Advertising & the art of story telling

There’s an old story about David Ogilvy, ‘the Father of Advertising’. One sunny morning on his way to work, Ogilvy saw a beggar with a sign around his neck:

I AM BLIND.

As evidenced by his nearly empty cup, the man was not doing very well. Ogilvy explained what he did for a living, and he asked for permission to modify the sign around the man’s neck. Upon receiving consent, he took the sign and added a few words.

That night, on his way home, Ogilvy said hello to the beggar, and was pleased to see his cup overflowing. The beggar, frazzled with his success, and uncertain of what Ogilvy did to the sign, asked what words were added:

IT IS SPRING AND
I AM BLIND.

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By definition, storytelling is the conveying of events through a narrative in words and images via audio and visual channels, often by improvisation or embellishment. The events can be either real or fictional, or even a combination of both.

For decades, advertisers have used storytelling as a tool to establish an emotional connection with their customer, while getting the brand message across. It is a fact that people remember information better when it is told as a story rather than presented as a list of facts. This is because people are…