Browsing tag

Storytelling

Stories humanize brands: Lessons from B2B brand storytelling

November 30, 2020

In my last post, I mentioned how festivals bring out some of the best marketing campaigns of the year. From Diwali in India to Christmas across the globe, we get to see brilliant films and creatives during this time of the year. The year 2020 of course has been different. Pandemic has changed the rules of marketing to a large extent. But the festive spirit is still alive in the market. I’m sure we will get to see a lot more brilliant marketing stories in the next one month.

Two participants from my last workshop messaged after reading this post. Their feedback – it’s easy to evoke emotions and build stories around B2C brands. How about B2B? This is one question that makes me smile. I get this question asked in almost every session, especially when I am interacting with tech companies. And every time my answer remains the same 🙂 –

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Storytelling lessons from a two and a half minute film

November 24, 2020

I’m sure by now, we all have seen this new Christmas ad by Coca-Cola. It’s beautiful, meaningful, and most importantly –

It stays with you!

It’s like watching a complete film in two and a half minutes. 

It has drama. The kind of drama that has anticipation mingled with uncertainty. 

The central character goes through conflict, challenges, climax, and finally a happy ending. An ending that leaves you teary-eyed and pulls at your heartstring.

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Great storytelling works, always!

February 28, 2018

The moment I had seen this post on Linkedin, I was sure it would be a hit. When I had spotted it first few days back, views and likes were not even in hundreds and today with thousands of likes, views, and shares, there is no doubt once again that great storytelling works, almost always, in marketing and everywhere else!

In this attention economy age, imagine a candidate pitching her/his profile by speaking for more than 2 minutes or by writing a post of more than 400 words? Do you think you would be able to focus on it without any distraction?

Now imagine the same pitch presented to you visually as a story like this? Chances are, you will be hooked and end up watching it just like me.

This particular video is a great example of brilliant marketing in many ways but for me, most importantly it’s a great example of stunning visual storytelling.

From,

Context to Characters

Entertainment to Engagement

Emotion to Narration

Action to Conclusion

 

It has all the elements to make it a COMPELLING story.

And it has a very definitive call for action, making it a story that compels you to act.

What more can I as a marketer expect from a powerful story?

I am sure this candidate would land/have landed up a great role in marketing by now. As for me, this video not only engaged me but it has its lasting effect on me to an extent that I am going to use it as a wonderful reference for the power of storytelling in marketing.

I have always believed in the persuasive power of visual storytelling, in case you would like to check out one of my recent posts on visual storytelling, you may find one here.