The differentiating power of emotional meaning

Who We Are

Story Legacy is a qualitative research partner that uses storytelling technology and AI to uncover and code the emotional meaning hidden in your consumers’ life stories.

We’re not just researchers, we’re former agency planners that bring a strong strategic eye to all your projects.

We work hand-in-hand with your insights and marketing teams to leverage this meaning as a new path to differentiating your brands.

You don’t need big budgets. You don’t need big campaigns. You just need to believe that emotional meaning can be a powerful differentiator.

EMOTIONAL MEANING

What Is It?

It isn’t an emotional end-benefit.

It isn’t an ad that makes you laugh.

Emotional meaning runs deeper, it’s the lived stories that quietly shape every choice your consumers make. Non-conscious narratives are powerful, personal, and packed with the insight your brand needs to truly stand apart.

Here's the catch: people can’t share the narratives when asked directly. Traditional methods don’t reveal them.

We do.

EMOTIONAL MEANING

How It's Revealed

Getting your consumers to reveal their emotional meaning requires stepping outside traditional qualitative.

Why? Because asking direct questions is doing conscious-mind research, and narratives reside in the non-conscious.

Your consumers reveal what’s emotionally meaningfully to them through the stories they tell about their lives.

That’s why we use our facilitated storytelling to engage your consumers in sharing those stories.

FACILITATED STORYTELLING

How It Works

We designed our approach to gently sidestep the conscious mind and step straight into the non-conscious.

That’s where the rich, emotional meaning lives, the kind that can lift your brand story above your competitors.

Instead of relying on a typical Q&A moderator’s guide, we use our storytelling expertise to craft story prompts.

These, along with carefully designed probing questions, is how we uncover the deeper meaning inside each story.

Consumers record their stories through our easy-to-use storytelling app, and then our smart, rules-based AI codes them into our 5 Variables of Emotional Meaning.

ANALYZING THE STORIES

Making The Results Actionable

The 5 Variables of Emotional Meaning is our secret sauce for turning rich, personal narratives into clear, actionable insights that differentiate your brand.

Beliefs – Deeply held truths that rarely change
Attitudes – Shape behaviors in a given situation
Behaviors – Actions based on the beliefs and attitudes
Benefits to Target – How behaviors benefit the target
Benefits to Others – How behaviors benefit other people

Tired of reading? Watch our Founder & CEO, Christopher Brace, explain how we connect the variables to your brand benefit and attributes.

CASE STUDY

The Mattress Category

Serta Simmons Bedding came to us with two challenges.What can our brands say that is bigger than just sleep?Can each brand have its own unique positioning?

We can’t show you the portfolio work, but here are the narrative insights and the resulting ad for Beautyrest®.

“I believe every day is a gift, so when it comes to ensuring I'm productive, my attitude is, I plan my day according to longer-term goals. This benefits me by getting the most from each day.”“I believe I am the best version of myself when I get good quality sleep, so when it comes to ensuring each day is productive, my attitude is sleep is my real start of the next day. This benefits me by getting the most from each day.”

The ad starts with the emotional meaning of “getting the most from each day,” then shifts to a key product feature and links it to the emotional meaning.

WHAT MAKES US DIFFERENT

Quality First.

We focus on depth and quality above all. Our promise? Insights that tap into the non-conscious and create real differentiation that drives brand growth.

Methodology Second.

We back our promise with our methodology. Every tool we use taps into our storytelling know-how to reveal the hidden meaning in your consumers’ stories.

AI Third.

Do we use AI? Absolutely. It speeds things up, but more importantly, our rules-based AI ensures your consumers’ stories are analyzed with consistency, every single time.

Tell Us Your Story

If you want to learn how we can help your brand differentiate through emotional meaning, drop us a line. We'd love to hear your story!