Story Selling

Once upon a time….

(words that always create magic)

When my son was a little boy, I encouraged him to watch the then famous cartoon program “Popeye” and during his eating time, I narrated to him numerous self-conceived daring stories of popeye and how popeye got his humongous strength from spinach. The result was that popeye had been my son’s favorite cartoon character then and his most cherished vegetable till date is spinach. Storytelling has always been effectively used by mankind to impart treasured life lessons and educate values and beliefs since the dawn of humanity. Even now-a-days brands consider storytelling as one of their most impactful brand communication tools available till date.Stories evoke sentiments that connect people with a concept or an idea at an emotional level. It imparts a sense of brand engagement with its customers and provides better understanding of the brand ethos and belief system.

Lets take the example of Lifebuoy. The brand doesn’t sell soap cakes but instead a belief system that the quality of a life can be improved through inculcating the habit of frequent hand washing with Lifebuoy. Lifebuoy has by now become synonymous with hand washing, thanks to the art of storytelling.Plenty of brands, across categories, are employing storytelling as their most powerful marketing tool to establish consumer association. Stories with relatable content link consumers’ life with the characters of the story. Therefore, an idea connected to a story is more memorable and also improves brand recall.

Stories bring people together; bridges the gap between consumer anticipations and brand commitments and last but not the least storytelling is believable and fun.

 

Manish Sinha

Co-Founder, Dintamin