I see them in my inbox almost daily – another article or post about how storytelling is all the rage now. They talk about how, with everybody avoiding advertising as much as possible and with social media’s growing popularity, you need to be all about storytelling to get today’s consumer’s attention and hold it I’m not saying that isn’t true. It is. But it has always been true.
Think back to the best ads you remember? Chances are they had a good story to tell. Whether it was a gorilla trying to smash a Samsonite suitcase in his cage or an owl determining just how may licks it takes to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop, it was telling a story. The best marketing, no matter the medium, has always had a story to tell. That’s what makes it effective communication.
Storytelling as human expression goes back before the invention of written language. It is a way we are able to relate to the world around us and pass on our history to the next generation – or the person in the next cube. Even the popularity of infographics can find it’s roots in ancient hieroglyphics as a storytelling device.
Don’t get me wrong. I love storytelling and what you can do with it in all the new formats we market in today. It’s just that those who are now discovering this technique as the new way of doing things must have been doing it wrong before. Whether you’re crafting a book, a white paper or even the six-word memoirs popular a few years, sprinkling it with a good story will always make it better.
Mike McClure, always up for a good story
This is a great post, Mike. As somebody who strives to roll storytelling into all of the work I do, I think there is still a lot of white space out there, as it pertains to storytelling, that we can fill with our skill. So even though we know storytelling has been around forever, there will always be a place to tell better stories.
Thanks Brad. Yes, it certainly has not been used to it’s full potential and there will always be a place for it. I just find it amusing that so many are just discovering it as something they need to do when it’s always been something we need to do.