Far from being a tick-box exercise, branding is one of the most important tools you have at your fingertips when building or scaling a brand. We talked to a handful of established small business owners to find out what they wished they’d known about branding when they started.

How do iconic brands become a cultural phenomenon and inspire an unbreakable loyalty with their fans? How do they inspire, influence, and achieve truly unforgettable status? They share the same four characteristics.

People care and expect that a brand is coming into existence for a good reason – to solve a problem, to change how we do things, to meet a specific need – and the brand story is central to communicating this purpose. Read on for six ways to define a compelling brand story.