Facts don’t persuade, feelings do. And creative story examples are the best way to get at those feelings.
Do you use stories in your customer engagement … or perhaps in marketing messages? Good stories are a great way to develop an identity, personalize, and build your customer base. Here are 4 awesome creative story examples we’ll use to illustrate their value for marketing campaigns.
Good stories:
Focus on engagement, experiences, and emotion … central tenets that are attractive to customers.
Makes your message relevant and memorable through personalization.
Get people’s attention and keep your business front of mind.
Google reunion story
Have you seen the recent Google marketing video where a story of the reunion of long lost friends is told? The video was made by Google India, and the point, of course, is to promote Google Search. But it also reaches a new level of what can be done with the value of creative stories.
If you haven’t seen it, you can watch it here …a short 3+ minutes.
The story is this: a man in Delhi tells his granddaughter about his childhood friend, Yusuf. He hasn’t seen Yusuf since the Partition of India in 1947 when India and Pakistan became separate countries and the two friends were forced to separate. The man’s granddaughter arranges for the two to meet again.
The story is simple and direct. It’s beautiful and honest, and true. The photography is spectacular. The music adds to the very good acting.
Do you use stories in your customer engagement … or perhaps in marketing messages? Good stories are a great way to develop an identity, personalize, and build your customer base.
They are also a great means for sharing and interpreting experiences, and great experiences have this innate ability to change the way in which we view our world.
Creative story lessons
A lot of us are trying to figure out how to improve the use of storytelling as part of our marketing. Very few of us do it well. There are several things to be learned from this excellent story:
Emotional connection
This video is about as emotional as it gets. Stories like this provide a chance to experience a variety of emotions without the risk of those emotions themselves. Emotions like wonder, fear, courage, or love can be tested out in the minds of those as they listen to a story.
You may remember the feelings of emotions that can trigger memories or create resolve as a result of hearing such stories. The experience of hearing stories can awaken portions of emotional lives that may have lain dormant or have not yet been explored.
If you really listen to your customers, as Google has, you can leverage their stories to drive your creativity. By analyzing their stories of how your products and services fit into their lives, you can gain valuable insight into their needs and desires, which can be hugely beneficial to other aspects of your business.
Like product design and development and ongoing marketing strategy. The reunion has done that well don’t you think?
The story of Dawn
We recently viewed a Dawn Liquid Detergent advertisement that caught our eye for several reasons. An effective TV ad that combined traditional advertising with advocacy advertising and creative storytelling. Something you don’t see very often.
Have you seen the recent Dawn TV commercial? If not, you should invest 1 minute now and check it out. It will prove beneficial in reviewing this great story.
Marketing or advertising, you need to create information that your customers find interesting and worth talking about and remembering. Stories, when done well, are most effective at this objective.
South Africa business story
Have you seen the remarkable branding story from this South African business? It was created to market and build the brand. It is a very simple story. It advocates learning to read no matter your age or status in society.
To us, it creates pure magic with the story, the visuals, the music, and the emotion. If you haven’t seen it, watch it now, it is only 2 minutes and it will inspire you. It is certainly easily in our top 5 of all time.
Of course, the whole thing was staged. Who cares? It certainly accomplished its objective to build on the brand. Over 1 million views so far for a business from South Africa that most of us have ever heard of. Of course, you can’t design for going viral. But you can target for being remarkable and engaging.
How do you rise above the noise and really stand out? It’s getting more and more difficult. But it’s still possible. Here are the remarkable elements from this story:
Finds emotional triggers
Not a real secret here. The story and music that are created, while familiar, are as distinctive as they are heartwarming. Watch the faces, actions, and passions of the people in the story and listen to the music. They draw you into the emotion.
Creates curiosity
If you knew the purpose of the video, there would be no curiosity. And with no curiosity, there would be lots less interest maintained. And many fewer people clicking to watch the video. Creating curiosity is a great way to draw and hold attention. It is way underutilized as a branding or marketing technique.
Guinness story
Have you seen the recent Guinness story in their marketing video? A significant change in the Guinness marketing strategy we believe. The strategy is using simple storytelling to gain our attention. Refreshing.
Let’s examine this video story and strategy and what contributes to its strengths. We want to evaluate if it has the ability to influence and persuade with its storytelling.
Everyone hates TV commercials, and this is a well-known fact amongst the people who make TV commercials. Fortunately, a few brands and ad agencies are turning things around with genuine, heartfelt storytelling marketing. Guinness is trying to become one of these brands.
First, some comments about the video. Here is a link to the video to refresh you or for you to review in case you haven’t seen it.
The choices we make reveal the true nature of our character.
Guinness is no stranger to effective video storytelling. This new video reached three million views within four days of online release.
A simple plot; a game of wheelchair basketball followed by a pint of Guinness. The twist is that only one of the men in the group is an actual wheelchair user – the rest, it seems, are his friends who are playing wheelchair basketball so that they can all play together.
There are no shortcuts when it comes to crafting a quality narrative. It takes a ton of creativity as well as time, patience, planning, and polishing to give your brand’s story sparkle and make it shine. We recommend you dive into using creative stories!
The bottom line
Prognosticators and futurists try to predict what will happen through some combination of extrapolation and supposition, but the truth is the future will mostly be shaped by the choices we make. We could have chosen to make our society more equal, healthier, and happier, but did not. We can, of course, choose differently. The future will be revealed in what we choose to build.
So what’s the conclusion? The conclusion is there is no conclusion. There is only the next step. And that next step is completely up to you. But believe in the effectiveness of creating stories for your marketing. And put them to good use.
