The world's most iconic and successful brands relate to us on both a rational and emotional level. They tell a timeless story that embodies something that affects us deep in our psyche. They give us an experience that is able to transcend time and help us identify our place in the world.
Hollywood screenwriters are masters of the art of story. To be successful, they have to produce a script that masters all the key elements of story in a way that engages and entertains an audience. If the story isn't compelling and has little meaning to the audience, the script and resulting movie will fail. To win in Hollywood, it's critical to get the audience emotionally involved.
In his legendary book Story, famed screenwriting guru Robert McKee defines storytelling this way..."Storytelling is the creative demonstration of truth. A story is the living proof of an idea, the conversion of idea to action. A story's event structure is the means by which you first express, then prove your idea...without explanation."
For a story to be successful, McKee claims that the audience must not only understand it, it must believe it. To get your point of view across, it's essential that you tell a good story.
As marketers, one of our daily challenges is to figure out a way to make our brand stand out from the rest of the pack. By using elements of storytelling in our marketing campaigns, we're making a connection with consumers that's very human and, at the same time, very persuasive.
Consider your life as part of a brand story. What defines you? Are you a Mac person? A Starbucks aficionado? A Nike person? A Tiffany's type? What is your brand at its core? Does it appeal to the desire for freedom in all of us? The desire for status - or the desire to be unique?
To be successful, a brand must have sales - and McKee hits on this in his definition of story. The idea that a story is the "conversion of idea to action" demonstrates the ability of story to persuade people to do something with the idea. Marketers and advertisers design campaigns to attract consumers to certain brands but without an element of story, chances are we'll forget what the ad was for...and we won't act on it.
The clip below is an excerpt from an interview with George Stroumboulopoulos on CBC's hit show The Hour.
McKee offers other nuggets that can also be applied to the branding world. See how you can apply his thoughts to your own branding campaigns:
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