This is going to be a
Crash Course in Marketing
With Stories
It's Tuesday, and I was late
posting Mondays' blog, so I'm
going to post my blog for Wednesday
today.
See, I'll make it up to you by posting
early.
Remember learning Greek mythology in school?
I don't remember a lot, but hey, I know a few
things.
I’m going to give you one name, and I want
you to think about the first image that pops
into your head …
Hercules.
What’d you think about?
Was it what you read in that dusty old history book,
or was it the unforgettable Disney cartoon?
That, my friends, is the power of storytelling
in action.
According to thebook “Made to Stick”, stories
are an incredibly important element in creating ideas
that stick.
We humans process information much more efficiently
when it’s in the form of a story, and we’re therefore
much more likely to remember it.
We quickly forget a dry recitation of the FACTS.
And yet, most marketing is just that: fact after fact
after fact after fact, etc …
“Buy this widget from us, and it’ll do this,
this and this.”
That doesn’t "STIK".
NO it doesn't.
If you want your marketing to really 'sizzle',
like a hot steak, if you want people to remember
it when they're laying down to go to sleep, you
need to turn your marketing messages into stories.
I've told you this, over and over again.
You'll finally get it.
I’ve broken down the classical elements of story in
this blog post so you can begin to think like a storyteller,
and make your marketing messages stik...
The protagonist leads the way
You don’t have a story unless you have a main character —
also known as the protagonist — whom the audience empathizes
with.
The protagonist helps the audience become emotionally engaged
with the story.
That’s why very emotional scenes, such as love and action
scenes, are so powerful. Women know all about emotional
stories and they'll even cry when they got to a movie
or read a good story about a dog or a child etc.
Then think about horror movies, particularly when the
killer is chasing the protagonist (young person, child,
woman, good guy etc).
The audience is on the edge of their seats because they
are experiencing the same fears and rush of adrenaline
as the protagonist.
Who or what is the protagonist — the hero — of your
business?
Your antagonist is their antagonist.
You may even have a antagonist living in your home.
Doesn't have to be a person, but most likely it is.
In addition to a protagonist, a story also needs an
imposing antagonist — someone (or something) hindering
the protagonist from reaching his or her goal.
The antagonist creates conflict and sometimes frustration.
An antagonist can be a person, an entity, or even the
protagonist himself/herself (for instance, the protagonist
trying to overcome her own fear of her husband for instance).
Tap into and talk about a common “enemy” to bond with your
customers, and their loyalty to you will grow very strong,
very fast.
The protagonist must be on the move
Boring stories are ones where things happen to the protagonist.
Forget that.
Engaging stories are ones where the protagonist takes action to
defeat the antagonist.
In other words, there’s an active struggle.
Let’s say there’s a story about some really bad people who
steal a boy’s dog new six day old puppy.
The boy is sitting on his couch, crying, missing his dog
terribly.
A few moments later, a police officer knocks on the door and
delivers the slobbering, excited dog back to the boy.
Boring.
We’d rather see the boy's father chasing down the bad guys,
trying to get his beloved dog back himself.
Are you boring your clients/readers/patients/customers?
This is a cardinal sin of marketing.
Boring kills sales.
No plot = big problem, BIG PROBLEM.
Of course, a story isn’t a story unless it has a beginning,
a middle, and an end.
The beginning sets the stage, showing what the protagonist’s
life is like before the antagonist disturbs it.
After the antagonist is introduced, we enter the middle of
the story where the protagonist fights the antagonist, trying
to accomplish a particular goal.
Then, we reach the climax.
All seems lost.
The protagonist makes one more dramatic move and defeats
the antagonist totally.
In the end --- we see HOW the protagonist restores order
to his/her life.
What’s the “plot” of your content marketing?
Is there a beginning, middle, and end present in your messages?
The moral of the story is...
Lastly, great stories have an overarching message.
For instance, the moral of “Beauty and the Beast” is that
we shouldn’t judge people by their looks.
What’s the major message — or, moral — of your business or idea?
Distill it into one or two very clear lines that you
repeat, like a mantra, over and over in all of your marketing
efforts... pulling it all together
Now, let me bring this all together by diagramming one of
the greatest marketing stories of all time:
Apple, Inc.’s “1984″ commercial.
Take a minute to watch it. Just go to Google and type in:
Apple, Inc 1984 commercial
The protagonist in this story is the running woman.
The antagonist is “the man” on the screen
(Big Brother or Government for you “1984” fans).
The plot here is interesting.
There is a beginning, middle, and end, but the commercial
only shows us the climax, and merely hints at all the
other elements.
We can determine the beginning of the story was that the
woman and society were living free.
Then, Big Brother came and forced everyone to conform.
But the woman — possibly alone — resisted (the middle).
Now, when there is no hope left and the entire culture
has submitted to the will of “the Man” (the climax), she
takes one last action: she destroys big brother by launching
that hammer through the screen.
And she does it in front of the entire world.
As the screen explodes, we know that both the woman and
society have been freed from Big Brother once and for all.
The moral?
We must act to overcome tyranny and conformity, no matter
what the costs.
And the marketing message?
Macintosh will set you free from the tyranny and conformity
of the other droning, "boring" PC manufacturers.
See how stories really help make a marketing message stik?
Apple could have just said, “Hey, we make better computers,
and here’s why …”
Instead, they told a story.
Take a look at your marketing message and ask yourself:
How can I use a story to make my message stick?
It’s how we humans communicate with each other best.
Go tell your story ...
If you don't know how, then call me and we can work it
out. I'm available.
Dr. Carney
P.O. Box 1817
Temecula, CA 92593
(951) 760-0798
Life is good when you know what marketing can do for you!!
It is a GREAT LIFE!
