There’s a great article published today by Ad Age about the rise of long form ads. These are short films, music videos and the like that feature brands within the context of a larger story. Rupal Parekh argues that it is the future of brand engagement and that 30 and 60 second spots are no longer where brand love is going to be created (were they ever, really?). And companies are certainly starting to see results to prove that point. Ms. Walnum of Oliver Peoples had this to say about their branded short film series:
“The traffic to our site has doubled each of the last three years and we attribute this in part to the demand for our short films. More importantly to us, the time a potential consumer is spending on the site continues to go up, which we believe leads to a better and deeper brand experience, and of course an increase to our e-commerce sales.”
As we shift to more and more longer form ads or perhaps more appropriately titled ‘branded entertainment,’ one thing will be clear: quality storytelling will become the in-demand method by which to engage customers with your brand.
“As long as people still have aspirations and goals and dreams, they will always crave Mystery. Whoever heard of anyone craving…statistics? Mystery lies in stories, metaphors, and iconic characters that give a relationship its texture. Mystery is a key part of creating Loyalty Beyond Reason.”
Today we’ll take a little breather from the heavy lifting and just enjoy Sarah’s story. I created this little short last month for my friend Sarah who was jumping into a very frozen Lake Calhoun. A day or two after I posted this on Vimeo I got an email from the VP of Marketing from Special Olympics Minnesota asking if they could use it on their website and in all communications about the event moving forward. I said absolutely and Sarah’s little story got a lot of mileage for a very good cause. Hope to see you at the polar bar dive next year! I’ll be in my trunks.
There’s a new name association game in town that can tell us a whole lot with a little (one word actually). It’s called Brand Tags and you can play the game yourself at http://www.brandtags.net.
The concept here is that the site flashes up a well-known global brand and participants type in the one word that comes to mind when faced with that logo/brand name. There have been 1.7 million brand tags and counting. Once you’ve personally tagged five brands, the real fun begins as you are able to scroll through those 1.7 tags by brand name. Enlightening fodder indeed.
So what do all of these brand tags mean for brand story? They mean that we can and should find brand story themes by listening to our customers.
Let’s take 3M as a case study. If you scroll through 3M’s tags, you’ll notice many words that describe customer perception of 3M – paper, post-it, technology are among the most tagged. But what’s the singularly most tagged word of all for the 3M brand? INNOVATION. Now that sounds like a compelling theme to inform a brand story. And even more importantly than the fact that it’s a compelling theme from which to begin weaving a story is that it came directly from customers of 3M. Which brings us to another major guiding principle of brand storytelling:
The best way to create a truly authentic brand story is by inviting your customers to narrate your story with you.
Your customers’ perceptions and experiences already contribute to the living and evolving story of your brand. And actually, your customers will keep telling stories about your brand whether you invite them to or not. So why not continue to encourage their voices and let those honest and authentic customer experiences guide the themes of your brand stories?
And once you’ve begun (or continue to) identify and refine those core customer experience themes or “brand tags,” the real fun begins: you’ll have some storytelling to do.
Stories don’t just have the power to engage, they also have the power to inspire change. One of the ways in which they do so is through what is known as model participation. When people see something that inspires them, they want to be a part of it. When you are leading change, you must be the change or demonstrate the change you desire before you tell people what they must do. This adage has continually proven helpful as my colleagues and I have helped organizations align their employees around new initiatives and best practices. Here’s a quote that has always inspired me in my work:
“Instead of criticizing where they stand, move to a better place and invite them over.”
We must shine a light on what is good, what is going right or that which is the desired form of behavior in the new state of being. In addition to being a great way to lead change in an organization, I’ve learned that it can be a great way to inspire change in our communities as well through an on going project of mine called the Filmanthropist Project.
The concept here is exactly the same. In fact, it is the Filmanthropist Project model that inspired me to bring that concept to inspire change in a corporate organizational structure. Now in it’s third year, the Minnesota-based project invites novice to experienced filmmakers to find and document stories of philanthropy and good work in their community and submit those stories for inclusion in our annual screening and awards program. People are literally shining a light (be it a camera light) on their desired future state of their community by finding the story of someone that embodies those values they wish to carry forward to others. And it is a moving project to witness first hand. We’ve had more than 50 entires in our first two years and the screening events spark conversations that are carried forward. The subjects of the films and their good works are celebrated and supported in a way that would not have been possible had those stories never been documented or shared in such a public and celebratory way.
