Business Storytelling is coming rapidly on the radar screen on many marketers and general managers. But what storytelling is? Where does it come from? What are the storytelling myths, and dos and donts? A practical inspiration guide to learn more about storytelling and its opportunities and pitfalls

1. AMATI
& Associates
STORYTELLING:
What you wanted to know and never dared to ask
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2. Origins
AMATI
& Associates
Storytelling is as old as mankind…..
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3. Origins
AMATI
& Associates
… it’s one of the rituals used in society to transfer knowledge
• From basic craft and survival
mechanisms…
• …to social norms and shared values
declined through myths and legends
• As a ritual includes all the elements of
relevant elements:
• A script
• High Involvement of
participants
• Accessories (e.g. drawings,
objects, music/sounds,…)
• Audience
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4. AMATI
Brand Storytelling
& Associates
Brand Storytelling is facts-complementing drama, through improved narrative, enhancing images and/or
sounds
Drama
It’s a performance to an audience,
with the objective
of capturing their attention
Images
It uses images to create a fertile
ground for the message, to appeal
to our emotional intelligence and
induce message recall
Narrative
It’s a story narrated through
figures of speech e.g., metaphors,
allegories, hyperboles,…
Sounds
It uses sounds and/ or music, to
complement, emphasize and substitute
words
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5. Brand Storytelling Myths
AMATI
& Associates
1) Storytelling will let your brand shine
WRONG!
It will ensure your
customers recall how
shining your brand
is
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6. Brand Storytelling Myths
AMATI
& Associates
2) Storytelling will brand your product in a more appealing way
NOPE!
There is a name for
that: Deceptive
Advertising!
FREE BEER, TOPLESS
BARTENDERS, ENDLESS
FREE BUFFET
(and False Advertising)
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7. Brand Storytelling Myths
AMATI
& Associates
3) Storytelling will enhance your story
IT DEPENDS!: It will, if your story is already strong and compelling. It’s not a substitute
for a good story
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8. Brand Storytelling Myths
AMATI
& Associates
4) Storytelling strengthens your brand’s emotional benefits
Never!
It magnifies existing
emotional benefits, does
not ‘nurture’ them
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9. Why storytelling is important
AMATI
& Associates
Educate the target about your brand’s story, your product’s raison d’être
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10. Why storytelling is important
AMATI
& Associates
Make your brand’s story more memorable
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11. Why storytelling is important
AMATI
& Associates
Setting your audience in the right mindset (ensuring they are receptive to the story)
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12. Why storytelling is important
AMATI
& Associates
Providing a context for recipients to become narrators, and evolving the story
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13. AMATI
Dos and Donts
& Associates
Where should you start from?
✔
• Focus on the story
• Find a common ground
between the story and the brand
• Test the common ground, to
ensure it is relevant to the
consumer journey
• Derive images, sounds and
narrative from the common
ground
✖
• Do not pretend to have a story
if you have none
• Do not force the role of the
brand, if there is no natural fit,
it’s either the wrong story or the
wrong brand
• Do not designate the brand as
the hero
• Do not make it about features,
make it about experiences
• Designate the consumer as the
hero
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14. AMATI
& Associates
AMATI
& Associates
Registered address:
ul. Pułku Baszta 4A lok. 26,
02-649 Warszawa, polska
nip: pl 5213627346
url: www.filibertoamati.com
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