Storytelling, or the art of telling stories, is a powerful communication technique used by companies to captivate, inform and engage their audiences by conveying messages through narrative narratives. Unlike traditional advertising approaches that focus on simply promoting products or services, storytelling aims to create an emotional connection with the audience by weaving a narrative around a brand’s values, experiences or history. Storytelling is becoming increasingly popular in modern marketing, as it gives meaning and depth to a company’s communications, while humanizing its message.
Storytelling is based on classic narrative elements: a central character, challenges or obstacles to overcome, and an ending that provides a solution. These narratives help make a brand more relatable and memorable in the eyes of consumers, while facilitating identification with familiar situations or emotions. By creating a captivating story, a company can turn its customers into protagonists, forge a lasting bond with them and differentiate itself in a competitive environment.
In sectors such as banking, asset management and wealth management, where trust, transparency and credibility play a central role in customer relations, storytelling is proving to be an effective strategic tool for humanizing the company, making its discourse more accessible, and strengthening customer loyalty.
The key elements of storytelling in marketing
- The hero or protagonist: The protagonist of the story is usually the customer or the company itself, but sometimes also the employees or the products/services offered. The idea is to make the story relatable, by featuring a character with whom the audience can identify or sympathize.
- The challenge or problem to be solved: A good story always has a challenge or obstacle to overcome. In a corporate context, this could be a problem encountered by customers, an innovation that meets a specific need, or even internal challenges that the brand has overcome.
- The solution: The story usually leads to a solution, which in the case of a brand, often corresponds to a specific product or service. This solution brings about a positive transformation for the protagonist, whether it’s improving his or her life or solving a complex problem.
- Emotions: Storytelling relies on emotion, as this helps to capture the audience’s attention and make them more receptive to the message. The emotions conveyed in the story – whether confidence, security or enthusiasm – help to reinforce brand loyalty.
- Values and morals: Every story has a moral or set of values. For a company, these values must be aligned with those of its target audience. In this way, storytelling can subtly convey messages about a company’s commitments, such as innovation, sustainability or social responsibility.
The use of storytelling in a bank
For a bank, storytelling can play a decisive role in building a more human and accessible brand image, especially in a sector often perceived as cold or impersonal. By telling stories about its customers, the bank can illustrate how it accompanies individuals on their financial journeys, whether they are buying their first home, setting up a business or preparing for retirement.
A bank could, for example, tell the story of a young couple who dream of buying a house but don’t know how to finance the project. Through a story centered on the steps they have taken – from their first meetings with an advisor, to obtaining their mortgage – the bank would show how it has been a trusted partner throughout this process. By highlighting positive emotions (such as security or satisfaction) and illustrating how its services facilitated the realization of this dream, the bank reinforces its image as a partner in financial life.
Storytelling can also be used to highlight the bank’s commitment to social or environmental causes. For example, a bank that invests in sustainable projects could tell the story of a company it has helped to develop through green financing. By demonstrating the positive impact of its actions on society, the bank reinforces its position as a responsible and ethical player.
For an asset management company
In the context of an asset management company, storytelling can be a powerful tool for simplifying complex financial concepts and making investment management more accessible and understandable to customers. An asset management company could, for example, build a series of stories illustrating how its investment strategies have helped different types of customers achieve their financial goals, whether they are preparing for retirement, securing their children’s education, or realizing a major personal project.
Let’s take the example of a cautious investor seeking to protect his capital while achieving stable returns. The management company could tell the story of this fictitious investor, faced with the uncertainties of the financial markets, and explain how his diversified management strategy overcame the challenges and ensured the steady growth of his portfolio. This story, interspersed with figures and clear explanations, makes financial concepts more accessible while creating an emotional bond with the audience.
Storytelling can also be used to highlight the expertise of fund managers. By recounting anecdotes about the challenges they have faced in managing financial crises or identifying investment opportunities, fund managers can reinforce their clients’ confidence in their ability to manage their assets, even in uncertain economic conditions.
For a wealth management advisor
For a wealth management advisor, storytelling can help build a relationship of trust with clients by demonstrating how he or she has helped others in similar situations achieve their financial goals. For example, an advisor could tell the story of a client who wanted to optimize his estate, but was faced with complex tax issues. The advisor would explain how, thanks to his or her expertise and tailor-made solutions, he or she was able to solve these problems and ensure a smooth transfer of the family estate.
These narratives enable the advisor to position himself not only as a technical expert, but also as a trusted partner who accompanies his clients through every stage of their financial lives. Storytelling also helps demystify financial concepts often perceived as complex or inaccessible. For example, by telling the story of a young entrepreneur seeking to maximize his income while investing for retirement, the advisor can illustrate how a well thought-out investment strategy can meet these different objectives.
What’s more, storytelling offers a unique opportunity to highlight the wealth management advisor’s values, such as transparency, attentiveness and ethical investment choices. These values are often decisive criteria for customers seeking wealth management advice, and storytelling enables them to be illustrated in a lively and authentic way.
In conclusion
Storytelling is a particularly relevant tool in the financial sector, where the complexity of products and services, combined with the crucial importance of trust, can sometimes create a distance with the customer. By using authentic stories – be they customer testimonials, internal anecdotes or life stories illustrating the usefulness of the services on offer – a bank, asset management company or wealth management advisor can not only make its offering more understandable and attractive, but also forge a strong emotional bond with its customers.
Storytelling transforms numbers and financial services into human stories that resonate with customers’ needs, challenges and aspirations. It helps position a company not just as a service provider, but as a true life partner, capable of understanding and accompanying its customers in their most personal projects.
