Teaching An Old Dog The New Tricks! Reviving The Art Of Storytelling

Storytelling not only captivates an audience but also gives a brand its voice, says the author

The Power of Storytelling in an increasingly content-driven economy is increasingly becoming very evident! Whether you're trying to attract top talent to work for your organisation or be more relatable to a Gen Z audience- today’s marketers need to be able to create purpose-driven content at scale to get the attention of their audience!

What is it about stories and storytelling?

Stories are here to stay, evolve through mediums and transform with emerging technologies. Why, you ask? The human brain finds it effortless to follow the narrative structure of stories. Think of the instance wherein you are engaging your audience via a simple everyday anecdote that has them hooked till the very end. Recounting a story is powerful because it allows you to build excitement and ignite a variety of other emotions, that the human brain craves and loves.

The Power of Unexpected Change

Storytelling not only captivates an audience but also gives a brand its voice. Through the course of making a brand’s voice heard, transparency has always been key because people respond to both, honesty and ingenuity. But a thought from Will Storr always rings true to me here- Good and powerful storytelling must begin with a moment of unexpected change. I highly recommend anyone interested in becoming a more effective storyteller to give his book- The Science of Storytelling a read!

Unexpected change doesn’t necessarily have to be restricted to online platforms. On February 14th I bought books for every member of my team. Each book was specifically handpicked, keeping in mind the person’s personality and skillsets, and how it would be relevant to them. Of course, it was utterly unexpected on Valentine’s Day and thus it evoked feelings of delight, and surprise and boosted morale. If I had bought flowers and chocolates, the story would have been cliche and wouldn’t evoke as much of genuine response. It thus boils down to creating a setup, defining a punchline and hacking the audience’s expectations.

Old is the New Gold

The more technologically advanced the world gets the more we seem to crave simpler products and experiences. We're going back to the future – Imperfect | Simple | Basic. We crave real moments more than ever! Brands, products and campaigns are trending because they take us through a nostalgic walk down memory lane, to a time when life was simpler- when things made sense! From Coinbase’s original #DVD screen saver ad at the #Superbowl to re-releases of our fav childhood products- Most of the hype created through new #Web3 technologies such as NTFs, Blockchain and Metaverse experiences are centered around owning old IP’s that we have an emotional attachment to. These emotional bonds are eliciting massive results for marketers!

From the cereals we ate while growing up to the cartoon characters we watched and even the TrumpCards we played with- Old is the new Gold!

Storytelling in Micro-Moments

Amongst all the hype around cryptocurrencies, the world seems to be running short on the one currency that matters most – and that’s time. No wonder Marketers, Advertisers and Social Media

Managers are spending an enormous amount of their own time figuring out the best way to convey their stories to an audience with the attention span of a goldfish. The ever-evolving consumer attention is now forcing brands and creators to convey a story in entertaining and interesting ways with as little as 6 – 60 seconds. As of January 2022, there were 467.0 million social media users in India. They increased by 19 million (+4.2 percent) between 2021 and 2022 and are only going to continue growing rapidly. Thus, in this space of immeasurable short-form social content, if a brand or creator is able to instigate a response in someone, it can be considered a win. Be it an emotion or action, what the audience feels or does after consuming the content is what determines the true test of storytelling.

Opportunities are aplenty

The burst of excitement around Web3.0 has created more opportunities than ever for storytellers. It is now up to a brand or creator to convey their stories in ways that would resonate with audiences from across the world. Collaboration is the new currency and anything seems to be possible in the bubble of this multiverse!

I guess we will have to wait longer than 60 seconds to see how this story ends!


*The author is Azaan Feroz Sait, Founder, The Hub Bengaluru

Tags assigned to this article:

Disclaimer: The views expressed in the article above are those of the authors' and do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of this publishing house. Unless otherwise noted, the author is writing in his/her personal capacity. They are not intended and should not be thought to represent official ideas, attitudes, or policies of any agency or institution.