One of the hot new specializations and topics we are seeing PR professionals and brands investing time and resources in is brand storytelling. The power of words that are integrated with visuals in a strategic format that can be earlier shared across multiple formats is just one way brands and PR professionals are distinguishing themselves from the rest of the competition. Brands like Apple, Ford, Starbucks, and Facebook all have been active in sharing their story to capture the overall essence of the brand to their users – which then builds upon on trust, credibility, and loyalty among their followers.
I had a chance to present on a similar topic for Dr. Amber Hutchins’ PR and Social Media class a while ago, and it got me thinking that this is not only important for PR professionals themselves, but also to think about this from an agency or company standpoint as well. Here is the recording of my guest lecture presentation on visual storytelling. Thanks again to Amber for this wonderful opportunity. 🙂
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0sFcQBNg-3s[/youtube]
Understanding the overall essence of what goes into creating a brand, its image and reputation, as well as how this is communicated are just going to be some of the fundamental tasks and tools PR professionals will be responsible for. In addition, besides communicating and discussing these various stories offline, we have to make sure we do this seamlessly across all of the associated media platforms we are part of and see whether we are going to be consistent across these platforms with our stories, or use each platform to tell a segment or layer of our story to a particular audience. Strategy, innovation, and creativity are just a few things to consider when crafting a brand storytelling social marketing campaign.
With this being said, we have to make sure (as professors and scholars) we give our students or fellow colleagues the tools they need to be familiar with brand storytelling. I am a huge supporter of adding to your own personal library, so here are some books you all might want to check out that is related to storytelling within marketing, social media, and the combination of all media platforms (transmedia):
- Transmedia Storytelling (Andrea Phillips): One way for PR professionals to better understand storytelling is to go outside our field and into an another area. Phillips does provide a nice foundation of what are the overall characteristics of storytelling while also highlighting clear examples of successful brands and franchises that have done this successfully (ex. Star Wars) while also going into detail the various layers associated with a story we as PR professionals need to be aware of. A good book to have on hand for social media and PR classes.
- All Marketers are Liars (Seth Godin): If you haven’t had a chance to read Seth’s blog, you should – great insights and implications to be noted for PR professionals when looking at social media. However, Seth provides these insights related to how brands share their stories and what they are doing from a strategic point of view. The integration of persuasion with influence are just a couple of characteristics we have to note when we are not only communicating in traditional media, but also how this is presented virtually on our online extensions like social media platforms. Another good read to share with students in PR and social media
- Legendary Brands: Unleashing the power of storytelling to create a winning market strategy (Laurence Vincent): One of the best ways we can learn about the effectiveness of storytelling is to look at what others have done that has been successful and not so successful. This is what this book focuses on – looking at some of the iconic brands and how they have been strategic and insightful with their storytelling content strategy that has helped them establish themselves on the global level with their reputation.
In summary, brand storytelling is going to be another topic of conversation I will be covering in my social media class in the spring at the University of Louisville. It really does touch on the overall purpose and image of the company and we as public relations professionals need to know how to create a story and be able to disseminate these insights to our audiences and allow them to share this with their fellow followers.
Hope you all are having a great day!
Best Wishes,
Karen
0 Comments