Storytelling: by its exact definition is writing and telling stories. This is incredibly simplistic and something we do every single day, be it through verbal or written communication with our friends and family, social media updates, among other endless methods. We do not go through one day without being told or telling a story.
Have you ever thought of how many different types and forms storytelling comes in and how the importance of each one varies based on audience, channel of distribution and type?
If we sat down and wrote out every single way storytelling is exhibited today and the evolution of it, we would have a never-ending list of both obvious and obscure methods that we could easily launch off with stories of our own. That is ultimately the beauty of storytelling – it branches off into endless possibilities because everyone and everything is a product of a story, the end or the start of one.
Today, I want to focus on 3 of the big storytelling methods: pictures/images, marketing and film/TV. So get cozy, snuggle under your blanket or near a fire and get ready for story time.
Images
We have long relied on pictures to tell a story, or to create the opportunity for one. We look back on old photos and without even thinking, we begin telling a story of what that image means to us and what was happening in that point in time. We remember the moments clear as day, can recount them in our minds and relive them as we stare into a fragment of our past. Pictures really do say 1000 words because at just the sight of a photo, we can become flooded with emotion. Storytelling with pictures has been around a very long time, since the hieroglyphics Egyptians used as their formal writing system. We see symbols and pictures while they saw an entire language.
In today’s world, combining the description of a horror scene playing out with an image of the ferocious creature in that scene generates a new level of emotion and fear in an individual than just the words on a page. A visual representation helps create a deeper understanding of a story and even sparks the creation of one. Give an individual an image of a scary creature chasing its victims in a dark scary forest and they can create endless possibilities of the origin of the monster and how this scene came to be. Give them a written paragraph describing the same scene and their imagination starts and ends with imagining the creature as it is being described.
Now, this is also where we find a problematic facet of picture storytelling: it creates room for inaccuracy and bias. Two people can look at the same scene where a creature is chasing someone through the woods and see two completely different stories. One person may think it’s simply a human in a creature’s costume scaring their friend, while another swears that creature is Bigfoot. Photos, especially now-a-days can also be altered, creating what someone wants you to see, rather than the truth. Our own interpretations, the ability to alter and past event we were not present for, are all causes for the inaccuracy and falsity a photo might generate to its viewers.
So while images can help expand a written description, create a new world entirely for us that our imaginations just couldn’t, or give us glimpses into the past, we can never truly know if what we are staring at is reality, or just a creation of our own perspective and emotion.
So, take a look at the below photo. What do you see? What do you think is happening? What’s the story? Let me know in the comments.
Marketing
We see it every day – companies using emotions, stories and human connection to get you to buy their products. Roger Communications uses the idea of connecting with your loved ones, Airbnb gets their customers to share their own life stories and Goodlife Fitness tells the story of their customers transformations and the journey they took to get where they are. It is everywhere and it is now the foundation by which most companies build their platform. As human beings and as consumers, we generally don’t care about the product itself – we could buy it anywhere. Cellphones, clothes, makeup; everyone sells it. What we care about is what the company represents and how it makes us feel.
Westjet hits home with their Christmas tradition of surprising unexpected people with various good deeds (click here to see past success stories). This technique works because it is not about the brand – it is about the people. Customers arent attracted to a company that uses storytelling to promote their brand and hear about the company deals mid story. Consumers will remember your brand because of the story you tell and the emotions you invoke. THEN they will look into your company and you will be first in mind when it comes to your industry because your product/company will invoke the same emotions in them that were invoked during your aforementioned story.
As a brand, you need to look at using storytelling to invoke a reaction in your consumers, not to necessary throw your products or services in your face. Humanize your brand, show success stories from your customers, engage with the community, create real life scenarios of your products/services. Use storytelling to connect in every way.
What’s been your favourite use of storytelling marketing? Comment below.
Film/TV
Under all the noise of cinematography, editing, CGI, acting and costume design, is the foundation of any film or TV show: storytelling a.k.a the script. You can spend as much money as you want to create a wondrous visual world or hire the best actors in Hollywood, but without a strong script and plot, you are left with an empty film that leaves audiences disappointed and empty themselves.
For me, film and television has always been a big part of the stages of my life. It has taught and inspired different emotions in me, teaching me various lessons along the way.
When I was a child, those stories told by Disney movies fascinated me while also distracted me from a very hard and trying childhood. They were my escape. As a teenager, they taught me about love, being strong in who you are and how much I wanted to break out in song every time something happened in my life (thanks High School Musical). Of course, those stories of the knights in shining armour and the boy who would do anything to have you, were more or less..unrealistic, but what they did give me was hope and that hope carried me through bad breakups, belittling boys and heartbreaks.
As an adult, movies give me the opportunity to escape as well, but also give me an outlet to explore other facets of human life that I otherwise haven’t yet, or wouldn’t experience, like unfair prejudice, the harsh realities that others are faced with and even the complicated concepts of life events such as marriage, the death of a someone close or retirement.
Generally, I heard a lot of people ask “why are you crying? It is just a movie.” Well yes, the characters may not be real because I know Matthew Mcconaughey isn’t really flying in space trying to save earth, but the sensations and emotions that the characters are feeling, well those, we do experience. Someone who has lost a child will always look at a film with the same subject matter and feel the same sadness they felt when it happened, regardless if it’s set in space or in a fantasy world. Someone who has just married their soulmate will see a film involving love and imagine their partner because the emotions are all the same. Film does not get to create new emotions that the viewers have never experience – it is just not possible. What it does it portray those emotions in different time periods, scenarios, fictional lands and fascinating characters. That is the beauty of film making – it is real and unattainable all at once.
For me, the stories I find most fascinating were these (I am a big movie/TV show nut and could talk for hours on which were my favourites, so I will narrow my list down to 3…sort of):
- The Matrix: a foundation by which other sci fi movies can be built on. The story was brilliantly written, creating anticipation, wonder, connection and left you wondering ‘what if’ long after the movie was done.
- Any of the Marvel movies (why I said sort of): these movies, which of course are originally comics, are the types of movies that take themselves seriously while also creating space for comedy in a very organized and important way. That’s why you’ll find fans of the universe loving a three-hour movie, willing to sit through an even longer one.
- X-files (TV series): I think the wonderful part about TV shows is that you do not have to stick to one story – you get to create a bunch of little ones that are part of a much bigger story. X-files was one of the shows that even watching it in today’s advanced technology filming world, the scripts were so cleverly written that you didn’t mind that the creepy tree creature looked like a man in tights or that the aliens looked like big plush dolls. The writing and plots kept you invested that all. Of course, there were episodes that were write-offs, but no show is thrilling and brilliant all the time.
What is your favourite film/tv show? What about it made it so remarkable? Comment below!
To end this blog, I am going to leave you off with a quote to remind you that you never stop storytelling, it is simply a part of who we are.
“We are, as a species, addicted to story. Even when the body goes to sleep, the mind stays up all night, telling itself stories.” – Jonathan Gottschall, The Storytelling Animal
Marketing, Scripts & Opinions 