The Best Brands Have Strong Stories
These days, a compelling brand requires vulnerability—here’s why, according to branding expert Emily Soccorsy of Root + River
Emily Soccorsy, co-founder and CEO of brand strategy team Root + River, will lead the July 28th Finding Fearless Community session on values-driven branding. The workshop, Bringing You Into Your Brand, will highlight the advantages of an aligned brand and create space for you to practice stepping past pervasive inauthenticity and into sincerity in your marketing.
This week, Fearless Foundry CEO and founder Madeline Pratt sat down to chat with Emily about her upcoming session. Without revealing too much, we wanted to share a preview of Emily’s branding process and what she’ll be bringing to the community during her upcoming session.
Growth Means More Than Dollars
At Root + River, their bread and butter is something called intrinsic branding. Together with co-founder Justin Foster, Emily Soccorsy helps companies, entrepreneurs, and organizations hone in on their mission and then live it. “Like archaeologists in the dirt, we’re uncovering and articulating foundational elements of [their] brand, so that there's a healthy root system, so there’s growth in all directions not just growth in terms of, you know, dollars in the bank,” Emily shares. “There’s growth for the organization, growth for the people, and spiritual growth when you’re aligned with the organization’s mission.”
Branding is Storytelling
In the early days of Root + River, people were skeptical about Justin and Emily’s methods and approach—but in the last few years, the doubts have all but disappeared. For one reason or another (ahem, the pandemic), people are beginning to notice that strong brands carry relatable, powerful stories that bring people together, and storytelling is precisely where Root + River has found their niche. “As a deep empath, I know how to translate emotions into words—and really that's what the heart of a brand is,” shares Emily.
The people who seek her out are caring, thoughtful individuals who are ready to be vulnerable by showcasing their values through their company or organization. “[Our clients] want to push that envelope much further to be really clear about who they are and what the value of their work is,” explains Emily. Through working with Root + River, brands are able to clearly define what they’ve been called to do and who they’re determined to reach. “That solidifying of things is super satisfying to witness,” Emily says.
Bringing YOU Into Your Brand
The July 28th Finding Fearless Community session will serve as a bite-sized branding workshop. Participants will learn the Root + River method to “bring more of yourself and more of your uniqueness into your brand.”
Together, we’ll explore branding through different lenses and discover some of the language of “you”. Emily will walk us through the steps it takes to narrow down your own set of beliefs and core values, and if there’s time, we’ll dive into what it takes to write a clearly articulated personal mission statement, “because that's really essential work... it’s kind of an energy drink for your brand,” jokes Emily. “We're going to weave these together using storytelling, and you'll have some real practical ways to take that forward. I will not guarantee that it won’t be scary.”
