What Legos Taught Me About Visual Storytelling

I am an adult kid. There’s no denying it.

For the past several years, I’ve asked for only one thing for Christmas: a Lego set. A big one. Complicated, thousands of pieces, something I can sink a lot of time into. My wife and kids both know this, and this year’s Lego set was a good one—a motorized crane. It was big, complicated, and took much of my Christmas vacation to complete.

I’ve enjoyed Legos for as far back as I can remember, but it hasn’t been until adulthood that I’ve been able to articulate exactly why—at least within the context of my work. Yes, I like to build things with my hands and the satisfaction of a job well done. Yes, I love the colorful pieces, and the abstract interpretations of a finished Lego crane, or building, or whatever. As a father, I loved building with Legos with my daughters and, as an introvert, I like the hours on end of quiet time doing something I enjoy.

But most of all, I like Legos for the instructions. There are no words, just pictures of each step. That means anyone, anywhere in the world, could pick up the exact same Lego crane set 42042, put it together, and make it look exactly like mine. If you can comprehend the difference between two pictures, you can build with Legos. Because they rely on visual storytelling to get their message across, even the most complex builds are incredibly simple.

This is very much what we try to do as B2B technology marketers: take very complex concepts, products, or services and distill them into one simple message. If possible, we even try to create an infographic or visual that tells this story.  It’s the “a picture is worth a thousand words” idea. Your prospective customers are inundated with information 24/7; the simpler and more visually compelling you can make your message, the more effective it will be.

What if your brand could be understood, the exact same way, by anyone who encountered it? What if your product or service could be distilled into a few simple images that tell a story with an “I totally get it” response? We have touched on this concept in the past with our blog post about compelling sales presentations. It’s all about visual storytelling.

We purposefully work in B2B technology marketing for this reason: we love taking complex things and making them simple. It’s hard, but when done successfully, our clients win and so do their potential customers.

Need help articulating your brand in the marketplace in a way that’s easily understood? We are ready!