Have you ever encountered someone who thinks marketing is a waste of time? If so, you may be familiar with this zinger: “You can eat a good sales pitch, but you can’t eat awareness!” Funny, right? They’ll point their fingers and laugh, but marketing-believers everywhere know the truth. If a funnel full of quality leads is the bountiful garden, then…
What do the Maltese Falcon, the briefcase in Pulp Fiction, and the One Ring in Lord of the Rings have in common? They are all examples of a storytelling plot device known as a MacGuffin. A MacGuffin can literally be anything—a book, a mysterious briefcase (as mentioned above) but its only purpose is to set the story in motion. Once that’s accomplished, the MacGuffin usually…
AI. Machine Learning. Augmented Reality. Today’s CMO has to be both artist and technician to keep up with all the new tools that are coming down the line. Unfortunately, this marriage of technology with creativity often feels forced. If it’s not done properly, the tech/marketing combo can seem disjointed from the overall brand story. Not so with Australian winemaker, 19…
When was the last time you perused an article, read a book, watched a movie, or caught an episode of your favorite TV show? Chances are, you do one or more of those things every day. Although some may be dramatically better than others, they all tell a story. In fact, stories—in one form or another—are all around us, at…
We all love a great story, right? Well, as it turns out, customers and prospects love great brand stories too! A recently completed research study of over 1000 marketers concluded that among the highest performing content marketers, storytelling has become a “state of mind,” with 83% reporting that a “storytelling ethos permeates their entire organization” as a result. But make…
Although there is no single, objective standard for the elements of a great story, the prolific American writer, Kurt Vonnegut, liked to say that you must “be a sadist” to your characters. “Make awful things happen to them,” he said, “in order that the reader may see what they are made of.” What he was really driving at is the…
Were you a dreamer when you were a child? Did you get in trouble for daydreaming when you should have been doing your schoolwork—or did you have a teacher that recognized your higher purpose? This wonderful story from HP illustrates what beauty can truly arise when you’re encouraged to follow your dreams. Not only is this a great example of…
Personification: The representation of an abstract element of your story in human form. You probably encountered this term in high school as an effective, if novel, element of good storytelling. Instead of describing a conflict, you give it a human form and let that character literally tell it’s own story. Customer service software vendor, Zendesk, pulls this off to hilarious…
We’ve recently sent you some examples of the power of great storytelling. But can a great story actually drive leads your business? The answer is, unequivocally, “Yes!” (And we can prove it). Hear from one of our clients, in her own words, about how our story-driven marketing campaign (“Reducing Friction”) has generated qualified leads and awareness for Tungsten Network: We’ve…
Ah taxes… If the thought of getting through this onerous, yearly ritual brings a tear of frustration and anxiety to your eye, you’re not alone. But there is hope – and help – available, as this storytelling campaign from tax and accounting software maker, Intuit, so poignantly demonstrates. It just goes to show that no matter what the product or…