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,…
Category: Storytelling
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
With the recently launched Pokemon Go app, the cute pocket monsters have taken the real world by storm. As everyone knows, in the first week from launch there were more than 7,5 million downloads just in the US. And the Pokemon Go mania has similarly grabbed the Millennial generation in many other countries across the…
Joshua Brown, 40, of Canton, Ohio, was a special guy. His death, which occurred last May in a car crash on a Florida highway, was no less special. Joshua was a patriot, willing to serve in the US Navy for more than a decade and specialize in disarming explosives – a pretty risky activity. During his…
There is more and more evidence that designing the right experience is key to the success of contemporary brands and companies. And this point was made exceptionally clear two months ago by Joe Gebbia, one of Airbnb’s two founders, in his speech at the TED conference in Vancouver. If Airbnb has been so hugely successful…