Authentic experiences = lasting brand impressions

How two very different brand stories - a cult sci-fi movie and a restaurant story - illustrate the power of authentic experiences and human emotion.

I love articles like the one I came across about The Dishoom Story.

It also happened to coincide with me finally getting around to watching Blade Runner 2049.

So what has sci-fi to do with a restaurant group you might ask?

This is not an article about AI (perhaps a subject for another time) and while they're both good stories, the reason I'm drawing a parallel is because they both tap into the power of authentic experiences and human emotion.

Authenticity equates to real emotion

If you're thinking here's more marketing blah blah, think Customer Experience, Engagement and yes, the holy grail, Conversion.

For those who have not seen it, a significant theme in the movie is about replicants (bio-engineered humans) having artificial memories created for them when they are manufactured. To make them more human of course.

In one scene from the movie, Dr Ana Stelline, a free lance designer of replicant memories, explains that remembering something like a smile, "…is more than nice, it feels authentic and if you have authentic memories you have real human responses".

Already in 2018, 'authentic' is as overused as 'unique' with lots of generic authenticity on offer. So I can see where we might be headed for by 2049.

remembering something like a smile, "…is more than nice, it feels authentic and if you have authentic memories you have real human responses".

As humans and marketers, we should not forget something so basic.

A brand story is not superficial

What caught my eye in the Dishoom success story is how Shamil Thakrar, the co-founder, came to acknowledge the importance of these basics. Initially preoccupied with profits and costs, he realised he was preventing growth while also limiting the development of his customer experience and brand culture. And why, in order to solve this, he needed to do a deep dive into understanding his brand.

This is why, to be successful, a brand story has to be experienced (immersive) and your roots and purpose need to be implicit in the story. And yes, the devil is in the detail. As I explained in an earlier article on brand purpose, a half-baked story is a recipe for disaster.

“You should only tell brand stories if you genuinely care about that story and believe in it” – Shamil Thakrar, co-founder, Dishoom

While I would challenge the claim that Dishoom have pioneered brand building through culture and authenticity, there are others who've done this in their categories, it's refreshing to read how they are approaching the essential tenets of authentic brand experiences.

And it is timeless, because as our Dr Stelline hints at 30 years from now, authentic memories (experiences) create real human responses (lasting brand impressions) that people will keep coming back for more.

#brandstory #brandpurpose #storytelling #customerexperience #brandexperience