1.
THE STORYMAKING
BIBLE
The master guide, regularly updated, for how brands are backtracking
on storytelling and building on customers’ stories instead
David Berkowitz
Chief Strategy Officer, Sysomos
david@serialmarketer.net
@dberkowitz
Latest update:
August 2017

2.
As this deck is regularly updated, here is a list of recent revisions in case you have seen most
of this before:
• Added The North Face to Participatory
• Added American Eagle’s Aerie to Reciprocal
• Added Burberry to Reciprocal
• Added Organic Valley to Reciprocal
• Added Haagen-Dazs UK to Fan-Inspired
• Added Palmolive to Decentralized
• Added Storymaking: Unhappy Endings toward end
• Added Guitar Hero Live to Reciprocal
Recent revision history
(previous updates are in the notes)

3.
@dberkowitz
Housekeeping
david@serialmarketer.net
@dberkowitz
www.serialmarketer.net
slideshare.net/davidberkowitz
For more updates, subscribe to
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4.
@dberkowitz
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. I then detailed a framework for
storymaking at Inbound 2015 in
Revenge of the Storymakers. Read
those for far more context. This
presentation gives more examples
and offers a framework for
storymaking. This presentation will
be continually updated with new
examples.

5.
@dberkowitz
Check links & notes
Be sure to check the links
referenced in the call-out boxes.
Most go to videos that will give you
a far greater appreciation for each
example; some also link to
featured sites or news coverage.
Additionally, you can find even
more links in the notes field, so feel
free to download this.

6.
@dberkowitz
What’s storymaking?
“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

7.
1) From storytelling to storymaking
2) 6 traits of storymaking
3) Way too many examples (you’re welcome)
4) Action items
5) Memorable quotes
6) Storymaking: Unhappy Endings
7) Resources
BEST OUTLINE
EVERRRRRR

8.
This gem from
Marketoonist
(continued on
the next slide) is
really everything
you need to
know about the
problem with
storytelling.

9.
Here’s what happens when searching for stock
photos about storytelling…

10.
Why are there always BEARS?????!?!?!?!?!??

11.
Storytelling is an ancient art. We’ve been painting stories on
cave walls for tens of thousands of years.

12.
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.

13.
6 TRAITS OF
STORYMAKING

14.
@dberkowitz
Storytelling Storymaking
Proprietary Participatory
Idea-inspired Fan-inspired
Centralized Decentralized
Predetermined Unpredictable
Unilateral Reciprocal
Approved Authentic
Storytelling vs. Storymaking
via @dberkowitz

15.
1) Participatory
Participatory here means that the whole
campaign or program is dependent on people
sharing their own stories, and brands then
amplify those. In this overly sweet video (or
maybe I’m just bitter because my high school
years looked nothing like this, Coca-Cola
demonstrates how it seeks to strike a chord with
its target audience.

16.
1) Participatory In this 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.

17.
1) Participatory Coca-Cola continued #ShareaCoke in 2015. One
tactic used was buying the first sponsored emoji on
Twitter and then setting a world record for “World’s
Longest Cheers” with 170,000 tweets. Also note
Coca-Cola is the first brand to sponsor emoji on
Twitter.

18.
1) Participatory During the 2015 Christmas season, ‘love it or hate
it’ spread Marmite created a Facebook app to
personalize jars and give them to friends who are
either naughty or nice. Not every brand is willing
to say, “Give this to someone because they’ll hate
it.” Authenticity matters.

19.
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).

20.
1) Participatory
What kid in America didn’t grow up
playing horse? (It was the only
game of basketball I could
occasionally win as a pint-sized
bookworm.) Foot Locker tapped into
that accessible fun by encouraging
fans to challenge star James
Harden in a game of Horse.

21.
1) Participatory Foot Locker and James Harden
teamed up again for a game of “Play
My Tweet,” forcing the basketball
star to sing “I’m a Little Teapot” and
take selfies with camels.

22.
1) Participatory Storymaking isn’t just for B2C
brands. For a great B2B example,
check out how Owens Illinois
articulated the wonders of glass
through customers’ stories.

