Have you ever wondered why we are so excited about stories? What is it about stories that make them such an essential part of human interactions? How are they so subconsciously present in our exchanges that they end up engaging us to profound issues and building our perspective of the world around without us even realizing it?
Today, Brands have begun to realize this, and they are increasingly including stories in their communication. Advertising, as we know of, is undergoing a massive transformation in this digital age. Despite being the main aspect, products have taken a back seat in the communication themes while narrations serve the purpose of introducing the audience to highly held aspects of the brand itself. The idea is to emotionally connect with consumers using stories about them, stories that relate to them and stories that celebrate them.
Emotions affect us in ways we can’t even comprehend. They tap on our psychology and keep us hooked to many emotions at the same time. According to a case study by Harvard Business Review, making that emotional connection is much more important than customer satisfaction as a good story can go a long way to build trust and show brand’s empathy for the customers. Ultimately, stories have the capability to shape the way in which consumers see the brand.
Back in 2013 when Lifebuoy came up with Gondappa’s story to promote their ‘Help a child reach 5’ campaign, which was launched exclusively on Facebook. It quickly spread across other social networks with its sheer power of storytelling. Though, at the bottom of the digital story was a corporate social responsibility by Lifebuoy to raise awareness on personal hygiene, with the larger goal of eradication of diarrhea in Indian villages, the film was not looked at as a CSR campaign only. Not only the 3-minute film got 1.5 million views in first 3 weeks of being launched, but also found itself in second place at 16 million views in the list of ‘Ten most viewed ads on YouTube in 2013’. While Lifebuoy did not try hard to sell its soap, it surely made a strong emotional connect with the masses, establishing the brand purpose.
Following the same, search giant Google also resorted to storytelling to tell us how its ‘search’ is not only about providing daily go-to information service but also aims at providing happiness. Taking inspiration from India-Pakistan partition in 1947, it launched the ‘Reunion’ ad which was about two such childhood friends who grew up together in Lahore but got separated during the partition and how Google search helped them reunite after so many years. The three-and-a-half minute video crossed over 4 million views in just 6 days.
The verdict is clear – gone are the days when the brands focused on advertising product benefits sung through an ad jingle. The advertising sector has evolved over the years with brands experimenting more with fresher and innovative ways to connect with their consumers.
Let’s not forget about the much-lauded ad of Nescafe, a film about a stammering stand-up comedian that became an instant hit with the social savvy generation. The main protagonist in the two-minute ad film is rejected due to his persistent stuttering but finally ends up as a successful stand-up comedian when he makes stammering work in his favor. At the heart of the film was a beautifully inspiring story that people related to. It enacted the hero’s journey from overcoming challenges to gaining triumph over weaknesses. It fetched more than 4 million views within a fortnight with a successful conversation-led campaign on social media.
Celebrating the joy of homecoming, Pepsico launched its #GharWaliDiwali short film which reflected our fast-paced lives in this digital age where our parents are sidelined to make way for our immediate lifestyle needs. The beverage brand picked up a highly-relatable concept for its emotional quotient, focusing back on to the simple joys of life – visiting your parents. The film gained over 200K views in just two days and was loved by the consumers.
As India moves towards a more mobile-driven economy, there is a huge potential for video consumption over affordable data plans. A report from Dentsu Aegis Network (DAN) said that the digital advertising industry is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 31.96% to reach 24,920 crores INR by 2021, driving growth for content platforms as well as advertisers who are experimenting with different ad formats to connect with users. Hence, Brands are shifting its communication from traditional ads that said, “See what our brand can do” to stories that say, “See what you can do”.
Apart from the video content, engaging ads on mobile, voice based interactions and emerging technologies such as virtual reality, artificial intelligence and internet of things will make ‘Storytelling’ more engaging on digital media.
-Farheen Khan
farheen.khan@northpointindia.com