Storytelling is a powerful thing. Ever since our parents read us bedtime stories, we’ve depended on narratives to help us interpret the world around us–and to escape it.
Stories engage us and, as our attention fragments, that is precisely what advertisers are trying to do. Enter the commercial-as- miniseries. The concept has really taken root in Asia–just search youtube for “SK Telecom” or “LG Telecom” and you’ll get tons of hits from South Korea. The following three commercials illustrate this phenomenon, telling the story of a family separated between the North and the South:
Now we’re going to see more of these story-driven ads in the U.S. thanks to a new studio called Dandelion, which officially launched yesterday. Formed by Epoch Films and Kirt Gunn Associates, the company is “dedicated to creating programming and entertainment sponsored by brands.” It’s almost a return to the “brought-to-you-by” model of early television where content was king, and advertisers just paid the bills. Almost. They do work for brands after all, so what they create is essentially branded serial content, but at a higher quality. Actual professional writers, directors and producers are at the helm, rather than marketing interns with a Flip video camera.
Brands today need to be transparent, accessible, human. This is what consumers relate to. These commercials aim to tap into these same ideals by bringing brands to life and appealing to our emotions. If they succeed, will we soon be TiVoing commercials and skipping the shows?
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Great article on the power of storytelling in your marketing, thank you. Storytelling dates back thousands of years. From the pictographs on cave walls that tell stories, from the story in The Epic of Gilgamesh (2,000 BC), to various Bibles in religions around the word. The story is so central to the human experience that one can not separate the story from what it means to be human.
In marketing, one of the huge benefits of telling a story is that people can remember stories better than any other form of marketing. If you are a Christian, then you already know that Jesus knew the power of storytelling with his parables.
This is another example of how marketing is counter to what you would think works. Most people would think that someone doesn’t have the time to read a long story and so it is better to not use story telling in your marketing and instead go for the short sales pitch. After all, who really has the time to read your story?
This is simply not true and we know it is not true because many famous marketers have done tests on this subject time and time again. One such famous marketer is Claude Hopkins who writes:
Mail order advertising tells a complete story if the purpose is to make an immediate sale. You see no limitations there on amount of copy. The motto there is, “The more you tell the more you sell.” And it has never failed to prove out so in any test we know.
The famous direct mail copyrighter Ben Hart says that his 2 page letters perform better than his 1 page letters, and his 4 page letters perform better than his 2 page letters. He has even written sales letters that are more than 12 pages long!
I had a client who insisted that the sales copy I wrote for his software business was just too long. He took out huge portions of my sales copy and posted the final version on his website.
After 3 months, I called him to find out how his web sales were doing. He said that they were doing alright but that really he had hoped for more. I suggested that he put up my original, longer, sales copy. He did and his web sales increased by 40% over the next several months. He is a big believer now in longer sales copy.
Perhaps the greatest example of storytelling marketing is the sales letter that literally made the Wall Street Journal. This letter alone brought fame and fortune to the Wall Street Journal. You can take this letter and tweak it to fit your business.
Dear Reader:
On a beautiful late spring afternoon, twenty-five years ago, two young men graduated from the same college. They were very much alike, these two young men.
Both had been better than average students, both were personable and both -– as young college graduates are — were filled with ambitious dreams for the future.
Recently, these men returned to their college for their 25th reunion.
They were still very much alike.
Both were happily married. Both had three children. And both, it turned out, had gone to work for the same Midwestern manufacturing company after graduation, and were still there.
But there was a difference. One of the men was manager of a small department of that company. The other was its president.
What Made The Difference
Have you ever wondered, as I have, what makes this kind of difference in people’s lives? It isn’t always a native intelligence or talent or dedication. It isn’t that one person wants success and the other doesn’t.
The difference lies in what each person knows and how he or she makes use of that knowledge.
And that is why I am writing to you and to people like you about The Wall Street Journal. For that is the whole purpose of The Journal: To give its readers knowledge – knowledge that they can use in business.
A Publication Unlike Any Other
You see, The Wall Street Journal is a unique publication. It’s the country’s only national business daily. Each business day, it is put together by the world’s largest staff for business-news experts.
Each business day, The Journal’s pages include a broad range of information of interest and significance to business-minded people, no matter where it comes from. Not just stocks and finance, but anything and everything in the whole, fast-moving world of business … The Wall Street Journal gives you all the business news you need— when you need it.
Knowledge Is Power
Right now, I am reading page one of The Journal. It combines all the important news of the day with in-depth feature reporting. Every phase of business news is covered, from articles on inflation, wholesale prices, car prices, tax incentives for industries to major developments in Washington, and elsewhere.
And there is page after page inside The Journal filled with fascinating and significant information that’s useful to you. A daily column on personal money management helps you become a smarter saver, better investor, wiser spender. There are weekly columns on small business, marketing, real estate, technology, regional developments. If you have never read The Wall Street Journal, you cannot imagine how useful it can be to you.
Much of the information that appears in The Journal appears nowhere else. The Journal is printed in numerous plants across the United States, so that you get it early each business day.
A $28 Subscription
Put our statements to the proof by subscribing for the next 13 weeks for just $28. This is the shortest subscription term we offer – and a perfect way to get acquainted with The Journal.
Or you may prefer to take advantage of a longer-term subscription for greater savings: an annual subscription at $107 saves you $20 off The Journal’s cover price. Our best buy -—two years for $185 – saves you a full $69!
Simply fill out the endorsed order card and mail it in the postage-paid envelope provided. And here’s The Journal guarantee: Should The Journal not measure up to your expectations, you may cancel this trial arrangement at any point and receive a refund for the undelivered portion of your subscription.
If you feel as we do that this is a fair and reasonable proposition, then you will want to find out without delay if The Wall Street Journal can do for you what it is doing for millions of readers. So please mail the enclosed order card now, and we will start serving you immediately.
About those two college classmates, I mention at the beginning of this letter. They graduated from college together and together got started in the business world. So what made their lives in business different?
Knowledge. Useful knowledge. And its application.
An Investment In Success
I cannot promise you that success will be instantly yours if you start reading The Wall Street Journal. But I can guarantee that you will find The Journal always interesting, always reliable, and always useful.
Sincerely Yours,
Peter R. Kann
November 18th, 2008 at 12:31 pm