Great brands have great back-stories

It’s probably true that many of the best stories start with ‘Once upon a time’ and that these stories are the ones we remember the most. More often than not successful brands have great back-stories, where the entrepreneur created the business with an idea they were passionate about. What drives them is not the thought of being rich, but changing the world in a small way. That passion drives them against the odds and advice of others to achieve their ambitions.

The story behind Dyson is a wonderful example of this and it’s set out in Iain Carruthers’ book called How Dyson Changed the Meaning of Cleaning. I’d definitely recommend it. Dyson has used his back-story as a key element in positioning his brand, even through he’d never refer to Dyson as a brand – sounds perverse but true. There’s nothing like being the underdog, beating the big dogs at their own game and becoming a bigger and smarter dog than they could ever have imagined.

Here’s another:

Once upon a time there was a little girl called Katie who lived in Hampton, West London. As soon as she could walk she drove her parents to complete distraction, she was so full of energy – doing handstands, forward rolls, bouncing up and down on her bed as if it were a trampoline, leaping about on the sofa.

To save the furniture and give herself some respite her mother took Katie to Heathrow Gymnastics Club, where using another animal analogy – Katie took to gymnastics like a duck to water. There she learnt new moves, honed her skills and as she grew up became a very proficient gymnast – training long and hard, entering junior competitions and winning too. She became British champion and took part in the World Championships. By the time she’d retired at 21, Katie was five times British Aerobics Gymnastics Champion, an achievement perhaps never to be repeated.

After Katie retired from competition she started a business running after-school gymnastics clubs, passing on to children her passion for gymnastics and it’s ability to train and discipline young minds while they have fun. It’s called BackFlip Performers http://www.backflipperformers.com and is based in her two Katie Cannon studio gyms in Petersham and Brentford, and at five other venues in South West London.

It’s an inspiring back-story and gives Katie a wonderful platform on which to build a successful, branded business.

To find out how The Fusion Effect has helped Katie Cannon and the BackFlip Performers build her business and her brand, call Richard on 020 8943 1915.

We’ve all got an amazing story to tell: What’s yours?