Still acting like it’s 2005 and nothing’s changed? — How can storification support business?
Over a decade ago, in 2005, B. Joseph Pine II and James H. Gilmore published an article, urging us to think in terms of experiences. [EVENT ROI FALL 2005. Achieving Infinite ROI. B. Joseph Pine II and James H. Gilmore)
”It’s not fantasy; it´s reality. Companies are doing just this today by thinking imaginatively about ways of engaging their current and potential customers and designing creatively around admission-fee experiences in ways that no advertisement can do. They´ve stopped fretting about the declining efficacy of ads and pursued whole new medium: the marketing experience. So what are you waiting for?”
It’s a fair question. Are you still stuck somewhere back in 2005? Or have you set out to create something special for your customers, something that rises above the mundane and offers a memorable experience?
Shopping as entertainment has been talked about for some time: the purchase encounter should also be entertaining. Something that makes people smile.
So, why should you take up storification?
- Storification helps a company stand out from the crowd and create a competitive advantage
- Storification links elements together to deepen customers’ understanding of the importance of the product or service in their personal lives
- Storification creates a context that lowers the threshold to buying
- Storification increases the time a customer spends using a service
- Stories generate additional purchases (incentives, ‘long tails’, using stories in after-sales)
- Storification is also shopping entertainment, enjoyable shopping (experiential environments)
Storification is not just about telling stories; it is about creating our customer experience into a story experience.
- Stories help get loyal customers (target group, tribes, phenomena, individuality)
- Stories add new appeal to products and services
- Stories help activate recommendations (more intense memories, links to the story online, etc.)
- Storification promotes building trust with a target group through powerful story experiences (at an emotional level)
- Stories create meaning and personalize — when values are presented via stories, customers understand and remember them better.
