In our Brand Story Hero series, we shine a regular spotlight on different brands we think tell their story well. Here we take a look at Joe Wicks, an internet chef sensation.
Brand: Joe Wicks
Industry: Fitness
Product: Cook Books and Fitness Programmes
Founder: Joe Wicks is a British fitness coach, TV presenter and author specialising in cooking and fitness books.
Year Founded: 2014
Mission: To rescue people from the awful dieting industry.
His story
Joe Wicks’ first cookbook Lean in 15: 15-minute meals was a best-selling book in 2015, having sold over 900,000. He is now a Channel 4 TV presenter with his own show The Body Coach.
Joe has a degree in sports science, five years as a personal trainer, three years as an online nutrition coach and 100,000 client transformations.
When he first posted his #Leanin15 video on Instagram in early 2014, he never imagined it would lead to him writing five cook books by 2018. All of the meals are ready in 15 minutes and the videos are 15 seconds long, creating the hashtag #Leanin15.
In just a few months, hundreds of thousands of people were following him, making his recipes and sharing them online. The speed and simplicity of the recipes and the fact that Joe is clearly enjoying himself inspires many people to get involved.
Self-taught, Joe uses foods that anyone can find in their local supermarket and this makes the brand accessible to everyone and perfect for busy people. His approach is about making small lifestyle changes rather than following a strict regime. In He often posts photos of himself on his social media eating out in restaurants and enjoying treats.
Sick of people struggling on low calories diets and meal replacement shakes, he created a plan to educate people. His aim was to create a sustainable plan with tasty meals that would get people eating more food, training more effectively and burning fat.
The 90 Day, Shift, Shape and Sustain is promoted on social media and Joe posts ‘before’ and ‘after’ pictures along with written testimonials. He created an online community and his business was now fully online and global.
His storytelling lessons
Lesson #1 Share your story simply
When telling your story, simplicity is key. If it’s too complicated, people will get lost along the way.
Joe’s website is simple to navigate and understand. His social media and videos are straight to the point and the message is consistent across all channels.
This simple approach lets your audience access and digest your information easily. This creates a better relationship between your brand and your audience. If they know who you are and what you do they are more likely to trust your brand and interact with it more.
Lesson #2 Empower your audience
When you have an engaged audience it’s important to use them. A visitor to your website or social media pages is engaged and interested in what you’re doing. It is the perfect opportunity to engage further with them and provide them with ways to get involved.
Joe Wicks built a community. Throughout his website and social media he has ways to entice visitors to join that community and get involved. Something as simple as a catchy hashtag (#Leanin15) allows people to follow and get involved with the conversation no matter where they are.
This shows Joe’s personality and that he believes in the audience. It shows they are a community which is constantly growing. This helps build the brand’s relationship with their audience.
Lesson #3: Put people at the heart of what you do
On the surface, #Leanin15 may look like a social media fad. But once you look beyond the fun videos and silly catchphrases, there is a wonderful sense of personality behind their brand.
The recipes reflect the client’s lifestyle and he puts the people he is helping, at the heart of their brand story. By sharing ‘before’ and ‘after’ pictures he is shaping the narrative of the story in a way which can help create meaningful connections with his audience.
His storytelling tools
#1 Be a face for your brand
Joe isn’t afraid to put himself out there and represent #Leanin15. He has done his fair share of media interviews and is constantly on social media creating posts and live video chats across the different platforms.
Found front and centre on every book, social media page and video, people know within seconds who the person behind the successful brand is. He’s always unapologetically himself which means the audience feels like they have a connection with him.
#2 Social Media
Social media should be in every brand’s wheelhouse. It’s one of the most common ways of engaging with your audience and potentially reaching out to new business. Joe Wicks is no stranger to social media, in fact his brand is built on it. Telling a story doesn’t have to mean writing a feature-length script or a novel…it can all be done in a 15 second video!
As a personal trainer Joe could only work with about 100 people a week which wasn’t enough for him. He wanted to help more people reach their goals so he started putting more energy into his social media. With Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Instagram he could reach thousands of people at once by sharing content online—video recipes, workouts and blogs.
#3 Visual impact
By inviting his clients and others to see what he is getting up to both through social media and events Joe is not only building trust but brand awareness. He is opening his world to people so that they in turn feel like they can do the same and become engaged community members.
Throughout his website and various social media pages, he shares short videos containing engaging, informative and fun videos. These videos share the core of what #Leanin15 is, what Joe is doing and why he is doing it.
Sharing information through video can have a much bigger impact than other mediums.
All of these traits are what made Joe Wick and his #Leanin15 brand stand out, which is important for such a competitive industry. His great story makes the experience feel more personal than your standard, run-of-the-mill crash diets which tend to saturate the sector.
Here at All Good Tales, we believe that every brand has a story worth telling. Not yet sure how to tell yours? We’d love to help you out with a free consultation. You can call Gaye on (01) 254 1845 to organise yours today. We also run courses that give you practical information on connecting with customers. For more information or to book your place, click here.
