How Can a Story Bring People Into a Store?

00:00 I once met the owner of a bar.

00:04 We were discussing

00:08 how to operate a brand.

00:13 I shared some stories

00:16 about brands that had really moved me—

00:21 stories about building brands.

00:25 I'd once come across a video

00:28 on Xiaohongshu.

00:31 The video

00:32 was made by a coffee shop owner.

00:35 It showed the owner talking

00:40 with a guest from France.

00:46 Through their conversation, I learned

00:49 the French guest was a great designer.

00:55 Chinese culture had deeply influenced her

00:58 and

00:59 carried that influence back home.

01:02 My account may not be entirely accurate.

01:06 I'm telling this purely from memory.

01:11 I think she had a design project

01:15 in her own country.

01:16 While working on it,

01:19 she drew on ideas related

01:21 to Bai Suzhen and the Green Snake,

01:24 incorporating them into the project.

01:27 I think she was designing a park

01:30 or something similar.

01:32 I believe I saw

01:35 one of her design drawings.

01:37 I remember thinking, wow,

01:39 if this design were used

01:41 in a park in China,

01:42 it would work quite well too.

01:45 But it was the first time I'd seen

01:49 someone put a snake in a park.

01:54 I think it was...

01:56 You know how parks have

01:58 slides for children?

02:02 I don't know

02:03 whether it was designed that way,

02:05 or whether I took my memory

02:07 and added some imagination.

02:10 Anyway, the video

02:12 presented the designer's story

02:16 through her ties to Chinese culture

02:20 and her French background.

02:22 It combined the two into one narrative.

02:27 I found that fascinating.

02:29 The video taught me

02:31 something about the guest.

02:34 At the same time, it made me feel drawn

02:38 to the coffee shop.

02:39 I'd never been there,

02:41 but I remember thinking,

02:43 "I have to visit this place."

02:46 The way she told the story drew me in.

02:52 So I shared this example

02:57 with the bar owner.

03:01 But the owner responded that

03:03 customers had suggested the same idea.

03:08 The bar had many international customers,

03:12 including many people

03:14 interested in Chinese natural wine.

03:20 Those people surely have stories to tell,

03:24 and they might also

03:25 favor a particular wine at the bar.

03:30 So I asked the owner

03:32 why they didn't

03:33 tell these customers' stories.

03:36 If all these stories

03:38 were posted on the bar's social media,

03:40 they would become valuable assets

03:44 for

03:45 building the bar's brand.

03:50 The owner said

03:51 they didn't want to do what others had already done.

03:55 They were looking for an approach

03:58 that could show visible short-term returns.

04:05 At the time,

04:07 I couldn't think of one.

04:09 But I've always felt

04:11 that if you want to build a brand

04:14 and establish a narrative—

04:19 to establish your own narrative space—

04:22 you have to create this kind of content.

04:25 Accumulated over time,

04:26 it will still have a long-tail effect.

04:31 I had no answer then,

04:34 but I just had a sudden idea.

04:37 The bar, for example,

04:41 is in the business of selling wine,

04:43 but also the atmosphere of the place.

04:49 So I wondered:

04:50 if a customer truly

04:53 loves a particular wine,

04:55 couldn't the bar

04:57 invite them to talk about that wine?

05:01 Their story

05:04 might then make someone

05:06 to become curious about that wine.

05:09 They might visit the bar to try it.

05:13 Trying the wine at the bar

05:15 becomes an entry point.

05:17 Once they're there,

05:18 they'll talk with the sommelier

05:21 and the owner.

05:23 They'll experience the offline atmosphere,

05:26 the feeling of the bar,

05:28 and may come back a second time.

05:32 If this pattern

05:34 happens a handful—or dozens—of times,

05:39 the owner

05:40 will have gained

05:41 the short-term return they wanted.

05:45 So the new idea

05:47 I just had is this:

05:52 if you invite

05:54 your customers to tell their stories

05:56 and preserve them as narrative assets

05:59 on your own platform,

06:02 you can connect a customer's story

06:06 with a product in the shop.

06:09 Then you can use that story

06:11 to present the product and attract customers.

06:16 I think that's an interesting approach.

06:22 The narrative—

06:24 the story—isn't vague or generic.

06:27 It has a specific focal point.

06:31 I think this technique,

06:34 or this approach,

06:36 works not only for bars,

06:38 but also for ice cream,

06:41 food,

06:43 drinks,

06:44 and so on.

06:45 As long as there's a product,

06:48 a physical store,

06:50 and

06:52 customers with stories,

06:54 you can use this approach

06:57 to attract potential customers.

07:01 Wow, this suddenly has real potential.

07:06 I'd love to create this kind of content.

07:11 If someone

07:12 wanted to market a product,

07:16 I could experience

07:18 every aspect of the product,

07:21 or immerse myself in where it's made.

07:24 Through that immersion,

07:26 I could find a way to present it

07:31 in a more—

07:33 in an "attention-grabbing" way

07:38 to people who might be interested.

07:42 I'd really like to do that kind of work.

07:45 But because I've never done it before,

07:47 perhaps this is just

07:50 blind overconfidence on my part.

07:54 I simply feel I'd be suited to this work.

07:58 I'm quite perceptive and sensitive.

08:04 Take the story I just mentioned.

08:07 I merely came across that video one day

08:11 while browsing Xiaohongshu,

08:12 and immediately thought, wow,

08:14 this approach has so much potential.

08:20 It can make customers feel,

08:25 "I feel respected here.

08:28 I've formed a deeper bond with it."

08:31 At the same time,

08:32 it helps the business build up narrative assets.

08:40 Beyond this example,

08:41 another one comes to mind.

08:43 Once,

08:45 I walked along a seaside path in Busan.

08:50 As I walked, I heard a song by B.I,

08:54 the Korean artist Kim Han-bin.

08:57 I think the song was "Love Scenario."

09:00 Yes, it was a song

09:02 that, before then,

09:03 I hadn't paid much attention to.

09:08 But when I heard his voice—

09:10 you know, Kim Han-bin's voice

09:12 is incredibly distinctive.

09:14 So when I heard it in the distance,

09:17 I thought,

09:19 "Wow, isn't that a B.I song?"

09:23 So I stood by the speaker—

09:25 not beside it.

09:26 Along the path where I was walking,

09:29 the sea was on my left.

09:33 Between the sea and me was

09:38 a row of buildings.

09:40 They housed light-meal restaurants,

09:43 coffee shops, and so on—

09:46 all these

09:48 stylish little shops.

09:50 The mountain was on my right.

09:51 And in that setting,

09:54 I listened to all of "Love Scenario."

09:58 It felt genuinely joyful.

10:02 Then I wondered,

10:03 why was the speaker

10:06 facing the mountain,

10:08 toward the walking path?

10:10 The path and mountain

10:13 were behind the buildings,

10:17 on their rear side.

10:21 Normally, the speaker should be out front,

10:24 facing the sea.

10:27 A road separated the shops from the sea,

10:29 and people could probably walk there too.

10:32 Why put it behind the building

10:35 instead of in front?

10:38 Then it occurred to me:

10:40 small paths connected the walking trail

10:43 to the shops.

10:44 If something

10:46 about a shop caught someone's attention,

10:48 they could follow the path into the shop.

10:51 Perhaps the speaker

10:53 served the same purpose.

10:55 It played music

10:57 to attract

10:58 people who might be interested in the music

11:02 and draw them into the shop.

11:05 I thought that was excellent design.

11:07 At the time, I was amazed

11:10 by a speaker.

11:14 When I travel,

11:16 I notice many fascinating designs.

11:20 I won't say much more for now,

11:22 because I plan

11:23 to turn all my material into an article.

11:26 It will discuss things

11:28 like spatial design

11:30 and atmosphere design.

11:34 I think this resembles

11:36 what a curator does:

11:39 using their own taste to create content.

11:44 That content might be

11:47 writing in the usual sense,

11:48 but it can also be a space

11:51 or an atmosphere.