The commercial that Nike launched for the new NBA season a few days ago sums up the values at the core of the brand. The ad opens on a young kid named Dante Grand holding a basketball as he stares at a neighbourhood basketball match. Then he starts dreaming about his future, and we follow him in the ups and downs of his career as a young basketball player. The film is 2 minutes long but it seems to go very fast, and that’s proof that Nike has a deep understanding of how to build a good story.
As something coming from an oven and deeply rooted in tradition, pizza may seem a low-tech type of food. Indeed, if you just think of what you eat – that delicious, universally loved combination of dough, tomato and cheese – it is. But that’s not keeping Domino’s from taking a very advanced technological approach to all the surroundings. By doing so, the company is radically changing the pizza experience and its story.
In the last few months, Domino’s has announced a series of initiatives that are going to make the notion of eating pizza very different. In March the company’s CEO Ray Pasquale told Channele2e that Domino’s franchises are using Internet of Things (IoT) sensors to reduce food waste and increase health code standards. In April the company’s European branch presented Domino’s Robotic Unit, a futuristic robot with wheels that will ensure timely delivery of pizza within a 1mile radius around the franchises. The company is also testing the use of drones in New Zealand. (see articles by Ty Trumbull, Channele2e and Jennifer Faull, The Drum News).
After almost a year of determined work my friend Alberto Maestri and I have finally published our last book, of which we are very proud. It’s called Customer Experience Design and it’s about how companies can design memorable brand experiences.
How relevant is this topic? Indeed, its importance can hardly be overestimated. Today all main companies are competing not just in improving their products and services but also in the so-called experience economy. And this new dimension of the economy is more and more digital – meaning that that the most competitive companies are those which succeed in providing highly satisfying online experiences, that are seamlessly connected to the physical ones.
The book contains a lot of references to many authors who in recent times have analysed these developments, providing excellent insights. It also includes a charming preface by Robert Rose and a stimulating final comment by Cosimo Accoto. Compared to the other authors dealing with the same issues, our main point of difference is the special role we assign to all kind of digitally shared experiences.
A week after the launch of the Pepsi ad that has inflamed the Internet, the dust is starting to settle. And it becomes clearer why so many people found that ill-advised video so offensive.
It’s definitely unusual to concentrate such a long list of blunders in one single commercial. From a storytelling point of view, it might be useful to take the most troubling ones into consideration. The exercise could be beneficial to the Pepsi brand (learning from one’s mistakes is the first step towards redemption) and to all the other companies mulling to address the Internet-savvy, culturally aware Millennial generation.
Too many adverts today are flat and uninteresting. Some instead have incredible impact, are easily remembered and often shared. Curiously, many in the advertising business are unaware that in most cases the latter have a precise element in common: a plot twist.
This element is pretty close to the roots of humour – but should be taken seriously. In fact, it could be worth a lot of money by helping make your ads much more impactful and memorable.
Consider a simple sentence: “Once I had multiple personalities, but now we are feeling well.” If this sentence makes you smile, it’s because from a first frame of reference (mental awareness) it jumps to a second one (mental insanity) in a sudden and surprising way.
The elderly man sits on his bed alone or at a table surrounded by others in a depressing retirement home. He gazes into space, thinking of his past glory as a marathon athlete. After rediscovering his well-worn Adidas training shoes, he suddenly tries to regain a sense of freedom by running again. But the nursing home staff cruelly blocks all his attempts and confiscates his shoes. After a while, his retirement friends help him recover them – and, with their bodies, prevent the staff from stopping him and killing his dream. The old man breaks free, runs away and raises his arms in a sign of elation.
This emotional “Adidas Break Free” ad has spread incredibly, reaching 9,8 million views on YouTube in just a few weeks. A huge success by all standards. But the interesting fact is, it’s not an Adidas campaign.
The commercial that gained the top spot on Advertising Age’s Viral Video chart covering the week through Sunday is absolutely amazing. Featuring a stuffed bear couple arriving at Heathrow Airport after a flight, amid human actors, it could have easily turned kitsch. Instead, it is extremely delicate and tender, even moving. The fact is, its structure and form are the perfect recipe to get us involved.
According to Advertising Age’s brief article, this message had an incredible viral success, receiving more than 67 million views in just one week (see Heathrow Joins the Viral Video Chart with Unbearably Cute Bears’ Arrival by Rebecca Hia). What reasons may explain such an impact?
American presidential elections have always largely revolved around storytelling. As in many other contemporary narrative wars, the best story wins. Barak Obama was able to clinch his first presidential mandate thanks to the story of his life – from a precarious childhood to the US Senate.
But this year the storytelling side of the race is even more overwhelming. Very clearly, Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton are competing much more on their personal issues than on their political agendas. And this competition is now reaching its climax.
Are you interested in brand and corporate storytelling? And do you love Italy? If the answer to both questions is yes – and if you are a student in search of a second level degree – you have now the chance to attend the Master in Storytelling at Pavia University, the first-ever course of this kind in Italy.
The precise name of the course is Master in Marketing Utilities and Storytelling Techniques (MUST) and the possibility to apply for the academic year starting in January 2017 is already open. Subjects include many marketing topics conceived to offer a solid basis for the study of a wide range of storytelling issues.
Storytelling today is a very mediated activity. We mostly consume stories through movies, books, video games, TV series, social media, and so on. This also applies to brand storytelling, by which companies seek to appeal to increasingly connected customers. But what about traditional, face-to-face storytelling? Is it still relevant and useful? And could it play a role to the benefit of modern companies and brands?
I started to ask myself those questions after reading a very interesting piece by Caitlin Causey on Post Independent (September 15, 2016). The article informs about Spellbinders, a nonprofit organization based in Carbondale, Colorado, which specializes in oral storytelling. What do they do? Basically they organize volunteer storytellers, willing to work with children in preschool and elementary grades.