Lessons From Advertising: Crafting Stories That Resonate

Welcome to the 27th edition of North Star Blueprints! In this weekly newsletter, we embark on a journey of personal and professional growth, offering observations, strategies, and inspiration to help you navigate life's challenges and reach new heights of success. This edition will provide a summary of the daily insights I posted throughout the week, packed with valuable tips, thought-provoking ideas, and actionable advice on how to improve your storytelling skills through lessons from well executed advertisements - bringing up topics such as connecting with your audience, matching your message to your brand, being direct, using imagination, and the beauty of simplicity, in the hopes of helping you to unleash your better self.

August 19: Make Your Audience Feel the Journey

For this week’s insights we will be exploring various advertisements across industries and what they can teach us about storytelling. A strong advertisement delivers a clear, targeted message that captures our attention, resonates emotionally, and drives action. The creative minds behind each successful advertisement must find a way to make it emotionally appealing, highlight why their product or service is unique and memorable, build credibility and trust, and most importantly - understand what drives their target audience. When you deeply understand your audience - their needs, desires, pain points, and motivations, you can craft a message, visuals, and emotional appeal that resonate directly with them. That’s the same foundation you must build for any message you convey.

Today’s ad is the Mercedes-Benz EQC Commercial . An ad that seamlessly blends classic and modern elements to highlight the brand’s evolution across luxury and innovation. Here are some elements of what makes it so strong:

Showcasing Brand Legacy: The ad subtly incorporates iconic Mercedes-Benz models, emphasizing the brand’s enduring excellence and seamless adaptation over time.

Star Power and Modern Appeal: Featuring The Weeknd and “Blinding Lights” connects with younger audiences while enhancing the ad’s energy and style.

Balancing Tradition and Modernity: The ad expertly blends retro aesthetics with futuristic visuals, illustrating how Mercedes-Benz bridges its heritage with cutting-edge innovation.

Luxury and Cutting-Edge Technology: The commercial showcases the car's electric innovation while maintaining Mercedes-Benz’s consistent luxury and performance identity.

High-Quality Production and Visuals: Stunning cinematography, sleek design, and a perfect music blend create a visually engaging and memorable experience.

When you craft your own stories, make sure you also consider how they evolved over time. Take your audience on a journey back in time to present, and even future. Help them relive the moment your idea or product started and how it evolved over time, let them get invested in it. It’s hard to relate to an overnight success, it is much easier to understand slow evolution over time because that’s what life is. Next time you’re presenting something, take a few moments to set the context on how it started and developed before jumping into the actual end result.

August 20: Match Your Story to Your Brand

As we continue exploring storytelling techniques from various ads, I want to review Lacoste – Timeless . The narrative follows a man who embarks on a time-bending journey to reconnect with a woman he first encounters on a train, symbolizing the theme of timeless love. This theme aligns perfectly with Lacoste's brand, which emphasizes enduring elegance and style. The seamless transition through different eras, aided by smooth editing and visuals, evokes a sense of nostalgia while highlighting the brand's heritage.

Strong Storytelling: It tells the story of a man chasing a woman across different time periods, symbolizing a "timeless" connection.

Cinematic Quality: The ad feels like a short film with smooth transitions and striking visuals.

Perfect Brand Fit: The theme of enduring love and elegance aligns perfectly with Lacoste’s brand message of timeless style.

Emotional Impact: The music and visuals create a sense of nostalgia and make the story emotionally engaging.

Memorability: The combination of a compelling narrative and clear brand messaging makes the ad stand out and be remembered by viewers.

As you create your own narratives and stories, attempt to deliver a story that resonates with viewers (as we’ve learned yesterday), while also reinforcing your brand's core message. In Lacoste’s case it is timeless fashion and enduring connections, for Apple it is simplicity, for Nike it’s the “Just Do It” campaign. In your case, it might be something that showcases your product’s uniqueness, a prominent personality trait you have, or a certain signature style your company delivers. Often, it’s not about the message that is being presented but rather what kind of associations the intended audience is able to draw from it.

