1 An intro to narrative design
An intro to
narrative
design
NARRATIVE
DESIGN
02 An intro to narrative design
Contents
03 What is narrative design?
- The difference between positioning and narrative design
05 How does it fit into product marketing?
- How does narrative design fit into a company?
06 Why is narrative design important?
- Break through the noise
- More engaging and persuasive
- Memorability
08 What’s needed before developing a narrative design strategy?
- Building a foundation for narrative design
11 The narrative design structure
- The five steps
12 How to learn more about narrative design
03 An intro to narrative design
What is narrative design?
Put simply, narrative design is a vehicle that helps companies deliver and communicate
their story to an audience. It’s often described as a mix of storytelling and positioning to bring
a product’s narrative to life. And an awesome narrative forms the basis on which product
marketers are able to build a brand.
The importance of narrative design is becoming increasingly recognized, with Marcus Andrews,
Director of Product Marketing at Pendo.io, arguing that narrative design is just as, if not more,
important than positioning - which many product marketers will appreciate is a big statement!
He said:
“Narrative design is a term used in video game development to describe how interactive
stories come to life. It describes the work of the authors who create a world and the rules that
exist inside them. It’s a perfect analogy for this new approach to telling stories in marketing.”
Dave Gerhardt, former Marketing Executive at Drift, and Founder of Exit Five, is a huge fan
of this strategy, and Marcus Andrews asked him why. He said:
“Why a narrative design? Because stories are everything. There is so much noise
and competition in any market and any category today. Even if your product IS
better, no one is going to believe it because that is what everyone is saying.
“You have to win by creating a STORY that earns you the right to then tell people
about your product/service. You have to show them the future — and then how you
can help get them there.”
04 An intro to narrative design
The difference between positioning and narrative design
So, if there are predictions that narrative design will replace positioning, they must be pretty similar, right?
Marcus Andrews said:
“You design a narrative for your company and category, you build positioning for specific features
and products. Ideally, you design your narrative once and tell the same story for years.”
He also said:
“Positioning and narrative design should be linked but your narrative should be set in stone and
your positioning should be set in jello. That’s not a great analogy! But what I mean is that like your
brand, you should try and not constantly tweak your narrative.
“There is value in telling the same story over and over again over time. So, really focus on getting it
right that first time. Update it over the years to keep it fresh and modern, but keep the core the same.
“Positioning can change a lot. You have a new product, an updated product, the market shifts, etc.
These are all good reasons to go back and update positioning and messaging. But I would only let
that impact the larger narrative if the shift is big.”
Our very own VP of Product Marketing, Harvey Lee, even weighed in on the matter. He said:
“This is not a tense ‘vs’ battle, it’s a fight that never was. Both positioning and
narrative design are approaches that are valuable. They can work independently
or together. Both are positioning.
“Back in 1981, we learned you can position anything. Your product, your career,
your company, and if you have no ‘créneaus’ left, reposition the competition.
“So, who is the winner? The winner is the marketer. The winner is you!
“Using the Swiss army knife metaphor, it’s a simple choice for the marketer to pick the right tool for
the job. The real question is, which blade will you choose?”
Sit back and relax, while we provide you with an argument as to why
narrative design could be your blade…
05 An intro to narrative design
How does narrative
design fit into product
marketing?
“Standing out today is impossible. But if you can pull it off and tell a unique story, the impact is
huge. Most companies don’t realize the importance of this till it’s too late.
“The role of product marketers is to help companies tell product-driven stories that differentiate
them from the rest of the market. But most companies don’t have breakthrough stories or
campaigns, and that’s because PMMs lack a tool to build great narratives.”
Marcus Andrews, Director of Product Marketing at Pendo.io
Luckily, we at Product Marketing Alliance have teamed up with
narrative design expert, Marcus Andrews, to build a course
that will equip product marketers - you! - with the tools
needed to craft great narratives.
The Narrative Design Certified: Masters course
will give you everything you need to implement
the narrative design process at your business.
Completing this course will help you:
• Blow away marketing leadership with your storytelling skills.
• Help your company stand out from the crowd.
• Elevate yourself and your product marketing function.
• Drive real and tangible organization-wide change.
• Learn from the man who’s spearheading narrative design.
