Marketers are slowly realising that „content“ alone does not make consumers listen. It is stories! Stories have to be used to generate long term engagement. That is why „Storytelling“ has become a flourishing buzzword. Still in most conversations the sparkling word is repeatedly misused, as very often there is not even the slightest piece of story in content. So here is the difference between content and story and the key element to successful storytelling.
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What makes a good story?
Joseph Campbell tried to answer this question by analysing thousands of stories, starting from greek mythology and ending in more modern stories. He found that indeed there is a certain structure in good stories and he called it „The Heroes Journey„. He describes this journey in detail in his book „The Hero with a Thousand Faces„, which is probably one of the most interesting books i ever read.
The key element is…
„The Heroes Journey“ is extremely detailled and can be split up in up to 16 phases, which can all be very helpful in finding stories and telling stories. But there is one major element and this is: CHANGE
It is the hero surviving the greatest danger. Steve Jobs overcoming all the challenges of launching unseen technologies. The caterpillar turning into a butterfly. Elon Musk managing to launch Falcon Heavy after so many failures. The athlete making the final leap to mastering the greatest challenge in his or her sports. Odysseus finally returning home. There has to be change and the change has to be significant and relevant to the listener.
„A piece of information without change is just content, change makes content a story!“
Daniel Weingartshofer
Why it is „change“?
The reason why change is so important to humans is that change in some others life can always show you how to change your own life for the better, how to improve your life and most importantly how to survive!
So a good story has to have the element of change in the very heart, the change has to be well defined and clear. And if the storyteller does that in a well thought out way, then the proper activation and successful campaign is only a step away.
Let us help you.
We can help you implementing good storytelling in your marketing efforts. Let us know your challenge and we are happy to help you out. www.flints.at