Now let’s switch forums for the model. Your community is now your organization. The citizens are your employees. Who in your organization is demonstrating the model behavior of where you wish your organization to be headed? How are they embodying your organizations core values of goodness and how are they making them real everyday? Are there stories you could tell about people who are doing the good work you aspire everyone in your organization or community to be doing?
Once we begin to share these stories of those who are on the front lines of leading positive change, we just might find a growing crowd of supporters and change evangelists following immediately behind them.
And that’s how change begins.
For more information about the Filmanthropist Project view the video or visit the website below:
“Personal stories make the Ford Story as individual as you are. Read theirs. Submit yours.”
Ford has recently launched a new storytelling campaign that is about sharing the stories of those who make Ford trucks part of their everyday lives. And it’s compelling. Just take a look at the OC Fireman profile video at
Sure, you could argue this video portrait is about Ford trucks. But mostly, it isn’t. And that’s the point. It’s about a universal protagonist – firefighters – doing what they do best by selflessly keeping us all safe. And the supporting players that makes it all possible are the Ford trucks they drive to the front lines of fires every day. This is classic story structure at work in a new story-based form of brand building.
A loveable protagonist (Ford’s customers and in this case firefighters) come up against an obstacle: fires that threaten you and me. We’re immediately invested in this protagonist as they are in essence our protectors and well, since 9/11 especially, they are one of the most iconic symbols of goodness in America today. In order to overcome their challenge of keeping the public safe, they need a dependable, strong, sturdy vehicle. Enter Ford trucks. Ford becomes the supporting player that helps the protagonists overcome their challenge and achieve their goal – keeping us safe.
Think for a minute about a story you could tell about a protagonist (your customer) who is overcoming a challenge that affects society at large. How is your product or service helping them achieve their goals? How do their goals help make the world a better place? If you can tell a story that answers these questions, you are one step closer to building your brand through the power of storytelling.
Think of one? Or maybe several? If so, it may be time to discover the best way to share some of your branded stories.
Yeah, they sell coffee – but what is Starbucks really selling? Well, are you in the mood for love?
So over the years, nearly every Starbucks employee has collected stories of seeing first love first hand. Coffee shop romance is not an uncommon thing after all when there’s nearly one on every corner. But Starbucks employees saw what was happening and they did something about it. They told their stories. And in telling their stories they invited others to tell more stories. Until one day the company decided it was time to capture these little slices of love and put them to work for the Starbucks brand. As part of their Valentine’s Day push, the company announced a contest called Match Made Over Coffee calling for couples to submit a 250-word story about relationships that found their first spark at a Starbucks outlet. The winner would receive an all expense paid trip for two to Vienna, Austria – coffee capital of the world. They received nearly a thousand entries.
Winners were announced to great media fanfare and the Valentine’s Day volume and mood at Starbucks coffee shops around the country was let’s say…steamy. And Starbucks’ reputation as a place to go to well, you never know – meet that special someone grew and grew.
Starbucks knew exactly what they were doing by telling these stories and encouraging customers to tell their stories. No, the stories weren’t about how great the coffee was but they were about the experience people had while enjoying Starbucks coffee in a Starbucks coffee shop. Starbucks is well aware we are in the experience economy and we are selling far more than products these days. And they knew the power of great stories, well told, that reinforce that brand experience message.
Well played, Starbucks. Well played indeed. Do you know what stories your customers are telling about an experience they’ve had at your place of business?
Whenever we begin talking about the greatest stories of all time – the ones that have really shaped societies and cultures – we often find ourselves using the word myth.
MYTH
–noun
1. a traditional or legendary story, usually concerning some being or hero or event, with or without a determinable basis of fact or a natural explanation.
A recent interview with David Vinjamuri, the author of of a new book titled Accidental Branding, stood out to me as we think of storytelling and well, myth making in the brand context.
“What lesson would you engrave in stone for entrepreneurs?
Learn how to tell your story really well. I call it ‘building a myth’ because like a myth the story has to be easy to remember and share, dramatic, and it has to have a lesson contained within it. That shareable founding story is what consumers use to convert people to your brand.”
Well said, Mr Vinjamuri. Perhaps myth should earn its place right next to story in our brand communication lexicon. Epic.
BRANDSTORYTELLING 