PageView
(Storytelling)

Advanced Branding To Help Your Ugly Duckling Business Look Beautiful

Origin Stories tackle the toughest and thorniest problems facing advertisers — particularly Ugly Duckling Businesses.

Jeff Sexton
Jeff Sexton
March 26, 2021
Advanced Branding To Help Your Ugly Duckling Business Look Beautiful

Sometimes it feels like most advertising and advertising advice is aimed at “sexy” products. Stuff people want to buy and like talking about. Fashion, beer, cars, technology, food, sports equipment, etc.

ugly duckling

And that leaves Ugly Duckling Businesses — those selling unsexy stuff people have to buy and never want to talk about — wondering how to brand. One go-to solution is to brand you, the owner. Your industry might not be inherently interesting to customers, but you are. Yes, even if you wouldn’t consider yourself to be “interesting.” There is a catch, though. The catch is vulnerability. You have to come off as real and genuine in your ads, and the key to that is self-disclosure. Disclosure about your human vulnerabilities involving sacrifices, losses, dashed hopes, painful lessons, struggles, embarrassing moments of clarity or disillusionment. And I’m about to show you the best way to pull that off in your advertising.

Self-Disclosure and Origin Stories

I’m a huge proponent of Origin Stories. I’ve never seen them fail to work magic for clients. Also, they tackle the toughest and thorniest problems facing advertisers — especially Ugly Duckling Businesses:

  1. Getting people to want to listen to your ad
  2. Getting people to believe in you and your mission, and
  3. Differentiating and decomodifying your business when it’s impossible to make unique claims.

So, yes, I often feel that Origin Stories are the answer. Heck, I’m even teaching an online course on how to write your origin story.[Fun Fact: readers of this post can get 30% off the course. Note that it can’t combine with alumni discounts. Just use the coupon code: jeffsentme]But back to the relationship between Origin Stories and self-disclosure…In looking at what makes Origin Stories as powerful as they are, a few themes pop-up, and one of them is self-disclosure about vulnerable and deeply meaningful moments. A good origin story will reveal three crucial things about you:

  1. Who you are as a person
  2. Your superpowers and how you got them
  3. What mission you’re on and why your committed to it

Most people focus on superpowers since they believe it’s superpowers that define a superhero and it is business superpowers that’ll convince someone to hire you instead of someone else. But those people are wrong. Superpowers are important, of course. But they’re not what defines a superhero. Supervillains have powers too. Mission defines heroes, not powers. So does that make mission the most important element of an Origin Story? I used to think so. And in many moments I still do. But the best missions are inextricably linked to character. They can’t be separated from who you are as a person. And that makes the “humanity” element of the Origin Story the most important part. This is why commitment to mission almost always comes from a moment of vulnerability rather than a moment of strength. A moment of vulnerability that inevitably defines you as a person as a well as a business owner.

The Psychology of Self-Disclosure and Relationships

The sense of relationship — of shared ties, liking, and trust — is dramatically accelerated by self-disclosure. There are other things you can do to create a sense of relationship, of course. Shared hardships or struggles along with shared accomplishments, come to mind as go-to means of forging stronger, closer relationships. But since you can’t gather up your audience and take a ropes course or hike the Camino de Santiago together, or become war buddies, self-disclosure remains your best bet when it comes to advertising. Instinctively we know that self-disclosure — sharing — creates closeness. But it took science to quantify just how powerful self-disclosure is in relation to other factors such as length of relationship, shared values, etc. Ever heard of **Art Aron and his 36 Questions?**Those 36 Questions have become famous over the last 20 or so years. Arthur Aron is a psychologist at the Interpersonal Relationships Lab at Stony Brook University. And the 36 questions were part of his experiment, titled “The Experimental Generation of Interpersonal Closeness,” first published back in 1997. In the study, college students taking a psychology class volunteered to be paired up with another student and to ask each other 36 intimacy-building questions. The questions were divided into three sections, with each section increasing the amount of self-disclosure required, moving from:

  • “For what in your life do you feel most grateful?” to
  • “What is the greatest accomplishment of your life?” to
  • “When did you last cry in front of another person?” to
  • “If you were to die this evening with no opportunity to communicate with anyone, what would you most regret not having told someone? Why haven’t you told them yet?”

Following these questions, the students were asked to rate their closeness with their partner, and the results were shocking. These students started out as strangers or people of the barest acquaintance, and by the end of the questions, they rated their relationship with their survey partner as among the most intimate of their social circle. Since then, even the New York Times has covered these questions twice, calling them: “The 36 Questions that Lead to Love” That’s the power of self-disclosure.

