Today, businesses all over the globe are joining the video revolution. They’re utilizing every accessible vehicle to sell their brands and tell their stories. Think about some of the best commercials or advertisements you’ve ever seen, I bet they had an emotion invoking story behind it. That’s the goal, after all, to create memorable campaigns with substance and to connect to the audience.
A couple of examples that are memorable to us include the Extra Gum campaign, where we see Sarah and Juan, yes, they actually have names; two teenagers that start their love affair and take us on the journey of their relationship. After each segment, Juan sketches a still shot of their experience on a wrapper of Extra Gum. In the end, he displays all the wrappers, ultimately telling their love story and proposing. And while the storyline may be straight forward and evident, like the Extra commercial, other times they are vague, ambiguous stories that we’re left to figure out on our own.
Some of the biggest product campaigns that seem to leave us scratching our heads come from the perfume industry. These are usually elaborate, beautifully done advertisements that on their own tell a story. Julia Robert’s Lancôme Ad is one that instantly comes to mind. She’s shown walking into a swanky party where the attendees are wearing all black, however she is displayed in all white. The distinction is clearly made that she is not like these other party-goers, however the ad takes it a step further when Julia realizes she and everyone in attendance have marionette strings around their wrists and ankles. Not to be one that’s controlled, she simply wipes away the strings and ascends the staircase to independence and freedom. While this commercial tells a story, what story, is up to the consumers.
For businesses, creating stories like these around their brand is critical when trying to engage with consumers. It allows potential clients to begin to form an opinion about the company and ultimately the product. So, the take away is this, what story are you telling your consumers? What emotions are you invoking with your story? What’s your big idea?
