The ability to convey a story through storytelling plays a crucial role in building a business brand.
Stories about experiences in building a business and its products have the potential to foster good communication with potential customers, even drawing them in to purchase products through the stories being shared.
CEO and founder of HMNS Perfume Rizky Arief expressed this while sharing his journey of building a perfume business. He started with his love of literature as a child, which eventually led him to work as a copywriter.
His experience as a copywriter opened his eyes to the power of writing in the business world.
“When I worked as a copywriter, I once wrote something on Facebook, and it went viral. Because of that, sales also increased. That’s when I realized how impactful storytelling can be,” he explained during the YES! We Talk 2024 session.
The Management Student Family Association (IKAMMA) of UGM’s Faculty of Economics and Business (FEB UGM) organized this event on Saturday (Oct. 9) at UGM’s Innovation and Creativity Center (GIK UGM).
He approaches business by viewing humans as the user interface. Through this user interface, he must understand the stories around them so that a product carries meaning.
This perspective inspired him to name his perfume brand “HMNS” (humans), which he believes is not just about perfume but also carries a story within.
“You can sell anything if you can tell a story,” he added.
He emphasized that experience is crucial in honing writing skills. He said that learning writing theory is not enough to be a good writer—hands-on experience and receiving feedback are key to improvement.
“Every writer has their own style. Therefore, besides experience, understanding your writing style or how you tell a story is important to becoming a good writer,” he added.
Toward the end of the session, Arief shared tips on running a business. He stressed the importance of having clear and realistic goals and gradually achieving them.
“Focus on the targets right in front of you. We need to know whether those targets are achievable or not. If not, how can we achieve the subsequent targets?” Arief concluded.
Reporter: FEB UGM/Najwah Ariella Puteri
Author: Agung Nugroho
Post-editor: Afifudin Baliya