The Importance of Storytelling in Business & Advertising
The Mona Lisa? It’s okay.
Yes, most art experts would agree it’s a great painting. But considering all of Leonardo Da Vinci’s accomplishments, does a small (VERY small compared to hundreds of paintings and artifacts in the very same museum) portrait of a rather obscure woman, really deserve to be the most famous artwork in history?
Of course it does!
It’s just for reasons that have little to do with technique, subject matter, or even the artist. It deserves its fame because of the stories revolving around it.
Theft, fakes, mysteries and long disappearances, and even a French heritage law that forbids its sale (yes, Mona Lisa actually belongs to the public) are just a handful of sources of stories, which have collectively vaulted this painting into unparalleled fame.
But does the party stop at fame? Of course not. It becomes marketing. I mean, look at this:
Copyright The New York Times
Stories entice us, they move us, and can make us act. In Mona Lisa’s case, “act” means traveling to Paris only to stand in line for three hours, only to be crammed in a sea of people, cameras and gasps. And it’s all amplified by the energy of years-long anticipation, and the sugar rush from recently-devoured crème brûlées.
That’s the power of stories, and it has introduced a new era within business and advertising. Because what business doesn’t dream of enticing customers and compelling them to act? Let’s analyze to strategize!
Small Business Ad Strategy Should Be Emotion-Based
Emotion is to stories as taste is to cake - it’s the core of our attraction. Thoughts are important, sure, but emotion is the deciding factor in most of our behavior and actions.
This is gold to advertisers, because consumers will remember and act in response to emotion, much more than they will to facts.
An example of this are the - and I’ll apologize but I wouldn’t include this if it wasn’t so relevant - animal cruelty commercials. Know why they’ve been running for decades? They’re effective. Know why? They don’t consist of text, statistics and contact information, but stories. And if you pay close attention, the imagery and script will often tell two stories - that of the animals, but also the pending one involving you. Which is actually a great segue into…
Stories Make the Customer the Center of Attention
Dale Carnegie said “a person’s name is to him or her the sweetest and most important sound in the world”. Now, it’d be eerie if ads called out your specific name. But the thing is, quality storytelling will act as if it did because it will place you as the hero in a story.
This sounds like a bit of a no-duh, but with an ounce of extra attention over the next 10-20 ads you hear or see, you might be shocked at how many businesses like talking all about themselves, what they do, what they believe and their history. Consumers don’t care much for that, at least not directly. They want to know how their story is improved by doing business with you. Offering daily lunch specials doesn’t necessarily change their story. But them saving hard-earned cash to spend on their family, hobbies or vacation, thanks to your daily lunch specials, does. See the slight difference?
This strategy is all about reciprocity - make your customers the center of your advertising, and they’ll make you the center of their buying power.
Stories Enhance Branding
Allstate’s “Mayhem” commercials are a masterclass in storytelling as branding. Take for example this 30-second gem:
The majesty! There could almost be an entire blog post dedicated to this. First, the tone fits right in line with all their others. Secondly, it has a legitimate narrative, that’s simple and easily understood, acted out to show you the stakes of not using their product. In fact, what better stakes are there, than avoiding mayhem? That through line exists in all of their sketch-like ads, and consistency on that level usually means incoming popularity.
Storytelling allows for more memorable branding because it expands the sandbox you can play in to level with - and speak to - your prospective customers.
Storytelling: The Gateway to the Customer’s Heart…and Wallet
Know who Lisa Gherardini is? It’s okay, I didn’t either. Neither did my parents. Or the first three co-workers I asked.
Lisa is the subject depicted in the Mona Lisa.
I’m sure she was a wonderful woman, but she is simply not the reason her own portrait is a global obsession - its stories are.
The world of business is not too unlike the Louvre. There are loads of competitors. Furthermore, some are even bigger, more skilled, older, maybe even more appealing, than your painting.
But none of that can overcome the power of a great story.
And we at Iliad Media Group know this, because we’ve utilized great stories to fuel massive client growth time and time again. So if you or anyone you know has a business that wants to reach a target audience and see a sizable increase in sales, we should talk.
