Let us go back to our school days. Which classes and teachers were more favorable to us? The ones where we got to learn lessons through interesting stories and anecdotes, right? The same is true with advertising also. Statistical jargon is for board meetings. But for reaching the common mass, nothing is more fruitful than personalised storytelling. To err is human. So is emotion. Whenever advertising agencies opt for storytelling, they step one step forward in winning the hearts and trust of the customers.
You must have noticed how Asian Paints started showing ads with the tagline “Where the Heart is” featuring the story of celebrities and giving you a peek into their homes. That brings a smile to your face and you can relate to these stories. And, it gives you a stronger reason to choose Asian Paints over other brands whenever you think of painting your house. That’s exactly how personalised storytelling is functioning in the advertising field. The effectiveness is so much. For that, even smaller businesses are also striking up stories to strengthen their brand recall and acquire a larger customer base.
Storytelling in advertising- How is it?
In 2017, Lenovo launched a campaign with the ‘Gift them a future’ tagline. A young man gifts his retired banker father a Lenovo notepad for enabling him to begin his journey as an entrepreneur. Suppose you are a young man working outside your hometown with a retired father at home. This advertisement will immediately remind you of him and you may think of buying the same. See how personalised storytelling got the better of you? That’s how it works with all the customers out there.
The role of an advertising agency in storytelling
An advertising agency aims to establish a sense of familiarity with the audience so that it is easier for them to attain one of the objectives of ‘Informing, Persuading, Reminding’ for their client brand. And what is a better way to connect to people than through a relatable story? Stories have the capability of delivering specific information with remarkable emotional impact. A story has the power to create a ‘mind space’ for any brand. Storytelling is thus an important tool that can be used by businesses for branding. But the story must be relatable to the target customer group. Advertising agencies are to be careful about delivering the ‘right story to the right person and for that, they must have an arsenal of creative designers and content writers.
Evolving method of storytelling in advertising
Storytelling is also important for an advertising agency to establish successful branding. The biggest strength of storytelling in advertising is its captivating capability over the audience. With continuous improvement and advancement, the stories are evolving as data necessary to measure the market. With the changing expectation and demands of the customers, the process of storytelling and amplifying the same are also evolving. Quite prominently, brand stories are getting sided and personalized stories are making it to the top.
Is storytelling in print/newspaper advertising possible?
You bet. Personalized storytelling as a form of advertising can be noted in all forms of media namely print media, digital media and so on. The easiest and also the cheapest way of sharing a story is through print media. In India, even with the recent growth of the digital marketplace, the reach of print media, especially, that of newspapers is the highest.
Advertorials i.e. the advertisements prepared in a style to match editorial articles, utilise storytelling as a method to tell brands’ stories in a credible way. The co-existence of publisher content on the same page does the rest of the wonder. The connection thus formed with the audience is authentic and fruitful.
A perfect blend of information and sales content in classifieds can also be of great use especially while delivering a sponsored message. Telling a relatable story through creative classifieds makes consumers more receptive. These must not be like conventional ads and instead speak of common emotions like happiness, achievement, frustration, surprise, and amusement etc. Thus authenticity and humane emotions are incited into brand images through storytelling.
Own a brand? Tell your story.
If you want to establish your brand image through advertisements it is probably best that you choose to do so by sharing a story that reflects well on your business. How do you do that? Hire an advertising agency that has a content writing team to write compelling copy (read ‘story’) to promote your business. It will get your advertisement published in newspapers that have the highest reach within your chosen geographical area. To learn more about advertorials and creative classified Contact Us!