The Power of a Good Story

Marketing and communications is intrinsically storytelling, a fact I sometimes question if everyone in the industry understands. After all we’re a sector which gave people such marketing fails as PureGym Luton and Dunstable’s ’12 Years a Slave Workout’ (I cringe even typing it); the Pepsi Kendall Jenner advert, and a plethora of ill-informed brand tweets in recent weeks as a result of the Queen’s passing, we’re looking at you, Ann Summers!

There was an advert for Sky Atlantic in c.2011 which encapsulates this idea. Featuring the inimitable voice and presence of Dustin Hoffman, the actor tells the audience of the importance of stories.

At the time this aired I was early on in my PR career and believed – much like I do now – in the power of telling a tale. If you want to find our top tips for brands and marketeers skip to the bottom.

Hoffman says that while stories can make you laugh and cry fleetingly, great stories make you feel. This concept and the idea of great stories generating a visceral response is to me the crux of marketing and communications. After all, our work is ultimately about influencing people, and how better to influence than to ensure that long after the advert, post or article has ceased to be seen it remains in the memory, something only achieved by creating an emotional impact.

Since those early days of my career, I’ve gone from PR agency to in-house marketeer, and taken the road less travelled from flack to hack and back again. However, over that time my opinion on the importance of storytelling has only increased!

That advert by Sky Atlantic is telling. It was pre-Game of Thrones and was released just as the world’s interaction with the media changed. But in a world where the answer to any question is literally at our fingertips and we all have the ability to create content – whether it’s reviews, vlogs or just cat videos – the importance of a good, or even great, story is more important than ever.

Look at John Lewis.  The power of their Christmas adverts to tell an emotive story made them a consumer sensation for a few years – until they realised there was no way to one up themselves and we got sick of acoustic covers of classic songs by the current artist-in-vogue!

We as marketeers have to really consider the story we want to tell now because ultimately, it has to be better than the latest entrancing dance on TikTok, eulogising YouTuber, beautiful imagery of Instagram or creative prose of that blogger, in order to capture our audience’s attention and ultimately influence an action.

So how do you ensure your stories are at the great end of the spectrum? Employ Aberfield! Ok, perhaps that’s a plug too far, but the sentiment is right. At Aberfield we take a strategic and insight led approach to identify our audiences and assess how we can specifically target them.

This approach means that you have a better chance of turning even an average story into a great one in terms of impact because you are talking to a specific group with a specific message.

But in a world of a million marketing channels, perhaps the key lies in remembering that each one channel has its place and part to play. TV advertising hasn’t suddenly stopped working because of on-demand services and news isn’t dead because of Twitter! To have real impact you must tie it all together and ensure that collectively you tell a cohesive story.

If you want to see this done well then perhaps look at the likes of Yorkshire Tea, a brand which ensures it is always representing God’s own county.

From using consistent language and words such as “proper” and “chuffed”, to not being afraid to echo its personality laced adverts in its social media posts, whether that’s filming Sir Patrick Stewart or Sean Bean doing a mundane office task to sharing pictures from fans of the brand.

Ultimately Yorkshire Tea nail what Hoffman called the great story, whether it’s emotively talking about a brew in the context of climate change – all tea bags are now plant based and can be recycled – or making you smile with some witty repartee, they know how to use a story and personality to great effect.

In my opinion, the words uttered by Hoffman at the start of my career are truer now than ever before. If you want to raise your story from the average to the great perhaps you need to remember one of the most crucial parts of storytelling: the human element!

Our Top Tips

Be current: Consider what story you’re telling. Is it timely? What medium works best for it? If possible, look at what “evergreen” content you can create, this is the sort of content that can be timeless, such as recipes, how-to guides, training plans. And remember, if you’re investing in content creation, get multiple versions. Quite literally, one aspect ratio and length doesn’t work for all channels!

Be brave: Don’t be afraid to try something new. Maybe traditionally you prefer the written word but why not give video a go? People buy into people. They like to see who is behind the brand, and video can help create a rapport. If you’re uncomfortable being filmed, practice. Literally record yourself talking about everyday tasks to your phone or webcam until you no longer think about it.

Be consistent: Try and post as often as possible, consistency is key with content creation. If you’re worried about having the time to create content, the answer may be to batch create where possible. Rather than trying to make something each week, spend one day a month creating all your weekly content and PR materials and then add to it with timely posts or reactive comments when you feel appropriate and can.

Remeber that you have the power: If you’re worried about the production values, don’t be! The video content you can produce via most modern mobile phones works perfectly and the quality is only getting better with each iteration. For proof that we’re not just spouting nonsense, take a look at the More than Just a Pint campaign which we created with Theakston Brewery to mark the great reopening of pubs post lockdown. Partnering with Yorkshire Prose, aka Ben Taylor, we asked him to record a video in his usual “homemade” style and this ultimately supported the campaign and led to more engagement and demonstrated a sincerity.

If you want to learn more about how your business can find and tell great stories, get in touch at hello@aberfield.com or call 0113 880 0444.