Secrets make us curious. They make us feel special when we are included and excluded when we are left out of the know.
Secrets can damage our reputations and brands if they come out, embarrassing us. Think of the Whistle Blowers who have tried to damage big powerful brands and the brands of people in powerful positions. Some whether the storm without a scratch, while others are dashed to pieces on the rocks.
The difference is in who controls the narrative.
Thanks to the Internet, we are at the mercy of malicious gossip and fake news. Thanks to the Internet we can control the narrative of our brand story message instead of being at the mercy of a few powerful media outlets.
Use the power of secrets to increase curiosity, inspire engagement, and foster loyalty. When you email your loyal customers a special code or information about a new product before the public knows, it can create a sense of importance in your customer. This is especially true when you pair it with a public campaign cloaked in secrecy.
Imagine if …
Imagine if a big brand created a video of a shape draped in silky fabric moving along it and people watching, waiting to see what is beneath the folds. The narrator tells us the brand has uncovered a story that will change how we live. A secret so powerful, it will rock our world. Then he says, but we can’t reveal the secret until …
Do you want to know what is under the material and how it will affect your life?
That is the power of using secret. Add that loyal customers will be given a peek under the hood before the general public is made aware of this new discovery, you build anticipation and deeper loyalty. People like to be in the know and they like to let people know they are in the know by sharing that secret.
The brand can give their loyal customers the secret, plus a special offer, and some marketing materials during a pre-launch… then let them reveal the secret to the world, in essence stealing the thunder of the reveal. But that is the idea… the message in the hands of the people will spread further and faster with little cost to the brand.
Use the power of the secret to release the power of word of mouth.
Is Your Brand Story a Secret?
I’ll let you in on a secret, many brands are a secret - even if they are shouting their message from the roof tops.
In this episode of BrandAPeel: Brand Storytelling in the Digital Age, Shannon Peel shares ideas to help brands expose their secrets to the world.