Is “Tell Us Your Story” The Magic Marketing Answer?
Posted on | December 13, 2007 | No Comments
Is it just me, or have the rest of you noticed the storytelling-as-marketing trend perhaps running amok? Though it is certainly a key to the latest in consumer inspired marketing strategies and ad campaigns – and all the more effective in marketing to women, perhaps – it should be no surprise that the broadest/blandest definition of storytelling cannot be the magic marketing solution.
Yet, as with other such trends, the concept is being implemented in its most literal interpretation. Thinking that an invite for customers to share stories will serve any brand, no matter how it is done, is akin to using “real women” for every random ad campaign because you’ve heard of Dove’s extremely well-done and successful effort. (“I’ve got it! Let’s use ‘real women’ for our firewood campaign!”).
This just means that as “the next big thing,” storytelling may too-soon fade into the sunset. Many brands will simply attempt it with poor execution and not see the expected astoundingly wonderful results. From there, most will give up and move on to the “next, next big thing” in customer connection (and probably make a half-hearted attempt at that), and miss out, but big, on the most naturally powerful way of helping customers find shared common ground.
Kimberly Palmer of U.S. News & World Report ‘s “Alpha Consumer,” recently blogged about her disconnect with brands and stories, mentioning that she’d noticed the “tell us your story” campaigns for retailers like Giant Food and CVS. In cases like that, many of us would probably join Palmer in wondering why we’d bother to share our story. Just how personal can your connection with that sort of business be, after all?
On the other hand, the personal stories shared via this past year’s Home Depot campaign make more sense to me. Pride in home ownership is a lot more universally experienced feeling than an emotional connection with a drugstore, for example. Plenty of the Home Depot campaign’s viewers/web site visitors will likely find something in common with the profiled customers, and have stories they may want to share as well.
Another example of an effective and creative storytelling ad campaign that really “fit” the brand includes the late 2006/early 2007 Kleenex “Let It Out” campaign. The blue couch and table, and random people (yes, a good integration of “real” people if ever there was one…) telling even small snippets of stories was incredibly powerful for a brand that wasn’t necessarily well-differentiated before the campaign.
Like-minded consumers can find common ground with the Kleenex campaign, and appreciate the interesting way those stories are shared in print, television and on the web. For Kleenex, “Let It Out” makes sense and was produced, followed-up on, in imaginative, creative, interesting ways (the site has archives of stories and pictures, and a blog that seems to still be updated, this 10 or so months later).
So, why isn’t storytelling, in general, a “magic” answer? Because, as they do with a lot of other high-potential marketing tactics, brands may be taking the easy way out. They tend to start out with storytelling 1.0, when their sophisticated customers are expecting storytelling 2.5.
The moral of my story: It takes real effort, not just magic, to surprise and delight the ever-evolving, advertising-saturated consumer. Consumers will be inspired to engage with your story-sharing campaign only if they detect authenticity in it’s purpose, connection and follow-through.
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