background preloader

7 Basic Types of Stories: Which One Is Your Brand Telling?

7 Basic Types of Stories: Which One Is Your Brand Telling?
Droga5 turned Prudential's retirement story from rags-to-riches into one of rebirth. You think you're being all clever and original with your brand storytelling. In fact, you're not. From Shakespeare to Spielberg to Soderbergh, there are really only seven different types of stories, an Advertising Week panel hosted by TBWA suggested on Wednesday. The challenge becomes finding which one best suits your brand, and then telling it skillfully, believably and—if you're going to invite consumers to join in the story—extremely carefully. TBWA's global creative president, Rob Schwartz, led the discussion, which was based around author Christopher Booker's contention, in his book Seven Basic Plots, that seven archetypal themes recur in every kind of storytelling. Below are the seven basic plots—with examples from art and advertising of stories that fit each one. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. "Ads most often are 'The husband's dumb, the wife fixes it, now he's better,' " said Royer.

The funnel is dead. The new consumer decision journey Storytelling: Jak ho začlenit do obsahové strategie | Včeliště.cz Příběhy prodávají. To je fakt. Pokud si myslíte, že vaši zákazníci jsou lačni po extra dlouhých, popisných textech bez hlubší obsahové strategie, tak jste na omylu. Vtáhněte je do příběhu. Pravděpodobně už nějakou značku, kterou chcete propagovat, máte. Není to sprint, ale spíš dálkový maraton. Já vím, dokážu si teď představit vaše reakce. „Nečetl jsem už někdy něco, co mě samotného ohromilo? Právě že šel. Značku už máte, příběh připravený také. Příklad: Kamarádka mi nedávno vyprávěla příběh, jak ji poprvé v životě okradli. „…v metru si mě fotila nějaká ženská a strašně úchylně se na mě usmívala. Celý příběh dopadl tak, že v Paládiu kamarádku okradli o nový Iphone, protože v metru psala smsku a zlodějka tímto způsobem přeposílala tipy svým komplicům do obchodního centra. Shrnutí a ponaučení: Pokud začnete článek nějakou zvláštní událostí, čtenář těžko odolá nečíst dál. Jsem člověk, který miluje data. Příběhy mají větší sílu, než si myslíte. Prodávám skvělé auto. Využijte sílu napětí 1.)

5 Ways Instagram Can Boost Your Marketing Plan From Levi’s to the local craft foods shop, businesses of all sizes are flocking to Facebook’s free photo-sharing app Instagram, hoping to get noticed by its 80 million active users and expand their reach. What makes Instagram different from other social media sites such as Facebook, Pinterest or Twitter? It's almost entirely photo-based and available only on Apple iOS and Android mobile phones and devices. Instagram has emerged as an effective marketing tool because companies can quickly build brand recognition and consumer loyalty through an ongoing stream of photos that help personalize their brand. That Greek yogurt brand Chobani for example. In just a matter of weeks after joining Instagram a year and a half ago, Chobani (@Chobani) attracted a loyal clique of some 9,000 “Chobaniac” followers, which helped catapult the company from little-known to must-have. How can you use Instagram to take your marketing to the next level? 1. 2. 3. Related: 9 Great Photo and Video Apps 4. 5.

Five writing tips that can double your salary Instagram Announces Web Profiles & What This Means for Marketers Instagram announced yesterday that they are rolling out profile pages on the web within the next week or so. When launched, you will be able to view your profile by typing instagram.com/YourUserName in your browser’s address bar. From a design standpoint, profile pages will feature a selection of your recently taken photos arranged in a collage above your profile photo and bio that is highly reminiscent of Facebook’s cover photos. Functionally, web profiles will boast many of the features we are already familiar with from the mobile application; you will be able to follow other users, comment, like and edit photos on the web. As a mobile-only social media platform, Instagram has achieved incredible success boasting over 100 million users, and the launch of web profiles will undoubtedly cause a surge in interest, registered users, and engagement. So, what does this mean for marketers? It is going to be easier to manage your Instagram profiles. It is going to increase conversion rates.

The 3 Worst Ways to Use Social Media to Grow Your Business (And What You Should Do Instead) New media has changed the way we interact and communicate. To understand and adapt to these changes, "social media experts" popped up to help organization's evolve their marketing communications accordingly. But while their intentions might be good, their results aren't. Because having more Twitter followers and a high Klout score won't necessarily help you get more website traffic, bring in more qualified leads or increase sales. The tools and technology may have changed. Here are 3 of the worst ways to use social media to grow your business, and what you should do instead. Image courtesy of Ethority Bad Strategy #1: Creating Too Many Social Networks According to "social media experts", you should be on Twitter, Facebook, Google+, Pinterest, Tumblr, and every other network possible. Marketing Pilgrim recently reported that the "the average large company has 178 corporate-owned social media accounts". The problem with this strategy should be obvious. The same thing applies in social media.

