The Digital Era, a boon in the world of marketing, advertising and communications changed the entire landscape of how brands are perceived and how brands communicate with their audience. While trending formats, memes and topical content took over the communications and marketing an integral mix storytelling kept losing focus and attention. With time, digitization and trends storytelling as a tool became a thing of the past. But, the year 2021, is bringing with a whole new perspective and approach to marketing.

The lockdown aided consumers with time, lots and lots of it. Which in turn increased the use of social media to a whole new degree enabling users to understand the content that’s being sold to them. As a result of which, what we have now is a more evolved audience that reads through the short life of the new formats of marketing.

The swipe left and right format, Monolith format, digital challenges, etc., while being extremely popular and engaging tend to have a very short life in the minds of the audience. It does not help capture the audience or even turn them into long term consumers. But what really does is effective storytelling. It bridges a gap with your audience, helps you connect with them on an emotional level and more importantly leaves a long-lasting impact when aided with other effective tools. Classic exmples of this would be Kuch Meetha Ho Jaaye by Cadbury, Ye Deewar Tooti kyu nahi by Ambuja Cement, Mazboot Job Hai; Tootega nahi by Fevicol and Daag Acche Hai by Surf Excel amongst many others.

These communication strategies aided with just the marketing tools and a beautiful story to connect with the audience have resulted into a long-time impact that ends making any other campaign after that redundant for the brand. It’s this are that needs to be brought back and will be if brands across sectors want to have a recall value that lasts longer than a weekend or topical day.

Here’s how storytelling will add to and change a brand’s journey qualitatively especially post pandemic:

- Storytelling helps connect with your audience in the long run

When you sell a product explaining the importance of it in a life of a consumer through a story that they can relate to it tends to stick. Pandemic especially has made the audience more aware but also more in touch with their emotional side making it the best way for brands to leverage their benefits. A functional approach rarely has a long lasting impact.

- Data Driven Storytelling

In the world of Digital, data is not only accurate but also accessible and impactful. With the help of this data, brands can weave in stories, use anecdotes to help highlight a problem and therefore the solution through your product. By offering insights into numbers your story, approach and your brand get a sense of credibility that is otherwise very easily lost.

- Storytelling stands out in the saturated media universe

This approach helps you weave in a message through different media tools keeping the tonality of your brand standardized on all platforms making it easier from a connect and recall point of view. It helps your creates a long term strategies using the most used media tools in the current times without bombarding your audience with multiple messaging, eventually losing the essence of your brand.

- Storytelling gives your brand an identity

A single message point reiterated through native and user generated content gives your brand a personality. Builds a reputation over time that is unmissed and aids to a recall that is extremely high. A trip down the brands lane that have effectively used this method will help you understand that no matter where you are you know it’s Ronal Mc Donald’s tempting fries stop when you see anyone saying ‘I’m lovin it’

This rather forgotten, integral marketing tool will be a life saver and a game changer for any brand that’s trying to stay relevant for the long haul, you just have to mix it right with your favorite media tools.

The author is Vishakha Mota, Co- Founder, Brand Sentry