Not Enough Companies Are Telling Their Origin Stories. That's a Mistake. Take it from Steve Jobs and Phil Knight: Sharing your company's beginnings is a powerful tool for building brand identity.
By Jonathan Small Edited by Dan Bova
Key Takeaways
- A unique origin story differentiates your brand in a crowded marketplace.
- Companies like Burt's Bees use their origin story to create an emotional connection with consumers.
- Sharing how your business overcame challenges inspires others.
What do these stories have in common?
- Two college dropouts invent a computer in a garage that changes the course of human history.
- A struggling shoe company spends its entire marketing budget on an untested NBA rookie as a sponsor and makes billions.
- The owners of a Seattle coffee shop invest in high-quality beans and equipment to create unique blends loved all over the world.
They are all the origin stories of three of the most successful brands on the planet—Apple, Nike, and Starbucks. But you didn't need me to tell you that. These stories are so universally known that they're part of their company's DNA.
Everyone loves a good backstory—a powerful narrative that explains how you start one way and end up completely changed. Just as movie audiences want to know how Peter Parker got tangled up as Spiderman or Anakin Skywalker went to the dark side and became Darth Vader, customers are curious about how their favorite brand came to be.
Too often, brands ignore their beginnings. They fail to share their origin stories with the world. Maybe they think nobody will care, or they're too focused on the future to dwell in the past.
Related: Howard Schultz: Steve Jobs Once Told Me to 'Fire Everyone'
They're making a mistake. Over the years, I've asked hundreds of successful people to share their origin stories, the best of which I've collected in a new book called Write About Now. Their answers never cease to surprise and inspire me.
Here's why stories are key to your brand's success – even if you don't think you're as interesting as Steve Jobs or Phil Knight.
Related: Storytelling Can Help Anyone Connect to Your Brand
Origin stories make you unique
Looking for a point of difference for your brand? Consider its origin story. In a marketplace saturated with thousands of companies promising the same old tired cliches— "we're disruptors; we deliver a holistic 360 approach" — the story of your business beginnings makes your brand different from competitors. Just as no two fingerprints are identical, no two companies can have the exact same origin.
Take Red Bull. There are a million energy drinks, but none have a story like Red Bull's. Austrian entrepreneur Dietrich Mateschitz was jetlagged in Thailand and picked up a strange, medicinal brew with bulls on the logo that soon had him bouncing off the walls in Bangkok. He went on to develop a version of the drink that would appeal to Westerners' need for enhanced mental and physical energy. As the slogan says, "Red Bull gives you wings."
Origin stories make you authentic
A good origin story humanizes a brand, making it relatable in a way that connects with your consumer on an emotional level. A lot of brands try to do this, but if the story seems contrived or inauthentic, it can backfire miserably.
Burt's Bee's origin story is an example of a company's history matching its values. In the early '80s, ex-Manhattanite Burt Shavitz moved to Maine to become a beekeeper. One day, he picked up a hitchhiker, Roxanne Quimby, who'd also left the city for the serenity of Maine's wilderness. The two forged a friendship, and Quimby discovered recipes to turn beeswax into candles and lip balm. A booming business was born with roots in nature and sustainability.
Related: Don't Be a Boring Brand – How to Create Brand Distinction That Has Everyone Turning Their Heads
Origin stories inspire
Did you know that MailChimp began as a side hustle? Founders Ben Chestnut and Dan Kurzius were running a web design agency but created a bonus email service after hearing clients complain about expensive email software. Word spread about their service, and soon, the sideshow became the main event. In 2021, they sold MailChimp to Intuit for $12 billion.
Mail Chimp's origin story shows that solving a real problem can lead to serious financial gains.
It's a lesson to play on multiple fields, and be prepared to pivot if the opportunity strikes. And it's inspirational. The tremendous success of their acquisition is every entrepreneur's dream scenario.
Related: How to Design a Brand Story That Connects With Customers
Origin stories make you relatable
Stories are like mirrors, reflecting our traits back to ourselves and teaching us about stuff we may not have noticed before. We love a story we can relate to because it validates our own experience. A good brand origin story lets you know these people are just like me, and I get what they're all about.
Related: Ken Burns on the Power of Storytelling
Airbnb hits this right on the nose. In 2007, two broke roommates looking to make their rent payment rented out air mattresses in their San Francisco apartment to convention goers who couldn't find a hotel room. They called their service "Air Bed and Breakfast." The experiment went so well that they ended up creating a business enticing others to invite strangers into their homes.
Whether it's scraping together rent or getting creative to make ends meet, we can all relate to this origin story.
Word has it Airbnb's founders are making their rent just fine now.