Enroll today
06 An intro to narrative design
How does narrative design fit into a company?
“Narrative design is the easiest and works the best for companies who are earlier in the
journey. E.g. startups who don’t have a clear identity or a plan for how to attack a crowded
market. Also, CEOs are more eager to do this sort of work at that stage.
“However, it can work at bigger companies. You just have to be a little creative. If you work at
a larger company and don’t have access to the CEO, you have to show that this approach
works in smaller ways. If you’re an IC (integrated communications) PMM and work with a PM
on a single product, consider yourself the CMO, the PM, and the CEO.
“Design the narrative and you’ll have a better product launch, more alignment, and your
bosses will notice. It won’t become the company’s strategic vision but it will get you noticed.
Sell it to your director and keep going up the food chain.”
Marcus Andrews, Director of Product Marketing at Pendo.io
Why is narrative design
important?
Narrative design is by no means a new strategy within product marketing. However, it bears
mentioning the reasons why it can be an incredibly important and valuable part of your
product marketing strategy.
Break through the noise
The market has become extremely saturated, meaning that businesses are having to
fight more and more to be heard. Crafting a suitable narrative will transform the way your
audience views both your product and your brand.
Creating a personalized story based on your brand and customer voice is going to
help separate the wheat from the chaff, break through the noise within the market, and
demonstrate the value of your product to customers.
07 An intro to narrative design
More engaging and persuasive
Creating a story that’s personalized to your customers brings them into
the narrative as well. This is super effective in creating more engagement
around your product and brand, as it creates a stronger relationship with your
customers. And creating this bond is going to persuade them even further to
purchase your product because an emotional link is now involved.
Memorability
Due to oversaturation in the market, all you hear nowadays is just how great every
brand and product is.
A solid story is a great way to perforate the noise and convince your audience that
you’re telling the truth. Plus, a good story is memorable - which is going to do far
more for your product and your brand than any quickly thought-up copy.
A story is told through time and is developed as your brand grows - make sure it’s a
good one, and you’ll be remembered for years to come.
08 An intro to narrative design
What’s needed before
developing a narrative
design strategy?
When is narrative design most valuable? Marcus Andrews said:
“I find narrative is most valuable during launches, so if you have a launch at any stage, make
sure to ramp it up. This work is most important when a product is early and still figuring out
what it is and who it’s for, but it’s valuable at all stages.”
So, you need to know how to build a foundation for narrative design. To give you a glimpse into the
rock-solid lessons you’ll learn from the Narrative Design Certified: Masters course, We’re giving you
an extract (on the next few pages!) that gives you an insight into how to do this - for FREE.
You’re so welcome.
NARRATIVE
DESIGN
09 An intro to narrative design
Building a foundation for narrative design
I often hear that only the CEO can be the owner of a company’s narrative. And you know what?
That’s important. For a company’s narrative to truly be great, it can’t just belong to marketing, it
has to be a part of everything. Every team has to know it, believe it, and live it.
And for that to happen, it first must live in the head and heart of your CEO. And that will never happen
unless they are part of the building process. But it’s only one part of a two-part equation.
Just like Frodo never would have made it to Mordor without Samwise, your CEO will never create a
great narrative without a Narrative Designer. You, my friend, are that person.
Just like I was on the Flywheel, and Dave Gerhardt was for Conversational Marketing, you are the
shepherd of the narrative. You’ll organize the team, build momentum, provide the structure, create the
positioning, fill in the blanks, and bring it to life.
A great Narrative Designer has input into the story, but their primary role is to architect the process.
This is a good thing. You don’t need to control every aspect of the story and you don’t want to. You
have to help others build it. I learned this the hard way. Hopefully, you won’t have to.
Let’s say you are the Director of Product Marketing at a series B, B2B SaaS company. Your company
has product market fit, a healthy amount of money in the bank, and you’re charging fast into a young
category, but one with a lot of competition already. In your role, you’re responsible for the positioning,
messaging, and narrative of all the products your company offers.
Your boss is the CMO and you work directly with a VP of Product and several Product and Marketing
Managers. You know that even if you nail your product positioning and messaging it’s still unlikely that
you’ll stand out from the crowd.
