Revenge of the Storymakers: How Brands are Battling Storytelling

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REVENGE OF THE
STORYMAKERS
How brands are backtracking on
storytelling and building on your
stories instead
David Berkowitz
CMO, MRY
@mry / @dberkowitz
Presented at Inbound 2015, this is the
exclusive annotated version so you
can follow along. Find more links and
sources in the notes, along with
embedded YouTube videos to
illustrate examples. And now read the
all new Storymaking Bible for more
examples.

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Housekeeping
David.Berkowitz@mry.com
@mry / @dberkowitz
www.mry.com
www.marketersstudio.com
slideshare.net/davidberkowitz

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Before we begin…
I presented a short version on this
theme, A Story about the End of
Storytelling, at Inbound 2014 (the link
goes to the SlideShare from last year)
and expounded on this in Ad Age.
Read those for far more context. This
presentation gives more examples and
offers a framework for storymaking.
And catch the all new Storymaking
Bible, continually updated with even
more examples.

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Storymaking defined
“The future of storytelling isn't about
telling anyone anything. It's about
storymaking, where the brand facilitates
and taps into the stories people are
creating and sharing with each other.
Storytelling is the epitome of the old
one-way, broadcast mindset that so
many of us in marketing are trying to
leave behind. Storymaking, by contrast,
is far more fulfilling, and exactly what will
matter to the people all brands are trying
to reach.” – Ad Age, September 2014

1) From storytelling to storymaking
2) 6 traits of storymaking
3) Way too many examples (you’re welcome)
4) Action items
5) Q&A (about the presentation or anything else on your mind)
6) Ovation (standing optional)
BEST AGENDA
EVERRRRRR

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The problem with
storytelling – this
(continued on the
next slide) is
really everything
you need to
know

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Here’s what happens when searching for stock
photos about storytelling…

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Why are there always BEARS?????!?!?!?!?!??

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Storytelling is an ancient art. We’ve been painting stories on
cave walls for tens of thousands of years.

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But storymaking is ancient too. The Hands Cave in Argentina shows a story
that people told together – a story whose legacy spans 9,000 years.

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6 TRAITS OF
STORYMAKING

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Storytelling Storymaking
Storytelling vs. Storymaking

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Proprietary Participatory

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Idea-inspired Fan-inspired

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Centralized Decentralized

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Predetermined Unpredictable

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Unilateral Reciprocal

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Approved Authentic

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Approved Authentic
via @dberkowitz

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1) Participatory Participatory here means that the
whole campaign or program is
dependent on people sharing their
own stories, and brands then amplify
those.

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1) Participatory In the next video, see the results of
Coca-Cola rolling out such a
participatory campaign. It’s all about
creating opportunities for moments
like this to happen.

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1) Participatory
It’s not just Coke doing this. Digiday
covers how JBL had people share
their #cordfail moments to promote
wireless headphones. See the story
for an example of how JBL worked
with Vine star Logan Paul to kick it
off (the video’s pretty funny).

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2) Fan-Inspired
Storymaking often starts by
following the stories fans and
customers share about a brand and
category. Burger King noticed the
groundswell of support in social
media around the then-discontinued
Chicken Fries and used that as the
impetus to bring back the product.

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2) Fan-Inspired
By offering content such as Chicken
Fries emoji, the brand enabled its
young-skewing target audience to
include Burger King’s brand in their
own stories that they share with
their friends. That’s powerful brand
placement, becoming part of
people’s messages rather than an
ad unit.

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2) Fan-Inspired
What about directly tapping
fans to come up with
products? Betabrand enlists
eager entrepreneurs to do its
R&D. That’s how Jesse
Herzog crowdfunded the
Suitsy.

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3) Decentralized
Storymaking can benefit from
decentralized campaigns, where
marketers let fans share content
wherever they want, rather than
through a specific site or platform.
For Universal’s movie Ouija, they
worked with Fullscreen to make
social media star Kian Lawley
disappear in a video stunt (see the
next slide), and fans participated
through a range of platforms.

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Halfway there. Let’s use this image again!

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4) Unpredictable
When engaging in storymaking,
brands should accept that those
stories will often go in unforeseen
directions. When Visa Checkout
tapped Odell Beckham Jr to set a
Guinness World Record for one-
handed catches, it inspired others
to try the stunt too – including Iowa
Hawkeyes star Tevaun Smith (see
the next slide). In such scenarios,
marketers can proactively reach
out to others to encourage them (if
not pay them) to co-opt such
stunts.

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4) Unpredictable
Not everyone’s going to love
everything you do. Sometimes,
especially if it’s politically charged
or addresses a social issue, many
people will hate it. Honey Maid’s
inclusive “Wholesome” campaign
took a lot of nastiness and made
something positive out of it, as the
next video shows.

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5) Reciprocal
When tapping customers’ stories,
what’s in it for them? In Adobe’s
“Make It With Creative Cloud”
campaign, students get experience
and exposure that can change their
lives. Always think about what value
you’re providing your fans,
influencers, and customers.

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5) Reciprocal
Tiffany shared customers’ stories
about true love, and that was
enough to get people to participate.
After Tiffany launched its What
Makes Love True campaign and a
mobile app to find engagement
rings, it reported sales spiking 20%.

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6) Authentic6) Authentic
None of this storymaking stuff
matters unless it’s done a way that’s
true to the brand and resonates with
the stories people really tell. “Meet
Me at Starbucks” worked well in this
regard, as so many people have
made meaningful connections there.

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6 STEPS FOR
STORYMAKING

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Storytelling Storymaking Action

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Proprietary Participatory Invite

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Idea-inspired Fan-inspired Listen

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Centralized Decentralized Organize

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Predetermined Unpredictable Plan

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Unilateral Reciprocal Incentivize

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Unilateral Reciprocal Incentivize
Approved Authentic Accept
via @dberkowitz

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Gratuitously using this one more time.

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Keep in touch
David.Berkowitz@mry.com
@mry / @dberkowitz
www.mry.com
www.marketersstudio.com
slideshare.net/davidberkowitz

Revenge of the Storymakers: How Brands are Battling Storytelling

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