We Tell Stories

Human beings have been spinning yarns since we were hunter-gatherers. Biblical, mythical, often profound, stories make sense of who we are, what we stand for and why we do things.

For business, and particularly the business of brands, stories are more relevant than ever. While the Internet changes everything, human nature remains the same; the same hopes, the same fears, the same way of perceiving and responding.

The Aesop methodology is ideal:

For understanding who you are, what you stand for and why you do things.

For understanding your intrinsic character and personality.

For plotting brand activity over time.

For coordinating the efforts of conflicting agencies.

For ensuring consistency across channels and geographies and campaigns; and over time.

For capturing and keeping the attention, loyalty and love of your audience.

Whether a simple sales promotion or a complex global repositioning, our narrative thinking helps you focus on the message, not the medium. What you get is a meaningful and memorable brand. The result is results: numbers that tell a story of their own.

OUR STORIES SHAPE US.
TAKE CARE TO SHAPE YOUR STORY.

A short history of stories

Language developed some 30-40,000 years ago as we emerged from the forest to hunt on the plains. We used language to tell the stories that mapped our terrain and aided our hunt for food, shelter, and a fresh gene pool. Nothing much has changed. We still use stories to map our world, to create communities and to communicate our needs.

A story becomes part of the way we understand life.
And often develops a life of its own.

Services

With every client, we seek to develop and tell a unique and compelling brand story that truly resonates with the target audience. We specialise in the following areas:

  • Brand Strategy

    Research, Positioning, Naming, Messaging, Brand Architecture...
    At the heart of every great brand is a great story. Our brand strategists take brands apart and put them back together as stories, with all the elements and dynamics they need to be told compellingly. A good brand story works from the inside out. It shapes your internal culture and aligns your entire business – from the products and services you sell to the way you answer the phone.
  • Brand Identity

    Design, Tone of Voice...
    Stories are visual as well as verbal, and your identity is an essential part of communicating who you are and what you stand for. Our creatives are experienced in distilling brand stories into beautiful and memorable symbols, palettes and typography. They also understand the nuances of brand architecture, sub-brand strategies, digital deployment and all the other technical considerations that stand between good and great.
    Tell me a story

    Animate (verb): to give life

    Some art historians argue that the first animated feature film was created some 30,000 years ago in the Chauvet cave in France. When lit by flickering torches, ancient hand drawn animals leap across underground walls; pre-history coming alive. Like films and cartoons, the narrative is created by sequence: the images are ordered and your mind does the rest.

  • EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT

    Internal Communications, Events...
    Are all your people on the same page? Your employees are the main characters in your brand story. They deliver your promises, represent your business and have the power to build your brand (or to bring it down).  We devise and implement employee engagement programmes that create understanding and belief. Your people become advocates: telling your story with passion and pride. It’s the best form of advertising there is.
    Tell me a story

    ...BUT SOME OF US ARE LOOKING AT THE STARS

    President John F. Kennedy was visiting Cape Canaveral to inspect the progress of the first Moon Mission. During his time there he had to visit the bathroom and, while doing so, he encountered a man cleaning the toilets. Making conversation, the President asked him “What is your job here at NASA?” The cleaner answered, “Sir, I'm sending a man to the Moon.”

  • Packaging

    Design, Structure...
    What does your packaging say about you? Package design is integral to product development and to the evolution – and sometimes revolution – of your brand story in the marketplace. Our creative team is expert in understanding the complexities of packaging, from structural design to end-user experience. They will help your story leap from the shelves.
  • COMMUNICATIONS

    Advertising, Viral, Direct, Collateral, Ambient...
    Communicating is storytelling. Anthropologists argue that humans are hard-wired to use narrative to interpret the world and make choices. We harness the power of narrative in our communications, using it to inform and inspire our work and our audiences. This helps us deliver your brand above, below and through the line.
  • Digital

    Websites, SEO, Strategy, Apps...
    Digital platforms are today’s storybooks. But they don’t just contain stories, they make them richer, more powerful and easier to share. To make full use of these dynamic channels, you need a clearly plotted digital strategy. We construct digital frameworks that build collaborative relationships with your target audiences, supporting your business strategy and objectives.
    Tell me a story

    INTERNET MILESTONES

    1985    First .com registered (Symbolics.com)

    1986    First Freenet comes on line (Cleveland)

    1987    First email sent from China

    1988    Open Systems Interconnection model launched

    1989    World Wide Web created by Tim Berners Lee

    1990    First commercial provider of Internet access

    1991    World Wide Web (WWW) goes public

    1992    The term ‘surfing the Internet’ is coined

    1993    The White House goes on-line

    1994    Spam

    1995    JAVA launched

    1996    Netscape vs. Microsoft

    1998    Open Source spreads

    1999    Wi-Fi

    2000    Millennium bug fails to bite

    2001    The Taliban outlaw the Internet

    2002    Blogging begins

    2003    First Flash Mob

    2004    Apple iSight is first seen

    2005    One-billionth user goes online

    2006    The Cloud rises

    2007    The first on-line parliamentary election (Estonia)

    2008    Google’s crawler reaches 1 trillion pages

    2009    Twitter hits Tipping Point

    2010    UK Internet advertising breaks 4 billion pounds

    2011    Aesop launches digital storytelling offer

  • PROMOTIONAL MARKETING

    Strategy, Activation, Sponsorship, Promotional Mechanics, Launches...
    The story of promotional marketing is that it changes behaviour at the “last moment of truth” – the purchase. Whether clicking on-line, picking up a product in a supermarket or ordering a drink in the pub, more than 62% of purchase decisions are made immediately prior to purchase. Our process helps tell your story where and when it matters on the path to purchase.