Powerful Storytelling Done Right by Pearl Higgins of Outspoken Media

Presented byPresented by

Powerful Storytelling

April 12, 2017 | @Pearl_Higgins | #DFWSEM

Done right.

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My favorite book was about a widower sailor with a lying

daughter, who tricked her only friend into almost dying on a

jetty during a hurricane.

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I never grew out of picture books.

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Why story now?

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In 2017, your audience is enveloped in a perfect storm

of inattention.

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@Pearl_Higgins 14Source: nytimes.com

8.5 hours a day spent on screens

61 minutes of TV ads

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8-second attention spandown from 12 seconds in 2000

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So how do you get remembered?

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@Pearl_HigginsMake people angry. Impress them.

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When they’re angry, story is not a replacement for that

lost good reputation.

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92% of consumers trust earned media, such as word of mouth, above all other forms of advertising

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70% of consumers turn to online consumer reviews as the second most-trusted source.

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Source: Nielsen | Global Trust in Advertising and Brand Messages April 2012

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“Which means, successful brands and marketers will need to find

ways to better connect with consumers by creating the kind of

good-will that leads to positive consumer feedback.”

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Source: nielsen.com

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Are your audiences feeling that good will?

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No one wants to hear your story:

•If you over-charged them.•If they’re angry about your billing practices.•If they never received their product.•If the product broke. •If your customer service is subpar.•If your terms and conditions were not clear.•If you made a social media snafu that you never really fixed.

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No one wants to hear your story if you are not meeting

or exceeding their expectations.

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And what if you are?

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TOMS Giving in the U.S.: Helping American Children In Need

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youtube.com/watch?v=W83bQGclUP4

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Engaged and happy audiences

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How?

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Audience

DeliveryPlot

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We need to be digging deeper.

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Let’s find joy in the delivery.

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This works for brands, too.

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Audiences respond when you intrigue them or make

them feel something without lecturing.

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high drama

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high lecture

low drama

low lecture

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high drama

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high lecture

low drama

low lecture

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What do we need to make a story?

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Christina JacksonModernist Fairytale Prints

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“Much information is stored, indexed, and retrieved in the form of stories.

People relate to each other in terms of stories- and brands often play central and peripheral roles in their stories.”

Source: When Consumers & Brands Talk: Storytelling Theory and Research in Psychology and Marketing onlinelibrary.wiley.com

Think about the brands your mother used.

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Archetypes

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There are only two stories:

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A man goes on a journey or a stranger comes to town.

Or more?

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The Seven Basic PlotsChristopher Booker’s Jungian analysis of story

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Overcoming the

monster:Beowulf

Harry Potter

Rags to Riches:Aladdin

CinderellaJane Eyre

The Quest:The Iliad

Watership Down

Harold & Kumar go to White

Castle

Voyage & Return:

The OdysseyAlice in

WonderlandLabyrinth

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Comedy:Twelfth Night

Bridget Jones’ Diary

Tragedy:MacbethHamlet

Breaking Bad

Rebirth:Beauty & The Beast

How the Grinch Stole Christmas

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The archetypes you know are tools at your disposal.

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What other tools are at your disposal?

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Language Imagery CTA UX

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Story in the language

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In the mission or tagline

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In the small CTAs

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In the large CTAs

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Source: http://madebyshape.co.uk/about 83@Pearl_Higgins

Story in the image

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Molly Bang & picture books

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Sometimes it’s all in what you hint at, allude to, or use to grab your audience’s attention.

You don’t have a lot of time; visuals can carry the weight for you.

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Size, location & movement

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The wolf

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The tension

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The final story

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Visual storytelling in action

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Story in the CTA

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Utilizing story in UX

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Don’t forget that UX doesn’t end with the goal completion.

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A few tools of the trade:

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Social Media Storytelling

•Facebook Canvas•Stellar Stories•Twitter Moments•Animoto•Adobe Spark Video•Ripl

@untypicalman for more social storytelling tips

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Let’s bring a little joy back into what we do.

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Thank you!Thank you!