Shane Parrish shares the root of good marketing and brand building (though I think he was just talking about behavior change)

If you want to understand someone, figure out the narrative they tell themselves about themself.

If you want to change your behavior, change your narrative. If you want to change someone else’s behavior, offer them a more compelling narrative they can tell themselves.

Brands are narratives

Where the Venn diagram overlaps is where the magic happens.