Relevance of Storytelling in Contemporary Times
The most powerful tool in marketing’s arsenal is its ability to tell stories. Whether it’s a Fortune 500 consumer products firm or a day – old startup, the common denominator among businesses is their desire and ability to weave often complex product information into stories. This story told by organisations has all the characteristics of a traditional tale, a gripping, tightly woven and forward thinking narrative to catch people’s attention with the minimum possible effort. There is one key difference however between the novel and story told by businesses – the latter might be losing its sheen.
The magic of storytelling
For decades, the conventional knowledge around marketing has poured all the efforts and know - how of businesses into powerful storytelling. Organisations treat it as an art, as they strive to discover new and modern ways to wrap their offerings in a cocoon of customer - connect. Brands have sworn by storytelling as the foremost communication channel in marketing, holding unparalleled value in attracting new consumers and retaining existing ones. However, questions have started being raised about the efficacy and authenticity of storytelling in recent times. The reason for these questions can be traced to the evolution of marketing. Marketing of the yesteryear was traditional in its approach, elucidating the functional benefits of products and services with an aim to prove them superior to that of their competitors.
With increasing knowledge and thought leadership on the subject over time, marketers realised what we now know as fact - people don’t remember what you say to them, but how you make them feel. So it was with this thought that brands began to weave stories around their offerings - highlighting shared experiences and feelings rather than qualitative product benefits. This gave rise to the wave of storytelling, which took the marketing world by storm. Suddenly brands were resorting to storytelling as a practice not just to propel their product offerings, but as a method of communication within their organisations as well. They realised the value of developing an emotional connection with their target audience to create loyal, repeating customers. In fact, research stated that an astounding 92% of consumers wanted to hear a story from brands.
Make it stand out
Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.
Cut to the last ten years of storytelling as a practice, and the narrative seems to have changed. The target consumer of most contemporary brands is the youth. People between the ages of 18 and 30 have rising disposable incomes and high tech adoption, leading them to make educated purchasing decisions. Today’s consumer is more informed than ever before, and has the knowledge of history at his/her fingertips at the touch of a button. He/She has also grown up in a time where storytelling had become the norm, and no longer sees it as a paradigm shift in the way products are marketed.
Falling out of love with storytelling?
On the contrary, marketing to create an emotional connect has been resulting in disillusionment in the youth of today to a large extent. The millennial/Gen Z consumer often wants factual evidence on how the product being marketed would be superior in its offerings compared to competition, and is disenchanted by companies showing vague images and videos of a Hollywood celebrity riding a bike or drinking a cola. The complex digital landscape has resulted in an overload of stories and experiences on every social media handle, and consumers do not have the time or patience to listen to long and slow stories any longer. Information is consumed faster, and factual information hitting home is preferred to an advert attempting to drive an emotional connection.
‘Facts tell, stories sell!’
Despite being a click away from tech, the power of a simple story holds firm. Conclusively, storytelling marketing is the gateway to communicate key messaging in a way that demands no explanation. In a nutshell, it is all about balancing actionable through insight with killer creativity and a dose of authenticity!
