Once Upon a Brand…

(Part 1 of a 2-Part Series)

Why Storytelling?

• With today’s digital technology, people are exposed to an estimated 30,000 commercial messages per day.

• Compare that number to the amount of messages each person received in the 1970s:

A mere 500.

Influx of social media and mobile devices+

Decreasing collective attention span of consumers

Major Shift #1

Heightened Need for Mission-Critical, Content-Driven Marketing

Major Shift #2Old Model: One-to-Many

Marketers broadcasted a singular radio or TV campaign to a passive and unified audience. The plot lay in the hands of

corporate narrators.

New Model: Multi-Way CommunicationConsumers are in control of what they view and how they

respond to commercial messaging. They are active, empowered agents in the media production process.

Idea Ownership is a Thing of the Past;Only the Best Stories Will Survive in the

Complex Miasma of Social Networks.

The “Digitorial” Era:A Full Circle Evolution

In today’s digitally empowered oral tradition, we are all the mythmakers.

Audiences can speak back to brands through interactive social media platforms.

They can choose to read, watch, share, or ignore corporate messaging.

What Stories Will Resonate?

Parisian Love: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nnsSUqgkDwU&feature=youtu.be

Engaging Stories Answer the Classic Climactic Questions of Fiction

Who is the Hero?

The traditional broadcast model sold customers a narrative of inadequacy: they were inherently

lacking and in desperate need of a brand’s salvation.Today, consumers don’t need brand salvation—they have their own tools for survival (i.e. technology and social media). They want to be championed in your brand’s story; they are receptive to a hero’s journey

in which they are depicted as active agents of positive growth.

What is the Plot?

Your brand’s story arc should compel consumers to read from beginning to end and then anxiously await

the sequel. In the beginning, establish WHO you are; WHAT you

stand for; WHEN you started; WHERE you exist; WHY you are great; and HOW you achieve what you do.

Don’t give it all away: make your brand story a page-turner and leave your audience wanting more through perpetual marketing hooks and teasers.

What is the Setting?

Make your brand and its products easily accessible at all points of communication and

customer engagement. This means fluency along multiple modes of interaction: social, digital, and

mobile. Surround customers with brand experiences so

that they can self-select how they want to interact with your brand.

What is the Conflict?

Enduring narratives address archetypal conflicts of overcoming strife and emerging triumphant. By tapping into the consumer’s participatory,

differentiated, and multi-screen “hero’s journey” throughout your brand story, you embolden

them to engage through subtle inbound marketing strategy.

The 3 Traits of Compelling Brand Stories:

1. Shareable (aka SOCIAL)

Stories are inherently social and social media is about making connections. Create content that motivates

people to share.

2. Visual

Emotive images, especially in video format, get shared the most. This trend is supported by the rise of visual-

centric social networks: Vine, Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook timeline.

3. Mobile

“Mobile storytelling” is now synonymous with brand storytelling. Nearly 2/3 of Americans own a

smartphone and this number continues to rise (Pew Research Center). Consumers are developing co-

dependent relationships with their mobile devices and such devices are the chief platform through which

commercial content is received.

Up Next?

Leveraging Engaging Content For High Returns