The Art of Storytelling: How a Private Investment Firm Broke Tradition and Won

Reading Time: 4 minutes

Storytelling gets a bad name. People in finance and accounting give it an even worse name.

Why?

Too often, they lack the three most valuable skills in business:

1. The Differentiation of Branding 
2. The Art of Storytelling
3. Knowing how to be human and connect

The Wolf of Wall Street showed the darkest side of this.

More commonly, talking with a finance person is a dreadfully long-winded conversation that’s stiffer than a marble statue.

Ever see the TV commercial by Fisher Investments that, after showing very stiff people saying things in a very unnatural way, concludes with, “At Fisher Investments, we’re clearly different.”

If you have to tell us you’re different, the odds are you’re not.

The Differentiation of Branding

The differentiation of branding recognizes that in life or business, if you want to be known in your market, you can’t look, sound, or act like everyone else.

The Art of Storytelling

Stories are to culture what oxygen is to the body. 

Ask any millionaire, and they’ll tell you: no ability to tell a story = no connection, no survival, and no growth. 

Without air, we cease to live.

Without stories, we cease to exist. 

Knowing How to be Human and Connect

We all loathe when some very smiley salesperson in a car showroom approaches us with, “What do you want to drive home in today?”

Spreadsheets and numbers reflect the connections we’ve made.

So when Rob Napolitano approached me to discuss how to brand his private investment firm, I listened.

What I heard excited me.

The Art of Storytelling: Giving Heart and Meaning to Private Investing

When we spoke, I saw it: Rob has heart.

He told me about when he grew up, how he stood up for other kids who couldn’t stand up for themselves. And he shared so much more.

He wasn’t some “grey suit finance person” who was only in it for the money.

And like Fisher Investments, he didn’t have to tell me he was different. I could see it and hear it.

So when it came time to rebrand the private investment company he’d created, I was pumped.

In short, there were three areas of attack:

1. Find an honest differentiator 
2. Build a story around this
3. Give the brand a new and distinct face to further amplify its difference and humanity

Differentiation, Story and Humanity: Restoring Warmth to the Art of Storytelling

Financial companies have one fundamental problem: they sound like financial firms.

Like a banker. Or an accountant. Or a salesperson.

They stand out like a sore thumb and confirm our worst nightmares. They sound, talk, and listen like all of their peers.

So, the differentiator we grabbed onto was that Rob’s clients were treated as close friends and partners, not merely clients.

And Rob and his team would open doors to investment opportunities and strategies not commonly available to regular folks based on Rob’s own path and proven investing strategy.

But how could we state this in a way others hadn’t?

It came down to this:

A proprietary financial vehicle built upon the greatest minds in investing history.

To serve investors with unmatched access to financial opportunities, strategies, and steet-wise planning, not the generic off-the-shelf options offered to the general public.

It’s All About Capturing Tomorrow

Investors care about what’s done with their money.

What could be better than building opportunities based on the greatest minds in history?

Minds like Warren Buffett, Albert Einstein, and Henry Ford.

An unexpected but welcome list of geniuses.

To what end? To capture tomorrow for themselves, their families, and their communities.

This began the art of storytelling for Rob and his company.

Visually, here’s where the rebrand started to crystallize:

The “triple sphere” design represented the three types of funds.

Each fund is designed to satisfy the different needs and goals of individual investors and their families.

In Rob’s own words, here’s what drives him:

“Investors need to get better at playing defense and securing their wealth. Traditional financial professionals won’t teach you that.

“As stewards of our children‘s future, we are called to be the significant force behind their future success – that means playing smart offense.

“Investors are fearful today because of all the uncertainty. 

“My role is to be a guiding light that can lead them through the darkness. I’ve been there, seen the beast’s belly, conquered it, and want to lead others along the same path. I can help them build that roadmap and be victorious in that journey.”

To bring this vision to life, we wrote this script and created this video:

If this can be done in the financial arena, which is very much stuck in its old ways, it can be done in any industry.

Use these three points outlined in this article, and you will win.

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