Finding the essence of your brand is the most important step to making a connection with your customers. All things being equal, customers will naturally flock to the companies they understand (or more importantly, the companies they think understand them). That's why the most successful companies from Coca-Cola to Microsoft—have worked so hard to develop a backstory.

Before you solicit creative for your next campaign, figure out your backstory. A solid, sensible backstory is the best way to gain consensus from other decision makers in your company and it will help you keep your story straight as you articulate your brand's value to your creative team (who in turn articulate that value to your customers).

Until you have a cohesive backstory, people who come into contact with your brand will each have a different perspective of who you are and what you do. This makes it very difficult for you to talk about your company with clarity and authority. Sit in on an ad development meeting with three or more power players who have conflicting visions of which of their company's messages are most important, and you'll begin to see what we mean. An unclear vision leads to poorly managed creative projects, overblown budgets and ineffective ads.

Finding your backstory is more involved than sending out a memo or drafting up a list of features and benefits for your most popular products. Top-down stories that fly off the CEO's desk hardly ever inspire the customer loyalty and employee advocacy you hope to gain from a backstory in the first place. A good backstory takes a bit of soul searching; preferably with a group of smart people away from the office. Hire an objective facilitator to keep things moving and to keep things, err. objective.

When considering your backstory, be ready to ask tough questions. Ask what really separates you from your competition and identify the things you honestly admire about your competitors. Think about the experience you want your customers to have and what you'd like them to tell their friends about your company. Get feedback and opinions from a wide variety of people and, once you've done your homework, identify the words, colors and visuals that best articulate what your brand is about.

Your customers are perceptive. They can read a lot about your company between the lines. A good backstory will help you ensure that your value to your customers is understood at every interaction. This is what gets people talkingand people talking is what will turn your backstory into a bestseller.

Brent Dey is a writer, producer and creative thinker specializing in catchy taglines and effective communications for Fortune 500 companies. Learn his backstory at www.brentdey.com or by dialing (404) 531-4206.