What Build-A-Bear taught me about storytelling

Nick Cooper of Salt Media on the bear necessities of marketing

Like many other parents, the summer holidays always means juggling childcare and work, but I've learnt from experience that you can't do both well, so my phone was off for the day and I made the effort not to check email. Ironically, this free headspace made me think about work – well, storytelling – and it was all triggered by a cuddly toy.

Build-A-Bear

One term, my son's infant school took his class on a trip to the Build-A-Bear workshop. I'm sure you know the drill: choose a bear, get it stuffed, choose its eyes, clothes and accoutrements, then give it a name.

I presume there was some educational reason for the trip but, at the time, I thought it was either a piece of marketing genius by the Build-A-Bear people, or a lack of empathy by the teachers for us parents. After all, my son had spent the first seven years of his life being perfectly happy without an overpriced stuffed toy. However, now the cat (or to be exact, the bear) was out of the bag.

So the next half term, and after a lot of nagging, we made a return trip. The seven-year-old was a Build-A-Bear expert and I was the novice. Yet, as soon as I got through the door, I was utterly entranced by its strange mix of Disneyland magic and Ikea DIY approach.

Build a story

The fascinating thing was the story, because the difference in experience between buying a bear and building a bear is vast. You're not buying a bear – you're creating a friend and creating a wonderful story.

As soon as you step through the door, the customer (that's the child; adults are just there to pay) is the focus. They're encouraged to select the bear they want, then choose an unstuffed version and take it to the machine to be filled.

The staff ask questions like, 'What's your name?', 'Is it for you?' and 'Will they be your friend?'. Then the child presses a little foot pedal and the stuffing flows into the bear. As the member of staff brings this new friend to life, they ask questions about the future life the bear and child will have together. It's pretty full on – I was asked less questions about the future when I got married.

Bringing the story to life

Then comes the genius bit. The child reaches into a container and pulls out a small satin heart which, after shaking it, kissing it and doing a little dance with it, they place in the bear to give it life. A bit more stuffing and a few stitches later a bear is born – complete with a life story, a birth certificate and a passport.

Over the course of 15 minutes we had turned a saggy, empty piece of fabric into a lifelong friend with a heart, a name, a personality (friendly, apparently) and tastes (likes cauliflower cheese, not so keen on sausages).

What started off as a commodity became a high value product with a story. This is something all independent businesses need to do: add value and meaning to our customers' lives, not just to be better but to be different. To mean something and to be memorable.

Your competitive advantage

What are you doing to take your customers on a journey? Your competitive advantage is the story your customers believe about your organisation, not what appears on the invoice or bill. 'And that,' as my seven year-old son said, 'is a true fact.'

Is there a little satin heart you can give your members that'll bring your story to life for them?

Is there a little satin heart you can give your members that'll bring your story to life for them?