storytelling, publishing and purpose

cannes 2014

four big themes

tell me a story !!shift to publishing !!NFPs still tell the best stories !!forget about positioning it's all about purpose !!a last word from Jony

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Advertising has always been about storytelling, but this was the buzzword of the festival. !It’s a helpful metaphor to use when thinking about how marketing is changing and some principles we need to think about when we’re marketing…. ! Don’t give the answer away but raise the question you want people to think about (Spike Jonze) ! Understand the ‘meta-story’ you want to work with ie. Good versus Evil, Competition, Teamwork ( (Marcello Serpa) At the end of the day it’s about human connection (Eddy Moretti) !This adoption of storytelling helps make advertising transcendent, a part of culture.

Tell me a story

example, Chipotle ‘scarecrow’

example, British Airways ‘look up’

example, intermarche ‘inglorious vegetables’

shift to publishing

In order to tell a great story businesses need to look at how they’re currently set-up. !Twitter’s Joel Lunenfeld described the way organisation are currently set-up as ‘classical orchestras’ - waiting for instruction from their conductor. The problem is that we are ‘living in the age of Jazz’. !The best stories require organisations to be able to ‘riff’. For the consumer to take them, build on them and share them. !This means moving from product-centric marketing departments to marketing departments (and companies) that look more like publishers. !!

"The intersection between linear

storytelling and social engagement is the next

big thing.” Jeff Katzenberg, co-founder

Dreamworks

example, harvey nichols ‘spent it on myself’

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P8DOZ_rK8rI&list=PL6lS5gR6UK_FVPDnrE3pa0S2KHobZ00ay

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7USJs-CfVg

example, Bob Dylan/Sony ‘like a rolling stone’

http://video.bobdylan.com/desktop.html

NFPs still tell the best stories

the real winners in the awards ceremonies (aside from Volvo) were not-for-profit organisations. !it seems that these are the stories that are easier to tell because there is obviously a level of creative freedom (minus the scam-ads) that go with working for a NFP; on top of this they’re all based on a social purpose not a product or a positioning. !!This is where we're seeing the cutting edge - great stories being told with interesting technology. !!!!

example, not impossible lab ‘project daniel’

example, 350 action ‘climate name change’

anyone that's up-to-speed on the latest marketing thinking will have heard all about purpose, but it's importance was really apparent at Cannes. !!it was spoken about by A+E Networks in their efforts to rebrand, was evident in a presentation contrasting Visa (positioning-based) with Nike (purpose-based), but best brought to life by Solar Impulse - makers of the first solar powered plane which will fly around the world in 12 months time. !when asked what they were doing, they didn't reply 'making a solar powered plane' (i.e. the product), but rather, replied they were creating a better world for people to live in. Summed up in their tagline - exploration to change the world. !!

it’s all about purpose

“the team know why they’re there, it’s about changing the world’ Betrand Piccard, Founder

and a final word…

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