Every Brand Needs an "Oh Sh!t" Story
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I passed out.
And the only times I realized that I passed out was when I woke up.
“Crap, I passed out again, this is dangerous” I thought to myself in a foggy, dreamy state as I carried Concertina wire (razor barbed wire) to a truck.
I was slipping between conscious and unconscious after 4 days and 3 nights digging a foxhole. We were a battalion of soldiers digging on a hill for 4 straight days. Each foxhole was in the shape of a U, it holds two people and it is about five and a half feet deep. I had been awake for 74 hours. I was covered head to toe in mud and dirt, my hands were blistered and bloody, and I was glad it was over.
Exercise SPADE, the first trench/ foxhole digging exercise as part of our officer cadet school training in the Singapore army. We would take position in our foxholes during dusk and dawn, lay communication wires across all the trenches, set-up a Concertina perimeter, patrol our position, and run attack/ defense exercises at various times of the day. When we weren’t doing that, we were digging… all through the day and into the night
This memory and story has stuck with me for the rest of my life.
When I faced physical hardship, I would think “Oh sh!t, if I pushed through SPADE, I can probably push though this”
Every brand faces challenges in it’s quest for glory
You can easily see how a story like this can apply to you and your personal brand. It helps anchor your beliefs and propel you to do other difficult things. But the same is true for company or product brands. Taking the appropriate action can ink a story so compelling, it becomes THE “Oh Sh!t” story that can help overcome doubters, barriers, and anything that’s in the way of the brand.
A great example for this is establishing a company brand. When a company is being launched or relaunched, it communicates its new beliefs, purpose, and values. Sometimes the change is large and when that’s the case, people (both internal and external) might not actually believe in this new direction.
When CVS doubled down on its identity of a healthcare company, it made a dramatic action that shows employees, customers, and investors that they were serious. By taking cigarettes away from all their shelves, they inked a legendary story that displayed their commitment. No amount of messaging and campaigns can take the place of an act that demonstrates who they were as a company. Willing to lose billions was their “Oh Sh!t” story.
A framework to build your “Oh Sh!t” story
STEP ONE
What is THE barrier to your brand being at its best?
Example:
A company’s new brand is all about customer service, but in the past the company has put profits over service.
A product’s new brand is all about simplicity and ease, but traditionally the contracting process to get the product onto the customers system has been tedious.
STEP TWO
What is ONE time where your brand was truly at its best?
Example:
There was one time where a customer service rep spent 8 hours on the phone with a customer and the social media response went viral.
There was one time when contracting was a breeze for the client, when the company directly worked with the client’s IT team.
STEP THREE
How can you put in place a system so the ONE time becomes ALL the time?
Example:
A new service metric and incentive was rolled out where it’s not about the number of calls/ hour, it’s about the extent of the THANK YOUs and APPRECIATION the team gets from their customers.
A new process of working with the IT team was put in place.
STEP FOUR
What is a simple story structure that reminds everyone why we can be our best?
What was the challenge?
Why was it difficult?
How did the brand overcome?
What’s the takeaway?
Example:
Our customer was really upset, but it was not our fault so it was against “procedure” to do anything. But one courageous customer service rep bent the rules and was on the phone for 8 hours to solve the customers problem and in return, our efforts have gone viral on Instagram. We are a customer service company and the new way of working is no longer calls/ hour, it’s about the extent of the THANK YOUs
Our product works like a charm, but getting it on the client’s system takes weeks, if not months, directly contradicting our brand promise. An ingenious sales rep took it upon herself to warm up the IT team and then seamlessly created a transition and implementation plan. It was painless and we were loved before they even started using the product. Now, it’s a part of our process, our simplicity extends across all we do.
STEP FIVE
Tell your story at every chance you get, particularly if Sh!t is hitting the fan!
For my own story of digging foxholes and surviving the toughest of times, it’s a story I tell myself, particularly now, as I’m training for my half-marathon in September.
Conclusion
Build you stories so your brands can be at their best!
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