponder the fact that an elephant in the room—an ultra-obvious, overriding fact or secret no one wants to talk about—weighs down the atmosphere, and creates the same claustrophobic tension as a seven-ton mammal wedged against the walls.
Of course, metaphors aren’t literal.
Ones that try too hard, make no sense, or get their wires crossed end up on internet lists of ‘worst metaphors written by high school students.’
Take THAT to the bank and smoke it!
It was one peach cobbler of a tax audit.
The backyard oak tree was a proud, brown, twelve-foot column… with branches and leaves.
I could do this all day…but I’d rather pivot to how B2B companies, national brands, and pretty much everyone presenting themselves or their services to the world can, (and should), use metaphor to help people grasp their remarkable identity.
Built thoughtfully, and with the truth in mind, a good brand metaphor fleshes out an organization’s qualities, strengths, values, expression—everything that helps someone resonate with that brand’s story.
https://youtu.be/ReIOEXKW1iI
Metaphor Brings Clarity to Your Brand’s Story
In previous articles, I discussed all the components of building an authentic brand identity. I followed that up with a series on understanding your brand’s story through the lenses of a brand’s history, location, and archetype.
Assuming you’ve done the work of pinning down those aspects of your brand, how do you go about actually composing and narrating your brand’s story?
Lots of ways, actually.
But the one way I’ve found especially helpful is the brand metaphor.
The literal story of your brand, after all, is often not something that most people can grasp on an intuitive level…even if you’re able to see how your pest control company is the hero of a grand epic tale about termites and roaches. When you try to tell that story literally, the focus is going to get stuck at just killing bugs.
Nothing wrong with killing bugs.
But your brand story should be told in a way that resounds outward in distinctive visual and verbal expressions—something that can be uniquely expressed by a logo, a choice of typeface, or a company name. “We kill bugs” is not unique or distinctive. So, instead of a brand story that ends at what the brand literally does, a href="https://resoundcreative.
6 min