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 able to relate better to stories. As Rudyard Kipling once claimed, “If history were taught in the form of stories, it would never be forgotten.” Similarly, any ad campaign that invokes an emotional reaction, whether it be compassion, anger or happiness, is more likely to be remembered. And advertisers just LOVE to tap these emotions.

Technology with Numbers

The advancement in technology has revolutionized the way brands communicate with and reach customers. Many ad execs believe that the rise of data is killing the creativity, as brands have started to focus more on reaching the right audience with a lower cost, rather than the mode of communication and the type of brand message. This is the Moneyball-esque age of advertising, where data scientists are the Billy Beanes of advertising, and where decisions are made based purely on statistics. There is an old saying, “Half of my advertising budget is wasted; The problem is, I don’t know which half”. This is no longer acceptable for advertisers, especially with the ubiquity of data.

However, I feel that the analytics and creative worlds are gradually coming together, and their marriage in inevitable. Most captivating storytellers grasp the importance of understanding the audience. An advertiser might tell the same story to different type of consumers in the market for the same product, but the intonation and delivery will be different. For example, a mother in the market for a low-cost sedan might be delivered the same message but with a different story than a single person who has similar budget constraints. Both might be interested in the same car, but their reasons for buying that car could be different. If the advertiser is aware of this, he can effectively connect with the different type of consumers.

So by rethinking the way we use data, and by understanding the consumer, advertisers can create meaningful stories that influence and engage the audience on both an emotional and logical level. Telling meaningful stories is not only about having ‘the Big Idea’ anymore. Instead, it is about having the right combination of data to give you the best perspective of your audience.Thus, by attempting to paraphrase John Nash, I can conclude that the best result comes when creative and data works hand-in-hand.

The growth of technology has not only resulted in the rise of data mining & analysis, but it has also created new channels through which the right audience can be reached. And the advertisers are eager to experiment with all of these channels. Here are some of the new & upcoming ways through which the advertiser can communicate with the young crowd:

Video Apps

Short Videos

When it comes to finding unique and creative strategies to incorporate into marketing efforts, brands are realizing that the shorter the message, the better the response from their target audience. That is why applications like Snapchat and Vine are taking the digital world by storm.

Snapchat has come a long way from being considered an app for college-going teens. In late 2013, Snapchat began allowing users to create “stories,” a flipbook of videos and photos. By its very nature, Snapchat stories are both personal and ephemeral.

Vine videos have a certain amount of virality to them. The videos can be viewed on loop several times, and unlike Snapchat, are not lost in the clouds (pun intended) after a certain period of time.

Live Streaming

Meerkat launched in late February as a way for people to stream live broadcasts from their phones that would cross-post to Twitter so that anyone could tune in. Twitter then went on to acquire a similar app, Periscope.

But despite the buzz surrounding these 2 apps, the big brands have not hopped on the bandwagon just yet.

Image-Sharing Apps

According to reports, marketers are starting to value visual marketing more highly than ever before. They are now looking to create original visuals/images to engage their audiences. This is because of the rise of image-sharing apps, like Pinterest and Instagram, which are ideal for B2C brands, who tend to be more visually focused in their marketing efforts. The bottom line is that brands have to start doing more than just being present on Facebook & Twitter. With Pinterest rapidly becoming the go-to platform for predominantly women-related content, and Instagram continuing to gain traction amongst millennials, brands are forced to think about altering their Social Media strategy.

Though unrelated to this topic, it is noteworthy that recently both Pintrest and Instagram announced that they would be introducing ‘buy buttons’, and related tools that connect sponsored posts directly to revenue streams. This would allow retail marketers to directly measure their ROI, and account for each dollar spent on either of these platforms.

Sponsored Content

Native advertising is a form of paid content where the ad experience follows the natural form and function of the user experience in which it is placed. Sponsored posts on Facebook, promoted tweets on Twitter, or even a good product placement in a movie are types of native ads.

Native advertising provides a great opportunity for the advertisers to reach the right target audience, without hindering their online experience. Studies have shown a native ad has a higher chance of being viewed by an user, than any editorial content.

Not only the agency’s copywriters, but the content team from the publisher’s side are also involved in the creation of a bespoke native ad. One publisher who has succeeded admirably in native advertising is BuzzFeed.

BuzzFeed is often referred to as an advertising agency that creates content. Their real innovation isn’t listicles or GIF-based storytelling, but native advertising, and their whole business model revolves around it. Moreover, with a $850M valuation, business is surely booming for them.

A marketer who has successfully adopted native advertising would be Netflix. Here are a couple of native ads for Netflix, in the form of sponsored content (in case you missed them):

The Atlantic: The Ascent

The New York Times: Women Inmates

Wearables

Fitness trackers and tech glasses have considerably declined in popularity in recent months, and are now commonly found in one’s junk drawers. However, there are other wearables besides these two, which are not doing too badly.

Personally, I don’t think the the tiny screens of tech watches are designed for any kind of advertising, let alone telling captivating stories. But once again, this is where we have to use the help of data. If brands are able to effectively use geo-fencing and hyper-local targeting, and send push notifications to probable customers after using lookalike & predictive modelling, then we are talking business. However, this is another topic for discussion.

“Oculus has the potential to be the most-social platform ever. Today social networks are about sharing moments, but tomorrow it will be about sharing experiences”, Mark Zuckerberg after announcing the acquisition of Oculus VR.

Virtual reality headsets are changing the landscape of modern advertising, and advertisers are already starting to dip their toes in the virtual waters. Last year Coca-Cola staged a virtual reality experience at the FIFA World Cup, where participants were given an opportunity to play on the field, ‘virtually’ of course. What better way to tell a story than to place the user in the first person’s shoes, while at the same time empowering him to literally live his dreams.

Marriott’s ‘#GetTeleported’ campaign was awarded the People’s Voice Webby award for the Best Use of Native Advertising. As part f their campaign, Marrott took their guests on an eight-city virtual tour, and let them share their share split-screen videos of themselves, and the VR experience, on social media. To learn more about the campaign, click here.

Considering everything written above, I can assertively say that tech watches and VR headsets are not just a temporary fad, and these wearables are certainly here to stay.

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So it’s time for advertisers to consider how to best achieve their goals. Whether it is by merging creative with data, or by choosing one of the several different communication mediums brought about by the advent of technology and the exponential pace of innovation. However, regardless of the vehicle used, advertisers that can recreate relatable stories which rouse strong emotions among their audiences, will always find themselves one step ahead of the competition. While technology gives advertisers an opportunity to try new things and change the way stories are created, shared and experienced, it is still the story itself that stimulates the audience to develop a deeper personal connection with the brand.

Thank You

Phani Marupaka