Why your visitor attraction needs a brilliant brand story
An effective brand story does more than simply communicate the origins of your visitor attraction. In fact, that doesn’t even have to come into it. Instead, an effective brand story tells people about your ‘why’.
Your ‘why’ – your purpose – is harder to understand than your attraction’s ‘how’ and ‘what’. Your ‘why’ is what differentiates you and what people will relate to, if it’s communicated to them effectively. It should be real, thoughtful and memorable.
A well-written brand story can elevate your visitor attraction into a brand that people notice and want to engage with. It’s one of your most powerful marketing tools, creating trust, advocacy and a framework for every aspect of your visitor attraction, from content planning to welcome.
Brilliant brand stories create trust
Trust is more important than ever. Pandemic-induced redundancies and restrictions on movement mean money – and the time and opportunities to spend it – is tight. Visitors need to know they’re not wasting any of it on a poor experience. Trust is up there with convenience and value as a deciding factor in purchase decisions.
Like all memorable storytelling, a brand story needs a beginning, a middle and an end. This isn’t about dates, facts and a chronological history. It’s about emotions and connections – the way your brand story makes people feel when they hear it.
The more personal your brand story is, the more visitors will be able to relate to it. Ideally, your brand story is driven by a real person; people trust other people more than they trust a business or an industry. And the more they connect with the person in your story, the more trust they will place in your attraction.
Your brand story should be honest, evoke emotion and be backed up with evidence. Of course, if the visitor experience doesn’t match up to the story, trust will take a nosedive. Your brand messaging should be clear, consistent and reflected across all internal and external communications and interactions.
Brilliant brand stories make others want to tell them
Consumers that trust a brand exhibit the same behaviours as those that demonstrate brand loyalty.
Get your brand story right, and you’ll turn more visitors into brand ambassadors who stick with you even if a newer, trendier attraction comes along. They’ll advocate for you and they will be willing to pay more money for experiences at your attraction.
Who knows, you might even attract the interest of a movie director. Dartmoor Zoo’s story has been turned into a Hollywood movie starring Matt Damon and Scarlett Johansson!
You’ll also find that consumers are more likely to pay attention to your marketing if they already trust your attraction’s brand, so you’ve already won half that battle.
Your brand story is a lynchpin
The brand story can be seen as the lynchpin holding everything together. The values and purpose that your brand story is based on should be evident at every stage of the experience; a cohesive narrative that generates trust at every stage of the visitor journey. You can even have brand stories about new rides or exhibitions; your attraction can offer an anthology of stories, all underpinned by the same theme and building on each other.
On a practical level, a great brand story can act as a framework for your attraction’s content, from social media and blog posts to new exhibitions and experiences. Everything you put out in the public realm should prop up your brand story.
