Drugi jezik na kojem je dostupan ovaj članak: Bosnian
By: Jelena Uzelac Vasić, Strategic Development Director, DNA Communications
It is believed that storytelling is the best method for helping child’s development and its discovery of the outside world. Sometimes these are fairy tales, fables, fictional narratives imagined by the parents, but basically these are all stories. The situation is not much different with brands. For the development of their identity in the minds of consumers, the most important factor are stories they tell, and the way they do it. And so we come to the concept that was defined as the dominant marketing trend several years ago – storytelling. Since our market lags a bit – or a bit more – with the implementation of global trends, over the last two years there’s been a lot of talk about storytelling and content marketing at professional conferences and by industry media, but the real implementation of this concept and the true understanding among the people who create communications brands is being felt only in the last year. A place where you can encounter most of these stories is television – still the dominant medium for advertising in Serbia. You can’t but notice all these great or less great communication examples from brands through TV spots of at least 30 seconds length, and sometimes even over a minute. Just enough time to tell the beginning, the plot and the ending. And regardless of whether it’s a fairy tale that presents the important moments in life, in which we are winning because we have the right partner in the form of a washing machine, or whether it’s a story about fulfilled life goals with a little help of a cash loan, we ultimately listen to stories and get to know the personality and emotion of our favorite brands.
When we talk about storytelling, we’re not talking about anything revolutionary – in simple words, at the center of any process of creating a brand there has to be a story that will engage its listeners, readers or viewers, which will help them to better meet the brand, to connect with it and build affinity for the brand, product or organization. Whether it comes to TV advertising, advertising on social networks or in printed magazines, storytelling is the best way for what is the essence of a strong and recognizable identity and personality of the brand – to present itself to us, to lead a dialogue with us, to awaken and recognize in us the innermost emotions, to recognize our small and big fears, to share with us its small and large successes, to be our friend. In that case, we are talking about storytelling that leads to a long-term linking of the target public to the brand, which is the ultimate marketing tactics in today’s world of communication and will result in clear and positive business results.
What really makes the story of a brand? I simply see it as a complete picture of the facts, emotions and interpretations of the brand, which are shared by the brand itself, its consumers, communities and the public at large. Unlike all the communications that are essentially a description of what the company does and how it works, and listing characteristics of a product, the story should be characterized by a completely different structure. The story has a beginning, a middle and an end, there is tension, strife, obstacles, choices, emotions, characters, details and victory. A real story shifts the focus from rational to emotional approach, from rational to emotional appeals. Moving the focus is most noticed in comparison to the previous years, which were colored by non-affirmative economic environment and significantly reduced advertising budgets, which imposed a completely rational approach to brand communication. We could frequently hear the message about “the biggest discounts to date”, an “action until stock is depleted”, the “most favorable interest rate ever” and the inevitable “pay less, get more.” To put it differently, storytelling shifts us from the “powder for 9.99” to “your partner in all the ups and downs, your partner every day.” It’s a large and significant step forward, and not so much for brands and end-users, as much as for those who create all these stories – for all those returning to the central element of marketing: the consumer, and understanding of the consumer, and not the product as such.
The popularity and the increasing use of storytelling is also the result of the environment in which the concept is emerging. Almost every individual today is flooded by a sea of information, and on every step they face a new message, opinion, proposal, request… And what is truly important to the individual in a sea of such information is the significance and identification. The story that a brand tells must be meaningful, if it is to be truly recognized and remembered. It must have a human touch, to show the human being, with all the flaws and virtues, with all the problems and concerns that an everyday person has. If we analyze all the unsuccessful stories of brands, in many cases we will come to the conclusion that the lack of humanness was what made them unsuccessful. A story must have the power to inspire people, give them energy and promote action.
Although there is no formal and guaranteed recipe for creating a successful and powerful brand story, I would single out a few steps or elements of a story that should be defined. You start from the element that gives the originality and authenticity to every fairy tale – a unique hero, ie. the protagonist of your story. The protagonist is in the center of the story – a strongly and clearly outlined personality, which wants to fulfill small or large goals, on the road full of challenges, decisions and obstacles. The target audience that a brand addresses should be defined as precisely as possible, because this is what primarily dictates the content and the language of the story. At the beginning you tease with the “bait” of the story that will allow audiences to identify with the situation or problem in which the protagonist finds itself. Now come the obstacles, surprises and conflicts that prevent the story from being predictable and boring, but engaging for the audience. Part that follows the plot – the reversal. This should be an “emotional bait” for the audience, to give them the feeling and experience that makes them really identify themselves with the hero and the situation. Final victory and choice of the hero of the story has to have meaning and significance, which is not only clear and directly shown to the audience, but which communicates the best personality and the benefits of the brand. This is what the audience remember after listening to the story.
In addition to the TV spots from the beginning of the text, which authentically tell stories of their brands, I’m sure there are hundreds of excellent stories and examples of successful brand storytelling all around us, in many other media. In today’s world of communication it seems that there is no excuse or argument to avoid storytelling. Acceptance of this concept as prevailing over all other marketing concepts is the reality. Storytelling is becoming the ultimate way to reach your desired audience, because its core is content and the person as a hero. Personal expectations are that brands will tell their stories in the same way in all other channels of communication and other aspects of a company – from managing people and leadership, through video materials and texts for the blog, communication with employees and creating an employer’s brand, to corporate materials, presentations, reports etc.
There’s no questioning the fact that we live in a world of new brand narrators, it remains only to see who will get the role of some new Hans Christian Andersen ore the Brothers Grimm. We will keep our eyes open.