23.
1) Participatory For the 2015 Peanuts movie, word
spread rapidly about it with the
Peanutize Me feature where people
could create avatars resembling
characters in the series.

24.
1) Participatory For the 2015 holiday season, Oreo
piggybacked on the interest in adult
coloring books and let customers
customize packaging. Even before
buying a pack, creations could be
shared across social channels.

25.
1) Participatory Pedigree New Zealand launched a
radio station for dogs, K9FM, in
2014. Owners could call in and
leave shoutouts for their dogs
listening to the station at home.

26.
1) Participatory
Betabrand, a retailer that
crowdsources fashion
trends, teamed up with
The North Face to
customize sweatshirts.
Betabrand emailed
customers, “The big idea
at Betabrand: let
consumers create
products hand-in-hand
with designers. Normally,
a product like the Belayed
Back Hoodie would
steam to market, and only
then would consumers
potentially start clamoring
for new or different
features. You changed the
history of this design by
making it full-zip instead of
a pullover — and
demanding cuffs with
thumbholes.
INNOVATION!”

27.
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.

28.
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.

29.
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.

30.
2) Fan-Inspired
If you only watch one video
referenced in this presentation,
you’ll find a year’s worth of
inspiration in Jesse Herzog’s Suitsy
pitch. Warning: your neighbors may
need to peel you off the floor after.

31.
2) Fan-Inspired
Heading up customer service at McDonald’s
can’t be a fun job, as the brand’s an easy
punching bag. Yet McDonald’s in Canada
launched a program dubbed “Our Food, Your
Questions” where it fields many of the tougher
questions that consumers answer, effectively
disarming some critics.

32.
2) Fan-Inspired Nest encourages users to send clips from its
home monitoring cameras in the
#caughtonNestCam campaign. It has created
a video of the best submissions. “Here’s to
home” reads the tagline.

33.
2) Fan-Inspired During the 2016 Wimbledon tournament,
Haagen-Dazs UK filled its Instagram account
with crowd reaction shots. On occasion,
spectators were eating ice cream, but such
shots were in the minority.

34.
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, and fans
participated through a range of
platforms.

35.
3) Decentralized Beats created a brief meme with its
#SoloSelfie, showing fans how to do
it, and inspiring some odd examples
that had little to do with the
headphones.

36.
3) Decentralized
Palmolive promoted its Naturals line
with a branded filter in the hot artsy
photo styling app Prisma. The app
itself isn’t a destination, so
Palmolive gave up control as to
where the photos themselves would
live.

37.
Halfway there. Let’s use this image again!

38.
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. In
such scenarios, marketers can
proactively reach out to others to
encourage them (if not pay them)
to co-opt such stunts.

39.
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.

40.
4) Unpredictable
For one of the stranger examples,
check the Lincoln Music Selfie
Experiment (or the teaser for it),
where you turn yourself into a sound.

41.
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.

42.
5) Reciprocal Adobe is a consistent
storymaking brand. It
featured customers’ art in
its TV spot celebrating the
25th anniversary of
Photoshop.

43.
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%.

44.
5) Reciprocal
Bertolli, celebrating its 150 year
anniversary, encouraged fans to
share how they like to celebrate and
then delivered some personalized
content in return. Even when
automated, a soupcon of
personalization can make a
campaign feel more meaningful.

45.
5) Reciprocal
New York City recruited Instagram
Ambassadors in the fall of 2015
tapping some high-profile judges to
feature #AutumnInNYC photos

46.
5) Reciprocal “Taking a cue from from customers who have
been doodling designs on cups for years,”
Starbucks in 2014 invited consumers to send in
their white cup designs, with the winning design
printed on a limited edition Starbucks cup.

47.
5) Reciprocal Danish rock band Mew teamed up with Microsoft
Denmark to have Microsoft Office 365
orchestrate a music video co-created with fans.
The final clip of “The Night Believer” includes
1,000 individual contributions from 65 countries.

48.
5) Reciprocal In another example from Coca-Cola, in Brazil,
Sprite is putting consumers’ Snapchat IDs
(Snapcodes) on millions of cans of soda as to
give its customers more followers. Initial users
chosen had their Snapchat followers triple in two
weeks.

