A Story Worth Telling

Storytelling has been a popular buzzword for some time now, with good reason though I think. A major factor in the success of the best marketing campaigns is ‘shareability’ – i.e. how likely someone is to either talk about it with their friends, or even actively share it digitally. This is the Holy Grail for marketers as not only is it cheap, it’s more likely to be listened to and remembered. By nature humans love a good story, so rather than just talking AT consumers, the main focus should be giving them something to talk ABOUT.

A recent example of an incredible story that spread around my friends, but also around the world, is that of Rodriguez. If you haven’t seen the documentary Searching for Sugar Man yet, then watch it immediately. The story of a musician who only became aware of his popularity after being tracked down by fans in another country, it had all of the required emotion and intrigue to become the viral hit that it was. It was a story that all of my friends were talking about and, as I am now, one that I wholeheartedly spread after seeing the documentary. The fact that Rodriguez is playing at Glastonbury Festival this year says it all.

What can brands learn from this though? The lucky ones should (and many have) look back into the rich history of their companies and find the fascinating human stories that can be documented and shared. Look no further than Jack Daniels’ longstanding “tell not sell“ strategy and the success it has brought them. Their documentary ‘The Birth of a Barrel‘ is still one of my all-time favourites.

Quoddy, the US shoemaker, has rightly realised that the kind of people who are likely to buy their handmade shoes are the kind of people who want to see them being made. They released this amazing video interview with one of their craftsman: http://vimeo.com/27649762

This kind of mini-documentary is so easy to make (Quoddy’s was shot partly on an iPhone) and I think almost every brand could be using them as a way to tell the behind-the-scenes story that is often so fascinating. No matter how corporate the company, there are still people involved and stories to tell.

Other brands, such as Stella Artois, have found and championed stories that are less obvious, but still connected to them in some way: http://vimeo.com/11175747

The documentary style is in my opinion so effective because your brain is put in a different, more receptive mode when watching. You’re not automatically thinking, “this is a advertising”, but more likely “this is interesting” and so take on board the information more readily – and hopefully come away with a positive feeling about the brand involved. I’d maybe go as far as to share it with a friend online, but would definitely be inclined to mention it to someone in conversation.

I’ve been in meetings with clients who want to give their audience “little nuggets of information” to take away from their communications. I think this is a good idea as it’s a realistic goal for people to remember a few key things. It’s also realistic to assume that people will share some of these ‘nuggets’ with their friends. I just wish that they’d be more willing to look for stories that are a bit more interesting and not just dragged up from the same old list that they always use.