August 21: Deliver Direct Powerful Messages

The ad we’re exploring today is different than the previous ones - it is very simple, it doesn’t have unique visuals or unusual storytelling techniques, instead it focuses on something else – directness. The VERSUS 2010 Trailer - Second Place commercial focuses on the stark reality of competition by highlighting the discomfort of being anything but first. It drives home the idea that second place is simply not good enough, tapping into the psychological pain of being close but not quite there. It portrays second place as a constant reminder of missed opportunities and unfulfilled potential.

While it’s not quite clear what the ad is trying to sell or what the product / service is, I always liked it for the lessons we can learn from it about captivating our audiences. Sometimes you don’t need high budget, or cutting-edge technology, or a team working day and night to craft a flashy presentation… sometimes all you need is a well written speech and a powerful voiceover:

Direct and Provocative Message: Some ideas are better delivered indirectly, leaving the audience to make their own conclusions. However, knowing when to be direct can be a powerful tool. The narrative in this ad is clear and uncompromising, delivering a bold message that second place is simply not enough. This straightforward approach can leave a lasting impression.

Emotional Drive and Motivation: The ad taps into the fear of mediocrity, using this discomfort to motivate viewers to push harder and aim for the top, reinforcing the competitive mindset it promotes. At times, the best way to capture your audience’s attention is to press where it hurts and build solutions on top of the pain points.

The ad delivers a message of no-compromise mentality which is meant to fuel ambition and push the viewer to reject mediocrity. It’s designed to resonate with those who believe that winning is the only option and that settling for less is unacceptable. When you work on your message, narrow your audience, understand their pain points, and be direct in your delivery, leaving no room for misinterpretation.

August 22: Engage Your Audience's Imagination

Setting up scenarios, considering actions and their outcomes, and engaging your audience’s imagination is some of the most powerful techniques you can employ for storytelling and brand messaging - Nike’s Write the Future ad is a masterclass in doing just that.

The ad blends star power, emotional highs and lows, as well as split-second moments of decision-making to show how athletes' choices can ripple into global fame or failure. Using rapid cuts, dramatic tension, and alternate realities to capture the thrill and unpredictability of sports, makes it more than just a commercial—it's an experience that resonates with anyone who's faced pressure in the spotlight. Here are some lessons we can learn on how to tap into the audience’s imagination:

High Stakes and Emotional Engagement: The ad creates intense emotional connections by dramatizing the impact of single moments. Apply this to storytelling by raising the stakes and focusing on decisions that lead to pivotal outcomes. Make your audience feel the weight and importance of each topic.

Relatable Aspirations: Nike shows how athletes' dreams align with those of everyday viewers. To connect better with your audience, craft stories that mirror their ambitions, struggles, or desires.

Narrative Flow and Multiple Outcomes: By presenting different outcomes based on the athletes' choices, Nike builds tension and surprise. Use this approach in your own storytelling to emphasizes cause-and-effect and explore the "what-ifs" to keep the audience engaged.

Keep your audience invested in the outcomes by catering a story that resonates with them and their lives, the more real you make it the likelier they will want to keep listening to you.

August 23: Elevate Your Narrative

The last ad for this week is very subtle, yet effective. It shows Dieter Zetsche’s last day as the Head of Mercedes Benz. He gets a proper send off by his employees and is driven home by a top of the line Mercedes vehicle, once he gets home, he can finally retire. His garage door opens, inside we can see a vintage Mercedes, as we expect Zetsche to drive it away and enjoy his freedom. Only he comes out in a different car, leading to the message of this advertisement.

There is a certain beauty in simplicity and this ad captures it perfectly. There is no narration, no special effects, no loud music. Yet, its message resonates deep inside us and is very easy to understand. Introduce elegance to your storytelling - the ad portrays competitiveness with class, teaching us that it is possible to Incorporate grace and subtlety to convey strength in a refined manner.

If you truly believe in your product, idea, or brand. If you know that you are able to differentiate yourself and can stand above the competition. Then show everyone why you deserve the number one spot. However you do it, make sure to stay classy. Don’t bad mouth your competition, don’t insult others’ products, instead show why yours is superior.

Thank you for joining me on this journey of growth and discovery. I hope these insights illuminate your path forward as you pursue your aspirations with purpose and determination. See you in next week's edition!