It’s up to you to keep improving your creative marketing efforts. Lessons are all around you. In this case, your competitor may be providing ideas and or inspiration. But the key is in knowing that it is within you already.
All you get is what you bring to the fight. And that fight gets better every day you learn and apply new lessons.
When things go wrong, what’s most important is your next step.
Test. Learn. Improve. Repeat.
Are you devoting enough energy to improving your creative stories and marketing?
Do you have a lesson about making your marketing strategy better you can share with this community? Have any questions or comments to add in the section below?
Mike Schoultz is the founder of Digital Spark Marketing, a digital marketing and customer service agency. With 40 years of business experience, he blogs on topics that relate to improving the performance of your business. Find him on Twitter, and LinkedIn.
Digital Spark Marketing will stretch your thinking and your ability to adapt to change. We also provide some fun and inspiration along the way.
More reading on marketing and advertising from Digital Spark Marketing’s Library:
A famous Godin quote: Products that are remarkable get talked about. Remarkable is a word many marketers are familiar with. Especially those that are fans of Seth Godin. Seth has written a lot about remarkable and designing a brand identity.
Remarkable … it’s something brands around the world are trying to be.
Being noticed is not the same thing as being remarkable. Seth Godin talks about how running down the street naked will get you noticed, but it won’t accomplish much. It’s easy to pull off a stunt, but it’s not useful.
Your brand doesn’t need to do crazy things to grab attention. And certainly not to be remarkable. You don’t want to border the line of insane and outlandish.
In his book, Purple Cow, Seth Godin talks about how remarkability lies on the edges. The biggest, fastest, slowest, richest, easiest, most difficult. It doesn’t usually matter which edge, it matters more than you’re at (or beyond) the edge.
Here is the thing: don’t follow in the footsteps of other businesses. If you do, you’ll find that your marketing is boring.
Remarkable isn’t about fitting in; it’s about standing out and making a difference.
Being innovative drives remarkable design, doesn’t it?
I don’t know about you, but it’s hard to ignore a brand that’s pushing the envelope, getting their name out in the open … being innovative.
Have you seen the remarkable branding video design from this Spanish bank? The video was created to celebrate the 130th anniversary of Banco de Sabadell, which is in a city in Catalonia, Spain.
It is a very simple story. A little girl puts a coin in the troubadour’s hat. He then starts playing Beethoven’s Ode to Joy. Then the magic begins. If you haven’t seen it, watch it now, it is only 5 minutes and it will inspire you.
Of course, the whole thing was staged. Who cares? It certainly accomplished its objective to build on the brand. Over 16 million views so far. And it has engaged its audience to the tune of more than 10 thousand comments.
Pretty remarkable in itself. Of course, you can’t design for going viral. But you can target for being remarkable and engaging.
How do you rise above the noise and really stand out? It’s getting more and more difficult. But it’s still possible. Here are the remarkable branding design elements from this video.
Designing brand identity … emotional triggers
Not a real secret here. The music that is created, while familiar, is as distinctive as it is heartwarming. Watching the faces, actions, and passions of the crowd draws you into the emotion.
If this was just the entire gang doing the music from the beginning, there would be no curiosity. And with no curiosity, there would be lots less interest maintained. Creating curiosity is a great way to draw and hold attention. It is way underutilized as a branding or marketing technique.
Fun and entertaining
Here’s a piece of music that we’ve all heard a million times. While we have all heard this music before, its incremental build-up production in this video, when combined with the other design elements, really adds to the fun and entertainment.
In the context of the public sidewalk and street, it’s as if you’re hearing this old song in a new way. With new ears.
Designing brand identity review … an unspoken message
The video is presented as a gift. It asks for nothing in return. There’s no call to action. Sometimes, unspoken messages carry the message the best. This video is in recognition of the bank’s 130 year anniversary. 130 years says secure, doesn’t it? Says we’ll always be here for you. Both with no voice or written message.
Very effective. Note that the bank’s brand is visible in the background on several occasions. Subtle, very subtle. All during the film, you keep seeing the Sabadell bank in the background. Then at the end, there’s an explanation.
The creators don’t try to pretend that this has nothing to do with their brand. They brand is part of the story. The brand placement doesn’t overwhelm the video, but it should be present.
Designing brand identity … screams to be shared
Here is the thing. When things are remarkable, it is something you want to share with your friends. But going viral is much more difficult to predict. This video was released in 2012 but didn’t go viral until this year. Interesting how certain influencers engage and create change in viewing.
Remarkable isn’t always the same. Get in the habit of doing the “unsafe” thing every time you have the opportunity is the best way to see what’s working and what’s not.
The bottom line
The key to being remembered is being remarkable. Don’t let your brand take the back seat, stand out.
So what’s the conclusion? The conclusion is there is no conclusion. There is only the next step. And that next step is completely up to you.
It’s up to you to keep improving your branding and brand marketing. Lessons are all around you. In many situations, your competitor may be providing ideas and or inspiration. But the key is in knowing that it is within you already.
All you get is what you bring to the fight. And that fight gets better every day you learn and apply new lessons.
When things go wrong, what’s most important is your next step.
Try. Learn. Improve. Repeat.
Are you devoting enough energy to improving your continuous learning for yourself and your team?
Do you have a lesson about making your brand marketing better you can share with this community? Have any questions or comments to add in the section below?
Mike Schoultz is the founder of Digital Spark Marketing, a digital marketing and customer service agency. With 40 years of business experience, he blogs on topics that relate to improving the performance of your business. Find him on Twitter, and LinkedIn.
Digital Spark Marketing will stretch your thinking and your ability to adapt to change. We also provide some fun and inspiration along the way.
More reading on brands and branding from Digital Spark Marketing’s Library:
