Stories... an overlooked Marketing Secret?
November 19th 2008 11:07
We all need Stories…
From the dawn of time mankind has been telling and hearing stories. Greek epics are thought to be among the earliest lengthy stories written. Incidentally, the movie “Troy” was based loosely on Homer’s “The Iliad” narrative. Similarly, art and music are also ancient cultural pastimes of man. Stories, art and music uplift the soul and expand the imagination. Nothing much as changed in that regard.
Why are MP3 players so popular? So we can carry around and listen to a huge range of personal music, for very low cost or for nix.
Why are digital cameras so popular? So we can record our friends, family’s and our own smiling faces and places, and share the stories later. With DV cameras and editing software we can record our own mini-stories.
And the one that always baffles my man, why are daytime soaps so popular? Perhaps because they are a never-ending story about characters which viewers come to know intimately. In this imaginary world relationships are at the epicenter (and not work and money).
Everyone likes stories. With blogging or journaling, we can write our own daily stories, to express ourselves or to share. Or for the more serious set, a good ‘doco’ will take you on a path that is one perspective of a subject, with a storyteller, and is usually a story in itself. Fictional narrative, however, remains the most common form of visual entertainment today.
So, why oh why, do so many marketers and business managers decide that their product or service will sell with mere facts! Figures and features do not get our blood pumping and our minds expanding, unless we already know the direct relevance that has to our lives. The mind is a fast converter of information and the reader is constantly assessing, “blah blah, but what does all this mean to me?”
What if you bypassed this critical assessment with a good story? How many times have you started reading a column about someone’s weight loss/sob story/rags to riches, only to find out halfway through it was an advertorial? They had you till you saw the reply coupon or advertisement caption right? What if there was no obvious selling message on the page at all to jar you… yes, yes, but how does this sell the product?
Stories help to sell. Useful information helps to sell. Imagery (pretty pictures) helps to sell. So why not use all three aspects? The compelling story and picture of a person who has had their life changed by this new something draws the reader in. You list a number to call or a URL. Then once they go to your website, sign up for your newsletter or get on the phone, you can give them some useful ideas as to how your product/service can benefit their lives, and list its many applications. Infomercials have been doing it successfully for years.
What about all this talk of media convergence? PCs are no longer a work/educational tool, but used by the vast majority of home users as a home entertainment center. So the boffins that invent gadgets thought, “why not integrate the TV and movie player with the PC (or at least its entertainment uses)? Like many, I wish TV commercials didn’t exist. There is technology available now where you can record all of your favorite TV programs on a hard drive and the ads will be edited out. Scary for TV advertisers? I hope so. Except for fast-moving consumer goods, you need to have a two-way interaction, at the consumer’s convenience, in order to make a sale. Brand recognition only goes so far.
Making the most of changes to media usage doesn’t just mean advertising in a different medium (e.g. putting banner ads on the web). It means realizing that people are there for entertainment, for the story, so give ’em the story!
From the dawn of time mankind has been telling and hearing stories. Greek epics are thought to be among the earliest lengthy stories written. Incidentally, the movie “Troy” was based loosely on Homer’s “The Iliad” narrative. Similarly, art and music are also ancient cultural pastimes of man. Stories, art and music uplift the soul and expand the imagination. Nothing much as changed in that regard.
Why are MP3 players so popular? So we can carry around and listen to a huge range of personal music, for very low cost or for nix.
Why are digital cameras so popular? So we can record our friends, family’s and our own smiling faces and places, and share the stories later. With DV cameras and editing software we can record our own mini-stories.
And the one that always baffles my man, why are daytime soaps so popular? Perhaps because they are a never-ending story about characters which viewers come to know intimately. In this imaginary world relationships are at the epicenter (and not work and money).
Everyone likes stories. With blogging or journaling, we can write our own daily stories, to express ourselves or to share. Or for the more serious set, a good ‘doco’ will take you on a path that is one perspective of a subject, with a storyteller, and is usually a story in itself. Fictional narrative, however, remains the most common form of visual entertainment today.
So, why oh why, do so many marketers and business managers decide that their product or service will sell with mere facts! Figures and features do not get our blood pumping and our minds expanding, unless we already know the direct relevance that has to our lives. The mind is a fast converter of information and the reader is constantly assessing, “blah blah, but what does all this mean to me?”
What if you bypassed this critical assessment with a good story? How many times have you started reading a column about someone’s weight loss/sob story/rags to riches, only to find out halfway through it was an advertorial? They had you till you saw the reply coupon or advertisement caption right? What if there was no obvious selling message on the page at all to jar you… yes, yes, but how does this sell the product?
Stories help to sell. Useful information helps to sell. Imagery (pretty pictures) helps to sell. So why not use all three aspects? The compelling story and picture of a person who has had their life changed by this new something draws the reader in. You list a number to call or a URL. Then once they go to your website, sign up for your newsletter or get on the phone, you can give them some useful ideas as to how your product/service can benefit their lives, and list its many applications. Infomercials have been doing it successfully for years.
What about all this talk of media convergence? PCs are no longer a work/educational tool, but used by the vast majority of home users as a home entertainment center. So the boffins that invent gadgets thought, “why not integrate the TV and movie player with the PC (or at least its entertainment uses)? Like many, I wish TV commercials didn’t exist. There is technology available now where you can record all of your favorite TV programs on a hard drive and the ads will be edited out. Scary for TV advertisers? I hope so. Except for fast-moving consumer goods, you need to have a two-way interaction, at the consumer’s convenience, in order to make a sale. Brand recognition only goes so far.
Making the most of changes to media usage doesn’t just mean advertising in a different medium (e.g. putting banner ads on the web). It means realizing that people are there for entertainment, for the story, so give ’em the story!
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