The story of the magic stone

The story of the magic stone… or how to turn a brand into a platform for the audience‍

One cold night, in a small village, someone knocked on the door of a modest house. The woman who lived there with her two small children cautiously opened the door. An unknown man stood in front of the door and immediately addressed her:

– "Hello, sorry for knocking so late, but do you have some food to spare?"

– "I’m sorry, but we also have very little. The winter is long, and I have to think about the children," answered the woman.

– "Maybe you can just put water in a pot and heat it on the fire, because I have a magic stone that, if you put it in hot water, will make a very tasty stew from nothing," insisted the visitor.

The woman couldn’t quite believe what she was hearing, but it had been a long time since they had last enjoyed a hot cooked meal, and her curiosity got the better of her. She decided to welcome the man with the stone and let him make the promised meal.

After they put the big pot of water on the fire and the stone in it, the man began to speak.

– "Eh, last time when we made stew with the stone, we also added a little fat, and it really turned out delicious."

– "Hmm, I think I have some fat," said the woman and went to bring it to put in the pot.

At the same time, the woman’s neighbor, seeing through the window of her house the blazing fire and moving silhouettes, decided to investigate.

– "Let’s see if we can believe it. A stone to make a stew?" she said upon hearing the story about the magic stone.

– "It’s true, you’ll see. Once, in a village, we made such a delicious dish that the whole village enjoyed it. They grew very nice potatoes there, so we added some, and it turned out to be the best dish I’ve ever eaten," the man convinced her.

– "Is that so? Well, I think I can find two or three potatoes if that’s the case. I’ll be right back!" said the neighbor and immediately ran to contribute to the meal.

On the way, she told a few more neighbors who immediately joined to see the dish that the magic stone would create. They asked many questions of the man with the stone, who told them about different stews made in different villages with the stone, and as a rule, each one had some ingredient that made the stew even more delicious – carrots, onions, dried meat. Each of the neighbors hastened to bring what they had to contribute to making the stew the tastiest in their village.

In the end, as you might have guessed, it turned out to be a very tasty stew, enough for everyone in the village to eat and be happy and satisfied. But not only because they ate something tasty and warm, but also because they participated in creating a delicious meal about which the man with the stone would surely tell in other places he visited.

The lesson of this story is clear. We can achieve a lot for our brand from our audience if we manage to make the brand a platform that becomes the cornerstone of the story. That is, to involve the audience in the creation and distribution of content related to our brand and its values.

To achieve this, like the man with the stone, we need to pay attention to several things:

1. To set a promise/commitment (brand promise) that really has value for consumers (like hot, tasty food in a cold and hard winter).
2. To involve them in the creation and give them the feeling that they contribute to the story (making the stew together).
3. To make them feel that they are part of a community that is striving together for a greater goal (our stew will be better than other villages' and will be talked about everywhere).
4. And what is most important and what many brands forget in the end: To recognize and legitimize their contribution to fulfilling the promise that the brand has set (to ensure they rightfully partake in the stew).

This latter does not mean sharing the profit with them, but we must make them feel that they have participated in a fair exchange. That is, for their involvement in communicating the brand’s values and creating content that develops the brand, the audience will be appropriately rewarded, even if symbolically, such as through the opportunity to share their creation with the community (as GoPro, Lego, Sephora do), an opportunity to show that they are part of a group with a specific set of values (Red Bull, Harley Davidson), or an opportunity to signal virtue by advocating for a higher purpose (Warby Parker).