Hello! Welcome back to our module on "Conflict, Tension, and Stakes."
In our last lesson, we established that every compelling brand story is built around conflict. You learned to distinguish between the external conflict (the customer's tangible problem) and the internal conflict (the emotional dilemma that problem creates).
However, identifying a conflict is only the first step. For an audience to care about the outcome, they need to understand what's at risk. This is where stakes come into play. Stakes are the answer to the audience's unspoken question: "Why should I care?"
In this lesson, you will learn to explain how raising the stakes for the customer is a critical technique for maintaining audience engagement, turning a passive observer into an invested participant in your brand's narrative.
1. What Are "Stakes" in a Story?
In any narrative, stakes are simply what the characters stand to gain or lose. They are the consequences of success or failure. Without stakes, a conflict has no weight, and a story has no urgency.
As someone with a background in literature, you're likely familiar with this concept, even if you haven't used this specific term. A detective story where the hero's life isn't in danger, a romance where the lovers face no obstacles to being together—these stories fail because nothing is truly at stake.
This principle is so fundamental that it's a cornerstone of almost every major storytelling theory.
Raise the Stakes or Lose the Reader: A Primer On Narrative ...
The article 'Raise the Stakes or Lose the Reader' by Charles Merritt Houghton provides an excellent literary perspective on this concept, which we will then apply to branding.
Please read the introduction and the first section, 'Why Stakes Are Essential in Storytelling.' Pay attention to how the author explains that stakes move a reader from simple curiosity to full emotional investment.
As the article notes, relatable characters might get your audience's attention, but it's the stakes that keep them committed to the journey.
2. Why Stakes Are the Engine of Engagement
Stakes maintain audience engagement by creating three crucial elements in a story:
- Emotional Investment: When we understand what a character could lose—their self-respect, a relationship, their life's work—we begin to care on a personal level. We become emotionally invested in their success.
- Urgency: High stakes create a sense of pressure and a ticking clock. The audience feels compelled to see what happens next because the consequences of failure are significant.
- Meaning: Stakes give the conflict meaning. The struggle isn't just a series of events; it's a fight for something important.
In branding, this translates directly into how a customer perceives your product.
The Stakes in a StoryBrand Website: Enhance and Empower
This article, 'The Stakes in a StoryBrand Website,' clearly outlines why this concept is so important from a marketing perspective.
Read the section titled 'The Importance of ‘The Stakes’.' Notice how it links stakes directly to business goals like creating emotional connection, motivating action, and making the brand memorable.
By making the stakes clear, you're not just selling a product; you're offering a resolution to a meaningful problem. This is a core tenet of the StoryBrand framework, which explicitly requires brands to define what they are helping customers avoid.
3. How to Raise the Stakes for Your Customer
Raising the stakes doesn't mean being overly dramatic. It means connecting your customer's problem to something they genuinely value. It's about moving beyond the surface-level problem (the external conflict) and showing the deeper consequences (tied to the internal conflict).
The key is to answer the question: What happens if this problem goes unresolved?
In this next video, venture capitalist Michael Skok coaches startup founders on this very topic. He explains that to get anyone—customers, investors, employees—to care, you must first understand the stakes from their perspective.
Startup Secrets: Seize Your Story
In this clip from 'Startup Secrets: Seize Your Story,' Michael Skok explains how to identify what an audience truly cares about and use that to frame the stakes of your story.
Please watch from 36:53 to 46:26. As you watch, pay close attention to his coaching of two different entrepreneurs. Notice how he pushes them to move past their product's features and focus on the fundamental human needs at stake, such as safety, security, and the fear of losing one's 'life's work.'
As Skok demonstrates, the most powerful stakes are tied to fundamental human emotions and needs. He advises one founder: "The emotion is you want to keep somebody or their business safe... It's the most fundamental human need."
To do this effectively in your own brand stories, think about what your customer stands to gain or lose in two key areas:
- Existential/External Stakes: These are the tangible, real-world consequences. This could be a loss of money, time, or competitive advantage. It could even be a threat to their business's survival. This is the "failure" that your product or service helps them avoid.
- Emotional/Internal Stakes: These are the feelings associated with failure. This is the continued frustration, anxiety, insecurity, or guilt your customer will experience if they don't solve their problem. This is the negative emotional state your brand helps them escape.
By articulating both, you create a powerful contrast between a negative future without your brand and a positive one with it.
Test your understanding!
In the previous lesson, we identified the external and internal conflicts for three hypothetical businesses. Now, let's define the stakes for the customer in each scenario. Describe both what the customer stands to lose (the negative stakes if they do nothing) and what they stand to gain (the positive stakes if they use the product).
- A cybersecurity software for small businesses.
- A brand of premium, comfortable, and stylish work-from-home apparel.
- A subscription box service for dog toys and treats.
Show answer
Here are some possible ways to articulate the stakes. Your answers may vary, but they should clearly define a "gain" and a "loss."
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Cybersecurity Software:
- What they stand to lose: Their entire business. A single data breach could lead to devastating financial loss, legal penalties, and a complete loss of customer trust, destroying their "life's work" overnight. They will continue to feel anxious and vulnerable.
- What they stand to gain: Peace of mind. They can focus on growing their business, confident that their data and their customers' information are secure. They gain a sense of professionalism and control.
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Work-From-Home Apparel:
- What they stand to lose: Productivity and self-respect. They'll continue to feel sloppy, unmotivated, and unprofessional, blurring the lines between work and life until they burn out.
- What they stand to gain: Confidence and focus. By looking and feeling professional, they can mentally "show up" for work, command respect on video calls, and more easily transition out of "work mode" at the end of the day.
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Dog Toy Subscription Box:
- What they stand to lose: A happy pet and a peaceful home. Their dog will remain bored, leading to destructive behavior and a strained relationship. They will continue to feel guilty and stressed.
- What they stand to gain: A joyful, well-behaved companion. They get the satisfaction of knowing their dog is happy and stimulated, which strengthens their bond. They can feel like the caring, responsible "good pet parent" they want to be.
Conclusion
You now understand that conflict creates the struggle, but stakes give that struggle meaning. By clearly articulating what the customer stands to gain or lose, you transform a simple product pitch into a compelling and urgent narrative.
Key Takeaways:
- Stakes represent what a customer stands to gain or lose, and they are the reason an audience becomes emotionally engaged in a story.
- Without stakes, conflict is meaningless, and the audience will feel no urgency or emotional investment.
- In branding, raising the stakes means clearly communicating both the positive transformation your brand enables and the negative consequences of failing to act.
- The most effective stakes connect a tangible problem to a customer's fundamental emotional needs and values, such as security, confidence, or peace of mind.
Preview of the Next Lesson:
Knowing what is at stake is crucial, but how you reveal and build upon those stakes is the art of creating narrative tension. In our next lesson, we will explore specific techniques for escalating narrative tension towards a resolution, making your customer's journey from problem to solution feel even more satisfying.