Looking for more, you watch this course and decide to invest in Narrative Design.
There are two really important steps before you can get into the Narrative Design slide deck. You must
have great positioning done, and have a clear view of who will be on the narrative design team.
10 An intro to narrative design
Positioning: The Narrative Design Team:
There are a lot of questions to answer in the You’ll need your CEO on this team, but don’t start
Narrative Design process. You have to know how there. The process requires a time commitment, can
a big macro change is impacting your specific feel murky, and takes a bit of a leap of faith. So build
audience. And the challenges those people face in momentum with those closest to you before you bring
adapting to this change. in the CEO. It’ll ensure the process stays on track.
You need to understand your category and the If you’re the Director in this example, this means your
competitive alternatives to your product that people CMO and VP of Product. If you’ve also got a good
are using. If you don’t have these figured out, trying to relationship with your head of Sales, bring them in
design a narrative is like running through mud. You’ve as well.
put the cart before the horse.
You want a strong but small cross-functional group
Because product marketing should already be that represents the leaders from each of the core
working on your company’s positioning, we’re the teams in your company: Product, Marketing, & Sales/
perfect group to help design a narrative. Service. Perhaps there are more players at your
company you want to involve. Do what’s right for you,
Here’s what I do, and what I recommend you do. Use
but keep this group small.
April Dunford’s positioning process to sort out your
positioning at the company or product line level. Her Also, if you’re an IC PMM you can do a version of this
book and system will give you everything you need to with your own direct counterparts. The core idea is you
clearly articulate. want to start locally, get really strong buy-in, then keep
moving up.
• Competitive alternatives in your space
Before you schedule your first meeting, share this
• What makes your product unique
article on Narrative Design. You want people to read,
• The value the product provides to users
digest, and consider the concept before they enter the
• Your ideal customer
process. Also, share the goal. You want everyone to
• The category you play
know that a powerful new narrative will provide focus,
• And the trends in your space
energy, and purpose as you attack your market.
Once you have all of this figured out, written down,
Schedule your first meeting - a 45-minute overview
and have a consensus on it, designing your narrative
meeting - with your core team. This meeting is meant
becomes much more fun. You’re know longer running
to run everyone through the Narrative Design concept
in the mud.
and process. Assume no one read the article. Even
if they did, bringing everyone through the process
together will create alignment.
Collect feedback from the group, share the timeline,
and let everyone know their roles. You now have your
core team. You and your merry band of Hobbits just
took your first step towards Mordor. Next is to present
your plans to Frodo.
11 An intro to narrative design
The narrative design
structure
According to Marcus Andrews, there are five steps to a narrative design strategy. He said:
“The beauty of the Narrative Design process is that it’s relatively simple and straightforward.
There are five clear steps. And you can think about them one by one. Even though it’s simple,
you can extrapolate your work here to power thousands of pieces of content and tell a
relevant company story for decades.”
The five steps
1. The change 2. The impact 3. Adapt 4. Why it’s hard 5. Solution
“My biggest advice to you is to keep it simple at first. Fight the urge to add new steps, or
rearrange the order. Just run the process as is. The best way to start is by completing this
course, getting buy-in into the process, then running a Narrative Design workshop.”
Enroll in the course to learn more about these steps, along with the narrative
design format, how to roll out your narrative, who your narrative design team
should consist of, pitching the process to your team, and much more.
12 An intro to narrative design
How to learn more about
narrative design
All of the information within this eBook has been provided by Marcus Andrews, Director of
Product Marketing at Pendo.io, and the creator of the Narrative Design Certified: Masters
course we have at Product Marketing Alliance.
Marcus knows narrative design like the back of his own hand - having helped build the strategy
into what it is today. He has countless experiences working with well-known professionals in the
field to build and develop the function, including April Dunford and Dave Gerhardt.
We’re incredibly lucky that he has chosen us as a platform to share the knowledge he has
cultivated over the years - knowledge that is essential to building and implementing the
strongest and most effective narrative design strategy possible.
Unlock cutting-edge storytelling and positioning processes by enrolling in the course.
Break through the noise and win in even the most crowded markets.
Get Narrative Design Certified
NARRATIVE
DESIGN
13 An intro to narrative design
NARRATIVE
DESIGN
