Brand strategy to convert fans
Tall Stories is a family theatre company perhaps best known for producing fantastic shows by adapting Julia Donaldson’s books for the theatre – The Gruffalo, Room on the Broom and the Smeds and the Smoos being just a few such titles. This smart move – bringing beloved stories to life for families – had fuelled their success.
But as the company grew and evolves there is a need to develop the company’s own strong brand identity – and build a fanbase for Tall Stories is its own right – stepping out from the shadows of the well-known author – and connecting with audiences through what makes Tall Stories special.
We started with a fun, interactive workshop with the entire team, designed to dig into what Tall Stories is all about, the magic of what they offers audiences beyond the author’s story – and what the audience gains from the experience. This revealed a number of key themes and ideas – ingredients that makes Tall Stories impactful – in ways that might be distinctive from other family theatre.
But to build a brand that truly connects, we needed to understand the audience perspective. We used focus groups to hear from audiences about how they understood the brand, what they thought made Tall Stories stand out and we tested the ideas generated in the staff workshop to see their response.
The audience insight proved to be critical. Of all the ideas generated by staff, the real USP of Tall Stories – in the eyes of audiences – was very clear. While many of the ideas resonated – a particular aspect was unanimously agreed to be the core motivation – the one that they felt made a brilliant invitation and connected them to Tall Stories.
We therefore developed a brand strategy with the team that will enable them to continue to deliver all the positive aspects of the experienced brand – but hone in on the right story as the communicated brand.
Central to Tall Stories success is the chance for children to see the possibilities of creativity with their own eyes – and then because of the clever (apparent) simplicity of Tall Stories’ approach – the children are more able to recreate it themselves. So it is inclusive, permissive and full of possibility. This is what parents really come for. Interestingly there were also more intellectual outcomes (themes, ideas, topics covered etc) that parents welcomed or acknowledged, but actually felt if presented as part of the invitation were off-putting or to pressuring. Tall Stories should continue to support these outcomes, but not talk about them explicitly.
We developed a set of succinct promises that the Tall Stories team could easily refer to, informing everything they do. A set of guiding principles that would help them be the best version of themselves. In a staff workshop we used these promises to generate and prioritise a series of new ideas and actions that could help better deliver on their brand promises. Ensuring they’d deliver the experienced brand at every touch point, supporting the communicated brand.
We’re now working with Tall Stories on a further phase of audience research (quantitative and qualitative) to better understand their audiences across the UK. This insight will set a baseline and shape important decisions in strategic planning.
