Whether you’re highlighting your career accomplishments or developing the next great marketing campaign, a storytelling approach can set you apart from the competition.
When crafting a marketing story, there are six components to keep in mind. In this article for B2BMarketing.net I share those elements, along with lessons in storytelling from Serta’s “Counting Sheep” and how State Farm’s characters overcame the monster to deliver a marketing campaign that was scary-good.
Too much marketing relies on the old motivators. You’ve probably heard about all five: 
fear, greed, guilt, exclusivity, and approval. Maybe you have used these triggers. In his book “Winning the Story Wars” Jonah Sachs explores empowerment marketing. Instead of focusing on your target audience’s inadequacies, make them the hero. And use your product to help people on their journeys. Read more—and see examples of brands that use empowerment marketing—in this guest blog post I wrote for Q’s Views.
Mark Quinn is a wonderful client of mine that blogs about marketing and the mattress industry. The image above is the header from his blog called Q’s Views. From time to time I write guest posts. I wanted to share them here. Many thanks to Mark for allowing me to contribute.
How to Profit from Low Expectations: For most people getting an oil change is no fun. Find out what happens when a business re-imagines what is normally a painful experience.
‘Start with the Heart’ and Supercharge Your Mattress Sales: Your mattress is a place filled with personal memories. Unfortunately, most mattress marketing concentrates on price-and-item promotions. Find out why it’s important to connect with shoppers on an emotional level.
James Bond and the Nature of Changing Times: In the film “Skyfall,” James Bond woke up in a world he did not understand. What did he do to overcome his irrelevance and beat the bad guy? He went back to basics, teaching us that some things never change. Fundamentals can still work — even in a world where technology often wins.
In advertising, bad clients can suck the soul out of your team. They should be avoided at all costs. But there’s a problem—sometimes you don’t realize you are getting a bad client until after you’ve built a relationship and made a significant time investment. You’ve spent weeks (or months) talking about your agency, building value in your strategic approach and showcasing your brilliant execution. Then you
have a moment of clarity and realize the potential client is going to nickel and dime you to death. Even worse, you realize they don’t know how to run their business and marketing isn’t going to help. As a communication pro, you can only do so much to inject new life into a withering brand. Many times, the real problem is in operations. If a client doesn’t have their house in order, there is nothing to market except shitty food, poor presentation, and awful service—which means there is nothing to market. If you find yourself facing a moment of truth and decide to go with your gut, how do you say no? How do you essentially reject this person you’ve been pursuing, while making them feel good and keeping the door open for future conversations? Let me tell you a short story. Continue reading
An EF5 tornado hit my hometown of Joplin, Missouri. My family and I are blessed. We suffered no damage. Avoiding the path of demolition was like hitting the lottery because about 30 percent of the town is gone. I was on a disaster documentation team and my journey up and down each street inspired what you’re about to read.
Bad ideas stink like sardines and so does the tired, overused phrase: “think outside the box.” If your team leader says, “Alright gang, we need to think outside the box,” you can almost guarantee that you and your fellow sardines will generate derivative, dull ideas. It’s
not that you and your smelly sidekicks are lacking creativity – it’s an approach problem. Sitting around the same drab office, day after day, trying to come up with cool ideas is a bad plan of action. Instead of demanding out of the box thinking, your boss should be concentrating on how to give your mind what it needs to be creative. While you and your pungent partners wander around trying to get out of the proverbial box, you’ll fail to see that you’re not even in a box. It’s the wrong analogy. So then, if you’re not stuck in a box, trying to get out of the box is an activity that takes you nowhere. An effort in futility. Gerbil on a wheel. It’s not about getting out of the box. Creativity is about consciously dictating your experiences so that you have creative food to digest. Continue reading
