Stories Help Change the World

1. Stories Help Change the World PETE CANALICHIO Storylines are becoming more episodic. Look at series like House of Cards, Orange is the New Black, Suits or The Americans. They now include more in-jokes, returning characters, recurrent themes to draw people in and make them feel that the series is part of their world. Series makers are inviting people not just to watch once or when they can, but to catch the whole series at a time and in ways that suit them best. Can’t watch now? OK, watch later. Enjoyed an episode? No problem, stay there and watch another … and another … with no commercials, and with complete viewer control. New problems for the TV industry and for marketers 1. As The Guardian observed “Netflix is killing the goose that laid the golden egg.” 2. Audiences are watching more television, less of it live, causing ad revenue to shrink. 3. A big part of the problem is an ad buying system built around live viewing and the Nielsen ratings to measure it. 4. The ad industry’s is unable to work out how to serve up a similarly robust ad load. Most brand campaigns have yet to learn how to ‘live’ a story 1. Brands have tended to use stories for communications in short bursts and in campaigns. 2. Only a few stories tie back to the new sense of story that consumers are now interested in. 3. Some brands have looked to craft what David Aaker refers to as “signature stories”: stories that are intriguing, involving, authentic and have a strategic message. 4. Lifebuoy’s “Help a Child Reach 5” and Always “Like a Girl” are stories and they are campaigns, but they also point the way for a brand to do more interesting things. 5. They signal the commitment of both brands to look to achieve change in the world. While the cynic may say that they are heart-warming narratives that still lead to the sell, they can also serve to focus a brand on what it intends to contribute and how it wishes to be valued. This is next- level storytelling: stories to help change the world, or at the very least to better define the world that the brands see as desirable to them. Grab V aluable Resources from Brand Licensing Experts for 100% Free Today Are you interested in extending your brand’s influence, strengthening consumer relationships, and generating unlimited revenue from guaranteed royalty payments? Get Your FREE Membership Today PeteCanalichio.com/fast-track PETE CANALICHIO