The Storyteller

THE STORYTELLER

The True measure of a marketing idea is if it makes customers care about what the brand stands for. The age of TiVo & shortened attention spans makes it imperative that the marketing idea (in fact any idea), is embedded in the collective psyche of the recipients. For that, the idea needs to not just persuade but engender feelings of care & empathy, making the idea ones own

If you were to think about it you would realise that marketing communication is actually just story telling. How relevant & soul touching your story is often translates into how effective & successful your marketing idea will be. And in todays 'social & interactive' world, the interactive nature of story telling is what would differentiate a good idea from a really wow one.

So exactly why is the participative ( I call it social & interactive) story telling such an effective way to influence behaviour?  Neuro- scientific evidence points towards three compelling reasons rooted in how the brain makes brand decisions.

1. Stories actually change our brain, shaping the way we think, feel & behave. Remember how you felt & behaved differently after watching a Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan (action)film as a child?
2. Its all about correct mapping - Brand stories do this by strengthening the connections in the brain between the network of neurons representing a brand & the network of neurons  representing a particular need. The richer the connections between these two networks, the more the brain is biased towards the particular brand (or idea / or product)
3. Many more synaptic connections are created when we ourselves participate in creating a brands story, greatly boosting our chances of remembering the brand (or idea/product) when it matters the most

So the strategy of any good marketing idea is to create an excellent story around it that binds it with an issue / thought that people care about (feel for /empathise with it) & tell it in the most participative way possible.

Now the moot personal question is - Will this work on the Boss when I ask for a raise next month?  :-)

Derived from the article 'The Big Ideas Great Leap Forward' by Leo Burnetts Rajeev Sharma (National Brand Planning Head Leo Burnett India) as appeared in Brand Equity (ET Jun25, 2014, pg3)