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The 

The Consumer Journey in Emotional Storytelling

A good emotional story in an advert or commercial should fall into one of three distinct areas, achieved through the careful interlacing of emotional and informational elements.

Interest (the hook)

Interest is the point at which the viewer goes from not having any interest about your content to becoming aware of it. This is also known as the hook and will usually (but not always) come at the very start of your film to establish your story and hold the viewer’s attention through the use of engaging imagery and/or dialogue. Attention spans are short so emotional storytelling adverts and commercials need to make an impact quickly.

Evaluation (the pitch)

Evaluation is the stage at which you subtly begin to introduce elements of information that promote your company offering or brand values. If the viewer is emotionally invested in your story by this point then they will be more open to the introduction of your brand or product into the narrative. Fusing this subtle sense of a marketing ‘pitch’ into an emotional story without coming across as salesy is somewhat of an art form (one that our creative teams in Bristol and London excel at).

Empathy (the personalisation)

Empathy is the point at which the ‘we’ becomes the ‘you’ and the idea of the customer is introduced to the storytelling. This goes a lot further than a simple call to action as the adoption phase of an emotional storytelling advert or commercial needs to somehow make the viewer relevant to the story. In this way, the empathy phase shouldn’t feel separate from the story but a natural conclusion to it.

Recipe for telling a great story on social

Read more about the six fundamental ingredients needed for social storytelling, as demonstrated by the likes of Turkish Airlines and Coca-Cola Life.

 

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Why 

Why use Emotional Storytelling in your Marketing?

Engage more viewers

By weaving a story into your brand marketing you are creating content with instant appeal, helping you capture and hold the increasingly short attention spans of the average YouTuber and start to establish a presence. Video is unlike any other medium in its ability to create this emotional hook quickly, making it the most efficient way of getting your story out there.

Leave a lasting impression

By harnessing the power of video to move, entertain and inspire through storytelling, you have the opportunity to leave a lasting impression in the viewer by evoking a strong emotional response. Creating a genuine emotional response, whether it be laughter, sadness or inspiration, is far more powerful than presenting a simple marketing message. It enables you to create a connection with the viewer that will go on to develop into positive association, trust and perhaps even loyalty.

Build a brand identity

By weaving a strong emotional narrative into your video advert or commercial you can create or reinforce a sense of your own brand identity. This identity is shaped by the type of emotional tone you settle on, whether that be the fun loving personality that comes across from humorous and witty content, or the caring persona that is created through the use of poignant or thought provoking stories and imagery that addresses real issues.

Non linear brand narrative

One of the truly powerful things about emotional storytelling is its ability to create non linear narratives. This means telling versions of your story in different ways or from different perspectives across multiple channels and platforms. Once your brand narrative has been established in a widely distributed television commercial, for example, you can then go onto create a series of video stories using the same characters, styles or themes and share them across social media, your YouTube channel or website.

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Cons

Considerations when making emotional content

Balancing Information with Emotion

Consumers tend often make decisions based on emotional responses but they will also look to justify those decisions with rational facts. Weaving an emotional story and presenting information about your product or service can be tricky and understanding where to strike the balance can be dependent on your product or service, your industry sector, as well as the intended distribution platform and target audience.

Brand Personality

The personality of your brand will have a huge bearing not only on the balance of emotion with factual information but also on what kind of emotional response you want to evoke. Brand personality is often referred to as brand archetype of which there are several, such as the jester, the everyman, the magician or the hero. Understanding which archetype your company falls into is crucial if you are to strike the right emotional tone and build a brand identity that your audience can associate with and appreciate.

Industry Sector

The type of industry you work in will determine not only the type of story you tell in your video content, but also how you balance emotional content with factual information. With new and technically innovative products, for example, consumers will often crave a good deal of information on the product itself, especially if it’s breaking new ground. Conversely, in established and familiar markets, like fashion, a more emotional approach will be better at setting you apart.

Consumer Perceptions

Understanding your target customers is essential to emotional storytelling as it’s to them you’ll be telling your story to. This means knowing who your target market is, what their likes and dislikes are and the kind of content they like to consume online. All of this audience information should then come together to shape your brand’s personality. It’s no good trying to be humorous, for example, if your customer base prefers doing business with a straight talking serious type of brand.

 

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To understand both how we work and see an overview of the types of work we do please take a look at our showreel and expertise pages. We’d love to hear from you and learn more about the projects you have in mind and how we might help.