By Janelle de Weerd

As a recent master’s graduate of Persuasive Communication Science with several years in the marketing realm, I have come to know one thing as absolute. In order to get your point across, to truly be persuasive, you have to be able to tell a good story. It doesn’t matter the subject, from cutting edge technology to saving the polar bears, people won’t listen unless you are able to transcend words on paper and create a story that they can fully engage in. 

The art, and maybe even science, of storytelling is a driver of mine. When it comes down to it, stories are the foundation of history, entertainment, as well as the way people internalise situations and events. So when it comes to the commercial world, it's no surprise that brands use this approach to share their own values, goals, vision, and, naturally, product pitches. Stories facilitate their audiences to engage with the brand and their message.

A catalyst of this engagement is the role that technology plays. It allows us, as storytellers, to add new dimensions to words through sleek design and thoughtful animation. It facilitates connections to consumers, which builds and fosters relationships. Through storytelling, we revolutionise the brand/customer relationship.

BR-ND brings this world-view to life, highlighting the importance of how emotions drive behaviour. This vision feeds my drive to develop my understanding of the relationship between building meaningful brand stories and creating change in individuals. 

I’m looking forward to taking my first footsteps into the branding world. Even more, I’m looking forward to the wealth of knowledge I can gain from BR-ND’s specialists. Everyone wants to work for a company they believe in. And I just happen to be lucky enough to do that!

You will be seeing me around the blog more often than not. Feel free to drop me the line. I promise I like more in life than storytelling (aka anything regarding food). 

Cheers!

Janelle

janelle@br-nd.com | +316 53 55 98 53