Interview with David Altman on Storytelling, A New Brand Imperative by CosmoProf

1. Storytelling: Engage and Connect with your Consumers
CosmoProf North America
Interview with David Altman
Chief Executive Officer, MarketShare Advisors International
Great storytelling is about emotionally connecting, which in turn will help
companies sell product. What happens when you know you have a great
product but the story needs work?
It has to start with the product or service - this is key to the overall business
model. It’s almost impossible to tell a meaningful story without a strong
platform. On the flipside great products or services make great stories. They
go hand in hand – best to put yourself in the customer’s shoes – how can we
improve their lives.
We tend to have better recall and deeper connections when information is
presented in a narrative or story form. From childhood to adulthood,
storytelling is part of the human experience. Customers have grown weary of
the hard sell – they want to believe that they share values and beliefs with
their brands. Talk less like a company and more like a human. The days of
B2B and B2C have been replaced by H2H (Human to Human).
The best storytelling encompasses 4 characteristics: immersive, interactive,
integrated and initiate action. This is what makes the story real, authentic and
meaningful.
Ask yourself what makes a good story? What does our customer want to
hear that will improve their lives? Talk about what they want to hear, not
what you want to talk about. Speak from the mountaintop with clarity,
conviction, simplicity and objectivity

2. Storytelling: Engage and Connect with your Consumers
CosmoProf North America
Interview with David Altman
Chief Executive Officer, MarketShare Advisors International
As a customer-centric visionary leader, how do you know when you have
a great brand that is poised for success? What is usually your time frame
from beginning to end?
Bold is a brand necessity and vague is a liability. Best brands are authentic,
clear, simple, differentiated, remarkable and for the most part don’t compete
on price alone. Compete and win on innovation (Apple), speed to market
(H&M), simplicity (Uber), sustainability (L’Oréal), storytelling (Shinola), service
(Nordstrom) and essential (FreshDirect).
Be outwardly focused – be critical of yourself and praise others. Most of us
tend to be critical of the competition; we can learn and improve by doing just
the opposite.
There’s no real time table – it can happen overnight, it can take longer.
Regardless of the timing it’s got to be authentic and natural in its
progression. It can’t be forced – today’s customer can smell fake. They know
what’s real; they know when they’re being fooled.
Best in class brands have a story that is the foundation of a strong
marketing strategy. What other important factors would you advise
brands to pursue?

3. Storytelling: Engage and Connect with your Consumers
CosmoProf North America
Interview with David Altman
Chief Executive Officer, MarketShare Advisors International
Sustainability is not just for small brands and it’s not an either or between
sustainability and profitability. Global brands including L’Oreal and Unilever
have sustainability firmly entrenched in their brand DNA. They believe and
have proved that there is a direct correlation between “doing well” and “doing
good”. Have it run deep in the company culture – not just a patina that’s
painted on the exterior and part of the marketing slogan.
It’s been said that if the last 10 years of shopping were about Search, the next
10 years can be about Discovery. Grown weary of the endless aisle, we are
now excited about the thrill of the hunt and discovery. Bring forward goods
and services that we didn’t know we wanted. Remember the art of retail – it’s
about wonder, excitement, discovery and imagination. Big Data is important
tool for anyone analyzing a business, but it’s no silver bullet or replacement
for the intangible art of retail.
Cultivate trust through transparency – we will follow you if we trust you. We
will trust you if we know the truth. Whether it is sourcing, ethics, values,
pricing there’s no hiding the truth.
Failing fast and failing forward, although painful at the time, can lead to
success. Get out in the marketplace with a minimally viable product (MVP),
test & learn to gain insight and refine all elements of your brand and your
story.
What are some ways brands can get consumers to experience their story?

4. Storytelling: Engage and Connect with your Consumers
CosmoProf North America
Interview with David Altman
Chief Executive Officer, MarketShare Advisors International
Connect & co-create with consumers in today’s collaborative marketplace.
The days of brand management are over – we’ve moved into a world of
brand stewardship. As leaders we should open up our brand, allow the
consumer to play an active role in the development and evolution of our
brands. They will happily become part of the process with brands they’re
passionate about – welcome the involvement, cherish the relationship and
amplify their voice.
Follow the customer. Be where they are. Gone are the days of distinct
channels of distribution. Wherever your customer is, you should be there too.
Find out what’s important to them and invest accordingly. Think about your
distribution and communication strategies in new ways – pop-up shops,
Instagram, vending machines – all viable in today’s marketplace.
Think about digital in a new and broader way. The consumer journey
originates online today – digital is more than just a cash register, it’s the hub
of your brand and should be treated as such. We’ve seen the rise of the
Chief Digital Officer that sits at the right hand of the CEO, manages all things
digital and drives innovation across the enterprise.
What is your advice to start-ups on the topics of storytelling &
engagement?
Customer’s needs are situational as well as contextual – they have different
needs at different times. Best brands are focused on uncovering what their
customers are looking for and providing the goods and/or services in

5. Storytelling: Engage and Connect with your Consumers
CosmoProf North America
Interview with David Altman
Chief Executive Officer, MarketShare Advisors International
personalized way that will best fit the situation and the context at that
moment in time.
It’s paramount at the start to have crystal clear vision about who or what you
want the brand to be – what are you going to be better at than anyone else
and then be better at it than anybody else. Seek clarity and alignment at
your “Best at”, “Win at” and “Play at”. Next think about where do you want to
play – what channels, what geographies, and what media. Once you have
that figured out then identify what do you need to do to get there – what
infrastructure, what people, what tools, what capital?