49.
5) Reciprocal Guitar Hero Live asked fans to lip sync to Ed
Sheeran’s pop song “Sing” via the hot Gen Z
app Musical.ly, generating 100,000 entries that
were collectively viewed more than 100 million
times. You can watch the compilation.

50.
5) Reciprocal Organic Valley updated its site in April 2016 to
focus on its farmers, telling their stories and
encouraging people to visit them. The New York
Times called it “table-to-farm marketing.”

51.
5) Reciprocal Burberry shows off how its
customers wear its iconic coat in “Art
of the Trench,” where people who
submit such photos are featured on
its site.

52.
5) Reciprocal
American Eagle brand Aerie
took a Dove-inspired twist and
launched its #AerieREAL
campaign in early 2014
featuring entirely unairbrushed
models. Some could be
stereotypical prom queens, but
a range of body types are
featured, and Aerie features
young women who tag
themselves, especially on
Instagram. Most impressive is
that the campaign never ended
and became a core part of the
brand’s identity.

53.
5) Reciprocal
Bag company Minaal shows
customer photos in a prominent
section of their site called “Pages
of Love.”

54.
5) Reciprocal
Betabrand takes a more literal
approach to reciprocation: they
offer 20% off if you submit a
photo.

55.
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.

56.
6) Authentic6) Authentic
“Taking a cue from customers who have
been doodling design on cups for years,
this year’s design is another way
Starbucks is inviting customers to
create their own stories with a red cup
that mimics a blank canvas.” –
Starbucks on its 2015 red holiday cup
design

57.
6 ACTION ITEMS
FOR STORYMAKING

58.
@dberkowitz
Storytelling Storymaking Action
Proprietary Participatory Invite
Idea-inspired Fan-inspired Listen
Centralized Decentralized Organize
Predetermined Unpredictable Plan
Unilateral Reciprocal Incentivize
Approved Authentic Accept
Storytelling vs. Storymaking

59.
Gratuitously using this one more time.

60.
“” STORYMAKING QUOTES

61.
Jeffrey Fields, Starbucks VP of Design & Content
“In the past, we have told
stories with our holiday cups
designs. This year, we wanted
to usher in the holidays with a
purity of design that welcomes
all of our stories.”
Source: Starbucks

62.
Raja Rajamannar, Mastercard Chief Marketing & Communications Officer
“Consumers don’t want to hear brand
stories; they want to be part of the
story, so we have shifted from
storytelling to storymaking. We
enable, create, and curate
experiences for consumers; that’s the
way to connect to them.”
Source: WSJ

63.
Julie Clement Cochran, Global Social Media, FedEx Services
“At the end of the day, by letting our
customers and fans across the globe
be our brand storytellers, we have
been able to transform our perception
from being an out-of-reach corporate
entity to an authentic, personable
friend that our audience can trust.”
Source: Visual Storytelling

64.
Doug & Jimmy, Co-Founders, Minaal
“Half the fun of bringing gear into the
world is seeing what our users get up to
with it. We wanted to create a space to
share their stories and the awesome
images that go along with them. At this
point there’s way too much to showcase
in one spot so ‘Page of Love’ content is
all over Instagram and our other social
channels.”
Source: Visual Storytelling

65.
“

”
STORYMAKING:
UNHAPPY ENDINGS

66.
@dberkowitz
Unhappy Endings
Storymaking doesn’t always
work out so well. This section
will include examples of what
can go wrong and how to avoid
it.

67.
Forced
Coca-Cola’s 2016 “GIF the feeling” campaign
let people customize branded GIFs and share
them on Tumblr, but it felt too much like an ad,
so some people hacked the campaign. Soon,
Coke banned some words – including
expected swear words, and also off-brand
words like “obesity.” That can backfire further
though, causing rebels to put in even more
effort to ‘break’ the system.

68.
• SlideShare: A Story about the End of Storytelling
• SlideShare: Revenge of the Storymakers
• Ad Age: The Beginning of the End of Storytelling
• Ad Age: 6 Characteristics of Great Storymaking
Resources

69.
@dberkowitz
Keep in touch
david@serialmarketer.net
@dberkowitz
www.serialmarketer.net
slideshare.net/davidberkowitz