From Storytelling to Story-living
Brands today understand the power of good storytelling. Nespresso regularly doubles-down on its tagline, “Nespresso, what else?” by telling us stories of how brand ambassador George Clooney traverses nations, timelines and films, and even dies and goes to heaven, for a cup of (what else?) Nespresso coffee. Nike also shows us how to ‘just do it’ by sharing stories of how its athletes overcome all odds, break barriers and exceed limits.
However, in the age of on-demand information and non-stop consumption, where the average person is fed up to 10,000 marketing messages daily, even the most powerful stories can get lost in the barrage of information.
This is where story-living comes in. For us, story-living is an experiential, three-dimensional approach to storytelling that has the power to cultivate meaningful relationships with and foster a passionate, loyal community.
Two-way dialogue
Storytelling, whether it’s done through a witty social ad or a gut-wrenching film, is still very much a one-way conversation. It communicates the brand by talking at consumers rather than to them. Story-living, on the other hand, opens up that story to make it a two-way dialogue. This enables consumers to personally experience and be actively involved in the story.
One example of a brand that has done this brilliantly is the travel database site, Momondo. To drive home their mission, “Let’s Open Our World”, the brand created The World Piece campaign. At the centre of the campaign, 61 people from around the world were selected and given a matching line tattoo, each linking one person to the next to signify one connected world. The campaign culminated with a film where each of the participants shared their personal stories on the importance of greater open-mindedness and the power of travel. It has also been extended to a second call for interested parties to be a part of The World Piece, which has garnered over 7,000 sign-ups at the time this article is written. As Momondo has exemplified, creating two-way conversations inculcates people into a brand’s story for a deeper, more meaningful relationship.
Learn more about Momondo’s The World Piece Campaign here.
Money-can’t-buy experiences
As we’ve pointed out in previous articles (here and here), discerning people of today increasingly value experiences over material goods. This makes it both a challenge and opportunity for brands to create one-of-a-kind experiences that enable people to live out a brand’s story.
Crafting “one-of-a-kind encounters”, for both brands and individuals, are at the core of what we do here at Rachel Strudwick. For a couple of years now, we have created and launched multidisciplinary experiences for Diageo’s Casks of Distinction programme, a unique programme that gives progressive spirits enthusiasts the opportunity to own a special single malt Scotch whisky by the cask. In 2018, we crafted a highly tailored, five-step immersive journey into the world of a single cask.
First, we unveiled the year’s selection and their unique origin stories — a list of spectacular liquids from ever-decreasing stocks from now-closed distilleries; rare and old malt whiskies from world-famous brands; and whiskies of remarkable quality from lesser-known outfits.
Then, we introduced the multi-generational craftsmen and coopers who, with their immense passion and respect for the craft and the knowledge of distillation traditions passed down from generation to generation, are the key to a distillery’s mastery of whisky-making.
At the final stage of this journey, we offered guests a private one-on-one consultation with Diageo’s Master of Malts, Dr Craig Wilson, who put together a personalised tasting of cask liquids based on their flavor profile.
From insider insight into production methods and a private vault of precious liquids to the opportunity to speak to an expert, this experience helped consumers’ fulfil their passions in a way that can’t be bought with money anywhere else. One-of-a-kind experiences create moments that will truly stick with a person and forge a strong emotional connection between people and brands.
Learn more about the Casks of Distinction here, and Diageo here.
In the moment
Story-living, as its name suggests, is all about bringing your brand’s story to life. One way to do so is to transport your consumers into a special moment of your story.
This was the aim for a launch we created for Mortlach 47, a celebrated yet mysterious whisky by renowned distillery Mortlach, open to just 47 VIPs around the world. The story behind Mortlach 47 is certainly interesting on its own. Shrouded in mystery, the whisky contained three secrets First, the unique background of its founder, Alexander Cowie, who was a doctor-turned-distiller; Second, the precision behind the 2.81 distillation process that remains unchanged to this day; And third, the harmonious hum produced by the copper stills (dubbed the Singing Stills) during the distillation process.
To creatively reveal the distillery’s best kept secrets, we transported guests into the world of Mortlach through sight, taste and sound. We first recreated the setting in which the whisky was made by figuratively bringing invitees to Speyside, a sub-region of the Highlands in Scotland, with a taste of the whiskies from that region. Then, to create a sensory link to its bold flavours , we crafted a robust all-meat food pairing menu. Guests were also encouraged to literally uncover the secrets behind hidden wall panels. Finally, guests sampled the oldest bottling Mortlach 47 in a cosy tasting room while the mystical sounds of the Singing Stills filled the air. The best stories transport you to a different world, not simply tell you what it’s supposed to be.
| Drives brand love and loyalty | Differentiates your brand from its competitors | Strengthens positive brand perception, internally and externally | Generates genuine brand advocacy |