Brand Narrative · The story · Component
The tension
The difficulty that makes it a story rather than a description — the first thing a review process removes and the reason the story works.
The deliverable
What it is
A narrative in which the organisation was always right, always growing and never in difficulty is a brochure. Tension is what makes it memorable and what makes it credible.
It is also the part that is hardest to get approved, because the people approving it were frequently involved in the difficulty.
One level in
What it is made of
Each element is a constituent part of the component. Follow one to see the attributes it carries.
The difficulty
What nearly did not work, or what had to be given up.
3 attributes: Difficulty · Type · Tellable
LearnThe resolution
What was decided or changed, and what it cost.
3 attributes: Resolution · What it cost · Connects to
Learn
The review process removes the tension first. Protecting it is most of the work of keeping a narrative alive.
The other components in the story
The narrative
The story in its told form, short enough to be repeated — because what reaches the market is the version someone reproduces from memory.
LearnThe retelling test
What actually survives when someone repeats it a week later — the only measure of a narrative that matters.
Learn