For generations, storytelling has been a part of every culture and community. It is something that is not only sharable but precious and also serves as a cultural exchange tool. Ngano / Ndebele as we called them, were told by the elderly to the young around the fire kumusha or in present times as bedtime stories.
As trends keep changing, storytelling is not just for bedtime; it’s a language that exists in music, drama, poetry, books and has now adapted to Facebook and Insta stories. Thereby creating a lifestyle and experience for people, brands and their consumers.
So, what’s in a story?
Stories don’t just make life happen, they make it beautiful. Similarly, with ad campaigns, storytelling blended with creativity is a powerful tool that gives consumers a sense of trust and belonging. On top of that, a well thought out story and strategy brings ideas to life, educates and connects consumers to the things they love and hope to find in a brand. This ideology has worked for us with a number of campaigns including the Econet- Inspiration is key campaign which in turn birthed the Inspired to change your world Pay off line still in use since Econet was launched.
The Zimplats- Beyond the skin campaign targeting discrimination of people with albinism called on the nation of Zimbabwe to look beyond the surface and help improve the welfare of people living with albinism significantly. This story telling campaign coupled with donations was a success as evidenced by ripple effect on players in the industry who started reducing prices of sunscreens used by people with albinism. Another one of note is the Lafarge- Finish strong campaign for the builders of this world, with this, we looked at how a person starts of strong with all the excitement and energy one needs to build a house but because a project like this can take the life out of a person, they might find themselves tiring when they get to the end of the project. Finish strong was a call to action which said to people we understand what you’re going through, that’s why we’re giving you products to help you finish strong, even better than you started. In all of these, we are humbled to have played a key role in building brands with ideas that work for years and years to come.
In essence, without a story, there’s no engagement! Because brands, people and businesses are now more social than ever, using stories is beneficial to drive traffic, emotions and user experience.
