Cali BBQ was featured in a Wall Street Journal article about restaurants experimentation with the surge price model.
Digital Hospitality host, Shawn Walchef, tapped his mentor David Meltzer for another coaching call to discuss the article and the idea of brand awareness to breathe life into the static words and transition from article to conversation.
For Meltzer, storytelling isn’t just a form of entertainment; it’s a strategic tool for brand building. His Stage Theory emphasizes the power of narrating your journey to elevate brand awareness. By sharing experiences through various mediums like visual, audio, and text, entrepreneurs can shape their narratives to resonate with their audience.
“The Stage Theory of taking what has happened and telling a story about it.” says Meltzer. “It’s necessary to capitalize and build a brand.”
Much like the article headline, the effectiveness of storytelling relies heavily on the choice of words. Meltzer emphasizes that “words matter” when crafting headlines or articles, especially when discussing topics like surge pricing.
“One of the things that you have to understand about words is that we give meaning to everything that we see.” says Meltzer.
At its core, branding serves a greater purpose than just promoting products or services; it’s about building a community. Whether a brand is mentioned in the media or not, the goal remains the same: to cultivate a loyal community of supporters.
“Don’t make the mistake in branding… [of being] offended” he says. “Because the community’s building.”
By embracing branding as a means to build community, businesses can leverage their notoriety as an opportunity for growth and expansion, such as in the case of a national news article
“It’s just a matter of time concerning your essence, of how you too can raise the awareness and elevate the value that you provide to empower others.”