What Successful Night Owls Get Done Before Bed Early birds get all the credit. Research indicates that morning people tend to be more active and goal oriented, and such larks as Steve Jobs, Craig Newmark of Craigslist, and 25-year old David Karp, founder of the Tumblr blogging platform suggest that climbing the ladder of success is easier before breakfast. So does that mean night owls are at a disadvantage? Research by Satoshi Kanazawa and colleagues at the London School of Economics and Political Science suggests no. The group discovered significant differences in sleep preferences and found that people with higher IQs are more likely to be night owls. They found an evolutionary shift from being active in the day towards nightly pursuits and that those individuals who preferred to stay up late demonstrated "a higher level of cognitive complexity.” Armed with that knowledge, Fast Company found a group of dedicated night owls to discuss their strategies for making the wee hours work for them. Pick One Project Combat Clutter

How to Boost Creativity & Innovation in 10 Minutes Trying to be innovative feels, at least for most people, nearly impossible. Don't believe me? Try it. Go ahead. Give up? Our employees don't either. Kill a Stupid Rule is one of the tools described by Lisa Bodell, the founder and CEO of futurethink and the author of Kill the Company. Playing Kill a Stupid Rule is not only easy, your employees will think it's a hoot. 1. Then break them down into two-or three-person teams. 2. "If you could kill or change all the stupid rules that get in the way of better serving our customers or just doing your job, what would they be and how would you do it?" 3. And make sure your skin is particularly thick that day, because many of the stupid rules employees will want to kill are your stupid rules. "At the 10-minute mark the teams will be begging you for more time," Lisa says, "not because they're coming up empty but because 10 minutes isn't nearly enough time to write everything down. 4. 5. Some of the same rules will show up multiple times. 6. 7. 8.

HOW TO: Land a Job at Google Google is having a big hiring year — its biggest ever, in fact. This week we spoke with Bryan Power, a people operations manager at Google, for advice on getting hired by the tech giant. Power oversees sales hiring in the North and South America regions. Previously, he led recruiting for the product management and engineering groups, giving him familiarity with hiring practices in multiple areas of the company. Paint a Picture, Concisely Power suggests job seekers — at Google and elsewhere — begin by presenting a picture of what they've done in their careers as concisely and precisely as possible. Too often Power receives resumes that describe their previous roles, but don't talk about what they did in those roles that would distinguish them from the 10,000 other people in a similar role. "Too often [applicants] leave out the numbers because they're worried they are too low, but without those specifics you don't stand out; you look like everyone else," he explains. Talents, Not Skill Sets

Hate Small Talk? These 5 Questions Will Help You Work Any Room Let’s be honest: Many folks in tech take a dim view of marketing. Very early in my tenure with Mutual Mobile, an Austin-based app developer, I was told no one in marketing could produce anything as compelling as the engineering team. To a degree, that opinion was right, but only if you’re talking about typical marketing--chest-beating blog posts, superficial banner ads, and other forms of hyperbole. But that that sort of marketing didn’t interest me either. I'd been reading about native advertising, specifically content marketing, and wanted to explore this subtler approach and find out what it could do for us. Lesson #1: Think Big, Start Small Before I joined Mutual Mobile, the company had produced a copy-heavy, super-dry white paper. No way was I going to condemn us to weekly blog posts like “Nine ways mobile can transform your sales processes!” When you’re given lemons, make lemonade. Lesson #2: When Everyone Zigs, You Zag Lesson #3: Scare Yourself, a Little

5 Ways To Foster Fanatical Brand Advocates Zappos, Trader Joe's, Amazon.com, Method, Red Bull, The Body Shop, Google, and SodaStream all built their brands without advertising. Their brand advocates are their marketing department. "We've built this entire business, and an entire category in fact, on the power of our brand advocates," says Kristin Harp, U.S. marketing manager at SodaStream, which turns tap water into sparkling water and soda. In fact, the three most powerful social media companies--Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn--never spent a dime on advertising or paid people to recommend them. You may spend millions of dollars on elaborate marketing campaigns. Advocates are your best marketers and salespeople, and your most loyal, engaged, enthusiastic, and valuable customers. The Trust Factor The biggest reason brand advocates are so powerful is a single, five-letter word: Trust. Nine of 10 online consumers say recommendations from friends and family members are the most trusted form of advertising worldwide. for years.

Measuring the ROI of a Good Customer Experience The Secret to Marketing to Busy People Who Don't Have Time to Read (Infographic) Image credit: Shutterstock In an age of information overload, it's easy for your marketing message to get lost in the noise. One of the best ways to get your content noticed is by telling compelling stories. LookBookHQ, a content-marketing company, has examined the elements of effective storytelling in marketing. 1. 2. 3. Related: 3 Ways to Make a Killer Impression Online (Infographic) 4. 5. For more about how to effectively use storytelling to cut through the digital noise, take a look at the infographic below. Click to Enlarge+ Kathleen Davis is an associate editor at Entrepreneur.com.

8 Subconscious Mistakes Our Brains Make Every Day--And How To Avoid Them Editor's Note: This is one of the most-read leadership articles of 2013. Click here to see the full list. Get ready to have your mind blown. I was seriously shocked at some of these mistakes in thinking that I subconsciously make all the time. Especially since we strive for self-improvement at Buffer, if we look at our values, being aware of the mistakes we naturally have in our thinking can make a big difference in avoiding them. Regardless, I think it’s fascinating to learn more about how we think and make decisions every day, so let’s take a look at some of these habits of thinking that we didn’t know we had. 1. We tend to like people who think like us. This is called confirmation bias. It’s similar to how improving our body language can also actually change who we are as people. Confirmation bias is a more active form of the same experience. Not only do we do this with the information we take in, but we approach our memories this way, as well. 2. 3. or 4. Well, no. 5. 6. 7. 8.

Related: