Origin stories are powerful in that they build authenticity and trustworthiness to your brand. Showing your roots has more benefits to your message than you think. Not having an origin story is like building a structure without a foundation.
We recently did a brand story for Macadamia Australia, an Australia-based family enterprise. What drew us to the company wasn’t just their amazing financial growth. It wasn’t the fact that they are one of the biggest Macadamia exporters in the region. It was their amazing origins. And if you’re a brand or company, we can learn a thing or two from Macadamia Australia about having a strong origin story.
We all are drawn to our roots. Family roots, company beginnings, advocacies, communities, cities and any social construct are what they are because of their beginnings. Telling your origin story makes clear your “why” and reminds you both of where you came from and where you’d like to go.
Macadamia Australia’s Origins
Macadamia Australia’s story is one of heritage and family. Born out of the pioneering spirit and vision of Ron and Marion Steinhardt, the company started with an unimproved parcel of land and a dream to make something out of it. In 1980, the family business started large-scale production of tomatoes and zucchinis that soon went out to many supermarkets across Australia and New Zealand. It was then that Steinhardt Family Farms was birthed.
Watch the story here.
In the following years, the enterprise became a strong agricultural force that produced a variety of crops such as peanuts, corn, cotton, tobacco, sugar cane and vegetables. It wasn’t until 2003 that Macadamias was introduced into the business.
Today the company is now responsible for 130,000 trees and 2,000 tonnes of Macadamias.
Telling Your Origin Story
What does it take to build up a compelling origin story that will establish trust with your audience? Here are a couple of important points to remember when telling your origin story.
Keep Digging. I don’t think anything requires more research than an origin story. Facts are your origin’s best friend, and confirmation bias it’s mortal enemy. There’s nothing more annoying than finding out that an origin story was based on wrong facts. So make sure that you take all the time you can to dig down deep into the roots of your origin story.
Construct a Compelling Flow. Origins are past events that happened. And the sequence of those events matters just as much as the factuality of each event. Piecing them together in a clear and compelling way is just as important as having all the pieces.
Be Visual. The biggest challenge of telling an origin story is being visual. Since they are based on events that have passed, they are based on something that we might never witness again. But pieces of those memories are available most of the time. Old pictures, heirlooms, relics or witnesses of past events are great ways to visually tell your origin story.
