A Recipe for Success

I have a confession to make. I love magazines. I’m particularly drawn to cooking magazines – Saveur, Food & Wine, Bon Appetit – yes, please.

The luscious photos on the cover draw my attention and I dog-ear the pages to save recipes for later; but, for me, they are not the heart and soul of the magazine. What brings a cooking magazine to life are the stories that accompany the recipes – how the dish takes a chef back to her childhood or to a seaside town in Greece.

So, why I am writing about this fixation of mine in a marketing blog? I think there is a parallel. It’s not the recipe or the brand formula or the marketing campaigns that bring a brand to life. It’s the stories.

Think about Toms, another passion of mine. (We won’t talk about how many pairs I own.) The company was born out of a trip to Argentina in 2006 where founder Blake Mycoskie saw children growing up without shoes.

And the company, and its story, has continued to grow, branching out to eyewear, coffee and bags – each giving back in some way. The story is continuously reinforced and brought to life through accounts of giving trips and photos and quotes from the people who have benefited from the One for One promise.

Yes, the shoe is recognizable and beloved by many, but it is the One for One promise and the stories that keep many of us coming back and make the brand stand out from just another shoe company.