You don’t have to outrun the bear

Think about the kind of things you’d normally reveal in an Origin Story, such as formative moments, struggles and sacrifice, your emotional mission in life, etc. All of these things can help establish your mission and superpower in the minds of the audience. But more importantly, they help draw you into relationship with the audience based on your shared humanity. After all, which do you think would bond an audience to you more? The kind of self-disclosure required of an Origin Story, or the kind of chest-thumping claims, or weasel words usually found in ads? Because when it comes to bonding with customers, you don’t have to equal their closest relationships. You just have to have more of a bond with them than your competitors. As with the proverbial guys in the woods being chased by a bear, you don’t have to outrun the bear, you just have to outrun the other guy. This is especially true with service-based business.

Why Connection Matters More for Service Businesses

Think about the amount of times you chose a service provider — insurance salesman, realtor, lawyer, massage therapist, auto mechanic, plumber — based on the merest puff of a connection. You knew them from the gym, or your brother coached little league with them, or a mutual acquaintance recommended them. Why would we weigh that connection so heavily in our choice? Because some connection always beats no connection when it comes to services. We might not care so much who we buy packaged goods from. “Crazy Eddie” has amazing deals on furniture? Cool! Let’s check it out. But we care very much who delivers services and who we let into our homes. There are no “Crazy Eddie” Lasik services, law firms, or AC companies. So if you’ve got an Ugly Duckling Business, consider Origin Stories and strategic self-disclosure a form of Advanced Branding capable of supercharging your results.

(Brand Guide)
(Brand Story)
(Origin Story)
(Company Story)
Jeff Sexton
Jeff Sexton

Businesses either sell $5 haircuts, or fix $5 haircuts. I’m your guy if your company fixes $5 haircuts. Working together, we'll de-commodify your business, make pricing pressure a thing of the past, and grab the lion’s share of customers willing to pay a premium for your service or product.

Share this:
Previous
subscribe for free stuff

Secret Formulas Periodical.

Rare, bizarre, and unexpected tools, tactics, and techniques for profitable persuasion beamed directly to your pocket periodically, without warning.

(No spam. No strings.
Let's grow your home
service business.)
Frequently asked questions

Questions? We’ve got answers.

Why Wizard of Ads®?

Are you ready to transform your business into a distinctive, emotionally resonant brand? Here's why hiring Ryan Chute and Wizard of Ads® Services is the game-changer your business needs:

Distinctiveness Beyond Difference: Your brand must be distinctive, not just different, to stand out. We specialize in creating emotional connections with your customers to make your brand unforgettable.

Building Real Estate in the Mind: Branding with us helps your customers remember your brand when they need your service again, creating a lasting impression.

Value Proposition Integration: We ensure that your brand communicates a compelling value proposition that resonates with your audience, creating a powerful brand strategy.

Who Should Work with The Wizard of Ads®?

Wizard of Ads®  offers services that start with understanding your marketing challenges. 

We specialize in crafting authentic and disruptive brand stories and help build trust and familiarity with your audience. By partnering with Wizard of Ads®, you can transform your brand into one people remember and prefer. We understand the power of authentic storytelling and the importance of trust.

Let us elevate your marketing strategy with our authentic storytelling and brand-building experts. We can take your brand to the next level.

What Do The Wizard of Ads® Actually Do?

Maximize Your Marketing Impact with Strategic Alignment. 

Our strategy drives everything we do, dictating the creative direction and channels we use to elevate your brand. Leveraging our national buying power, we ensure you get the best media rates for maximum market leverage. Once your plan is in motion, we refine our strategy to align all channels—from customer service representatives to digital marketing, lead generation, and sales.

Our goal is consistency: we ensure everyone in your organization is on the same page, delivering a unified message that resonates with your audience. Experience the power of strategic alignment and watch your brand thrive.

What can I expect working with The Wizard of Ads®?

Transform Your Brand with Our Proven Process.

Once we sign the agreement, we visit on-site to uncover your authentic story, strengths, and limitations. Our goal is to highlight what sets you 600 feet above the competition. We'll help you determine your budgets and plan your mass media strategy, negotiating the best rates on your behalf.

Meanwhile, our creative team crafts a durable, long-lasting campaign designed to move your brand beyond mere name recognition and into the realm of household names. With an approved plan, we dive into implementation, producing high-quality content and aligning your channels to ensure your media is delivered effectively. Watch your brand soar with our comprehensive, strategic approach.

What Does A Brand-Foward Strategy Do?

The Power of Strategic Marketing Investments

Are you hungry for growth? We explain why a robust marketing budget is essential for exponential success. Many clients start with an 8-12% marketing budget, eventually reducing it to 3-5% as we optimize their marketing investments.

While it takes time to build momentum, you'll be celebrating significant milestones within two years. By the three to five-year mark, you'll see dramatic returns on investment, with substantial gains in net profit and revenue. Discover how strategic branding leads to compound growth and lasting value. Join us on this journey to transform your business.

Ready to transform your world?

(do it - you
deserve this)