3 keys to mastering storytelling in marketing communications
Tell a good story鈥攐ne that somehow defines your values鈥攖he essence of who you are, and why others should care鈥攁nd you鈥檒l capture the hearts and loyalty of customers or clients looking for a鈥�
Positive Brand Experience
1: Connect, with authenticity
Your story and how you share it should be relatable to your customers in compelling ways that motivate, educate and inspire.
鈥淏y crafting a narrative that genuinely engages your company鈥檚 values and by foregrounding a journey that is about experience over product or service, small businesses can establish a greater marketplace presence and build consumer engagement.鈥�
- , contributing writer, The Business Journals
How Square made the connection
Square, a San Francisco-based tech company, helps small businesses manage their financial transactions using mobile devices.
- Its solution: Focus on its customer experiences rather than its innovative line of devices and related services.
- The result: 鈥淔or Every Kind of Dream,鈥� a series of inspiring short videos of real customers, bringing to life the faces of customer innovation and perseverance.
- Square transforms: These stories inspired real customers to chase 鈥渆xtraordinary dreams.鈥�
2: Move, with transformative power
Propel your story forward with a plot that takes customers on a journey鈥攐f discovery, nostalgia, suspense.
鈥淎t its heart, a story is about a person dealing with tension, and tension is created by unfulfilled desire. Without forces of antagonism, without setbacks, without a crisis event that initiates the action, you have no story.鈥�
- Steven James, in Writer鈥檚 Digest magazine
How Apple moved鈥攁nd transformed:
It wasn鈥檛 enough for tech giant Apple to tell its customers how awesome its latest iPhones were when it came to photo and video quality.
- Its solution: Commissioned a short film by Academy Award-winning director Michel Gondry鈥攎ade entirely by iPhones but without mentioning them.
- The result: 鈥淒etour,鈥� a heart-warming story of a family鈥檚 trip to the beach, with a prized tricycle that falls from the back of the family鈥檚 car. Eventually, the tricycle finds its way.
- Apple transforms: Clever story line, emotion鈥攁nd film quality鈥攁ll served to transform the expectations of Apple鈥檚 most creative customers about what an iPhone is capable of.
3: Transcend, with a hero
Good stories have heroes that set higher standards. Make your hero credible, inspiring. Don鈥檛 make your brand the hero.
鈥淧eople need heroes because heroes save or improve lives and because heroes are inspiring. Heroes elevate us emotionally; they heal our psychological ills; they build connections between people; they encourage us to transform ourselves for the better; and they call us to become heroes and help others.鈥�
- Scott T. Allison, Ph.D., in a Why We Need Heroes blog in Psychology Today titled 鈥�5 Surprising Ways that Heroes Improve Lives鈥�
How Wheaties built a hero legacy:
Long before digital marketing turned storytelling marketing into multi-media art, General Mills built the success of its Wheaties cereal around the stories of champion athletes.
- Its solution: Debuted its 鈥淏reakfast of Champions鈥� campaign in 1933, with real (and fictitious) champions鈥攐nly 12 years after the cereal was invented.
- The result: The legacy continues today. In 2021, Wheaties introduced the 鈥�100 Years of Wheaties/Celebrate Champions鈥� campaign, bringing back its most iconic champions.
Wheaties transforms: Boxing champ Mohammad Ali said it best: 鈥淐hampions aren鈥檛 made in gyms. Champions are made from something deep inside鈥攁 desire, a dream and a vision.鈥