The Top 3 Reasons You Need Conflict in Your Brand Story

The Storytelling Series: Part 2 of 5

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Conflict. Conflict. Conflict. 

This element is crucial for any story you want to tell. Conflict is what will drive it forward and keep up the suspense and momentum. Without opposing forces, a story often falls flat, and this goes for fiction and non-fiction. 

Think of any memoir, business, or self-help book. Oftentimes there is some sort of struggle, obstacle, or problem to overcome (facing mental health issues, improving company morale and culture, becoming a better leader, etc.) - otherwise the book wouldn’t likely exist, let alone be needed. Conflict, therefore, allows the reader to recognize a problem and the writer to educate them on how to overcome it. 

But what is conflict, exactly?

What Is Conflict?

Conflict is defined as “a fight, battle, or struggle, especially a prolonged struggle,” or as a “controversy; quarrel: conflicts between parties.” (dictionary.com)

You can achieve conflict in a few different ways. 

First, will the conflict be physical or psychological, or internal or external? It can also be a combination of both. 

Second, from a marketing and business perspective, conflict can also be known as your target audience's “pain points and concerns.” What is your audience struggling with right now, what do they want to change and what are they worried about? These pain points are the struggle they are experiencing and trying to overcome, and you will be presenting them with a solution (i.e., solving their problem). 

Types of Conflict

There are, in general, six types of conflict:

One story can have multiple types of conflict. It just depends on what type of story you want to tell that will connect with your audience. 

Some chapters might focus on Character vs. Character. For example, a bank not giving you a loan to start your business or unsupportive family and friends. Other chapters will be more internal and psychological, falling under the Character vs. Self category, such as the fear and anxiety that naturally come up when starting a business. There’s always thoughts of is this a good enough idea? What will I do if this fails? and so on. But each of these conflicts will only further the development of your story and, in turn, increase audience engagement. 

3 Reasons You Need Conflict in Your Brand Story

Still not convinced that conflict is an integral piece to any story? Here are three reasons you absolutely need conflict in your brand stories.

Emphasize Current Discomfort

The purpose of emphasizing the current discomfort is to make the prospect, well… uncomfortable in their current situation. 

This may seem counterintuitive, but it will help generate tension between the two opposing elements (forces, ideas, situations, etc.). This leads into a heightened conflict that will propel your prospect forward. They’ll begin to recognize they have a problem and start to seek out and consider their options to get out of this problem. They want to get rid of this discomfort. 

Consider: How might the prospect get out of this discomfort? What obstacles can your brand/business remove or reduce for them? Think of Apple’s AirPods. No one liked the wire that would so often get in the way and end up tangled and broken. The users were in a state of discomfort. So, Apple removed the wire and therefore the discomfort.  

Create Desire for Change

Continuing on from the above statement, emphasizing the discomfort can then lead to creating a desire to change - to solve the problem and end the discomfort. This change is how your business can make your prospects' lives better.

One of the best ways to do this is to compare their current situation with that of a better future, one they can create using your solution. 

This is where you need to highlight your prospects' motivations, values, strengths, weaknesses, etc. with stories about people just like them. This results in the prospect realizing your solution is the right one for them. 

For example, if you’ve read Marie Forleo’s Everything is Figureoutable, you know that most readers pick up this book because they’re feeling stuck. Marie, however, uses her own experiences to demonstrate the times she’s been stuck like them and how she worked to get unstuck. By the end of the book, Marie has highlighted her struggles and conflicts, expressed how she overcame them, and ended with how she can help the reader get unstuck too. She’s created a desire for the prospect to change.

Consider: What will the prospect’s life look like if they work with you? How will it be different and better? What could this more positive future really look like for them?

Move Prospect Forward

Conflict will also move the prospect forward as it can demonstrate that it is possible (or reasonable, or achievable) to move forward towards that better life you’ve created a desire for.

The Inevitable Ending

How can you do this? By showing your solution as “the inevitable ending” to the story. 

You can walk the prospect through the worst-case scenarios and then the best-case scenarios. Why? Because the two will be in contrast and will end with the prospect ready to make a decision - now that you’ve helped them actively consider their options (good and bad) and narrow them down.

Continuing with the Marie Forleo example, she essentially ends the book by saying something along the lines of: don’t be like me, learn from my mistakes, make better choices than I did, and I can help you accomplish all of this.

Consider: How does your story end? After all the conflict is said and done, what is the resolution your prospect will ultimately desire?

Up Next

Today’s post is all about conflict. As we established in part 1, “The Power of Storytelling,” well-written characters and their emotions are what will set a story up to be memorable, convincing, and engaging. Now, we know that conflict is what will help propel the rest of the story forward. It will build tension and suspense as well as provide a relatable scenario the audience can connect with. 

Conflict is the first component of showing vs. telling in order to build a strong brand story. Next, we’ll take a look at the second component: decision making. 

In the meantime, if you want to start telling your authentic brand story for your business or you just have a few questions for Katherine Burrows, book a call with us today. The team at KBC will be happy to help.

Listen to the podcast episode here.