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Story Telling CampaignsThe campaigns and the advertising a! about stories....

CANVAS

Sneak Peak• Stories and analysis of Power - Bharadwaj Battaram

• Once upon a time - Priyamvada Singh

• Cadbury’s Campaign - Ankur Shukla

• Different, And, Inside - Bharadwaj Battaram

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STORIES AND THE ANALYSIS OF POWER

The 21st century unfolds. Humanity faces a new crisis, unique and complex. Centuries of colonialism, genocide, unchecked industrialization, plunder of the natural world, and the unexamined story of “progress,” have pushed the planet’s life support systems to the brink of collapse. An understanding of it all can be found looking through the lens of stories.

Humans understand the world and their place in it through stories. Stories are embedded with power, power to explain status quo, power to define the world and change it even, power to create and bring together, and power to destroy too.

As they say, “History is written by the winners”, over time a story (even imposed by brute force) becomes conventional wisdom and embeds itself into the culture and heritage, the ways of life. In other words, we live in an Era of Stories, outdated stories and stories of meaning and reason. As more and more people realize what stories are outdated and bring us to divide and ruin, the world is changing for the better, thanks to the efforts of these wise few. With these efforts also grows the room for new stories, alternate stories.

This space invades everywhere as people from all walks of life take to action challenging systems of domination and control. These interventions occur at all places, from the point of destruction of the ecosystems and life to the point of birth and production where workers organizing in the workplaces, sweatshops and farm lands. Consumer boycotts and market campaigns spring up at the point of consumption where are sold products made from exploitative processes.

In today’s media saturated world, soundbyte news coverage seamlessly blends with image management, misinformation and global advertising marketing complex. To keep the work from drowning, an understanding of the cultural environment and a deeper understanding of how power operates through narrative proves necessary.

Story based strategy explains what people DO, what the existing stories are and what the underlying and defining assumptions are. It works to reach past people’s narrative filters, affect the dominant issue and bring it to a better light.

The revolution is coming. The revolution of the common sense. The revolution of the imagination. All the changes in the world point to that. And as marketers, it is duty to be ready and part of the revolution.

- Bharadwaj BattaramIIM Rohtak

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ONCE UPON A TIME

We all had a grandmother who used to tell us bedtime stories. But there was something in those stories, that I am reminded of them all and would want to pass on to my grandchildren. Why is it so? Stories leave an impact on our mind so strong that even when 15 years old, we still manage to remember them. They stay there somewhere and pop up when you see anything related...like when you see shiny heels, they remind you of Cinderella... the instance you see your friend sleeping, u call her ‘sleeping beauty’... I bet this happens with all of you. So what is common in all of them? Why every one of us has our favorite fairy tale?

Human mind is good at understanding things and remembering them when associated with something and followed up on the same story line. Stories are something which have been there since our birth. All the stories of our childhood have some theme or lesson in it which we still follow

and will keep following in life. This is where marketers gain. They make use of this human tendency. The tendency to grasp more when told in a story because it relates to our surroundings, it relates to our life.

Today Maggi is loved by around 90% of population of India. The present generation have enjoyed it since their childhood. When ‘Maggi’ turned 25 in 2009, Nestle launched a campaign “Me aur meri Maggi” and it was a huge success. They started with a beautiful concept of asking the customer about their story with Maggi. They targeted every single loyal customer and attacked their emotions. The campaign asked everyone to share their stories related to Maggi 2-minutes Instant Noodles. Maggi (esp instant noodles) is now an important part of our lives. It was there in our Tiffin when we went to school, it is there at 3am when we are hungry in hostel, it is there when we don’t have enough money for a lavish treat, it is there when we don’t have enough time to make breakfast

before office, it is there with friends, and it’s there always. So when Nestle asked people to share their stories with them, customers started recollecting their memories with Maggi. It indirectly made them realize for how long they have been enjoying Maggi and thus making their loyal customers even more loyal and attached to it. The customers got an opportunity to share their stories and thus to be able to see themselves on the packaging of their favourite brand. Thus the customers were excited. With a low cost strategy, requiring only redesigning the packaging and setting up a website to request stories, Nestle was able to touch each of their loyal customer’s heart. The interesting point here is that the stories about Maggi were given by customers. The company just triggered the emotions of the

customers and thus was able to show the trust customers have on it. It not only increased their sales but also strengthened the bond between the customers and Maggi.

Marketing through storytelling is an art which depends on how accurately you are able to identify the factor which moves a customer and which can make a customer relate with a brand or company. Nestle figured it out pretty accurately and launched its absolutely new campaign which connected to mass like never before...

- Priyamvada SinghIIM Rohtak

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Stories are part of every culture and especially Indian culture where we are used to listening to them during bed time. They are used as a means to teach us moral values and provide entertainment at the same time. Using them in advertisements with effectiveness requires a lot of creativity. It can also be used to make your product a high involvement product because if used effectively people will talk about it, it will be there in the mind and we will like to see it again and again. The present article will discuss ad campaign from Cadbury which was in the form of a story.

The ‘Shubh Aarambh. Kuch Meetha Ho Jaye’ (Auspicious start. Eat something sweet) campaign was build around the fact that Indians usually prefer to eat something sweet before doing some ‘shubh kaam’ to have a favorable outcome.

The ad which I am talking about is set up on a bus stop with the girl eating dairy milk and waiting for bus. The boy asks for a bite to which the girl inquires the reason. He tells her that his mother has advised to eat something sweet before starting anything auspicious. The girl offers him a cube of the chocolate. She then inquires about the ‘shub kaam’, and the boy tells her that he was thinking of dropping her at home. It unfolds like a story and you are hooked to it till the end. It’s difficult to change the channel if you are watching it for the first time. You want to know what will happen next. In just few seconds the advertisement has all the elements of a beautiful story crafted to perfection. The music in the background is also very soothing and brings out the naughtiness in the whole set up. The target segment is the young generation. Young people usually find it difficult to ask a girl out for a date or start a conversation. The ad uses this hitch very cleverly. I am sure the boys would have felt the creativity in starting a conversation and girls would have felt how innocent it was after seeing the ad. It also highlights the Indian cultural values for the youth. It is difficult to get out of your head.

Another ad in the same campaign in which a husband offers Cadbury Dairy Milk to his wife who is nervous to step out in jeans because of the reaction of her neighbors and mother in law and what they would say about her. The husband tells her that his mother would advise her to eat something sweet before starting a ‘shub kaam’. The

wife takes a bite of the cube and reluctantly smiles at him. The husband then points towards the exit and she steps out with him. Just then, a young neighbor notices her and compliments her. This ad is again in the form of a story with which young married couples could associate. The values of Indian families are brought out. A very common problem with which young married women could associate is used. In India it is still difficult for women to wear modern clothes (e.g jeans) in front of elders. This problem is beautifully used in the form of a story and the importance of “kuch meetha ho jaye” is also brought out. The background music again is very cleverly used and leaves a nice auditory impact.

In India sweets are symbols of festivity and happiness and a lot goes into preparing and serving them. Indians are diehard fans of sweets and keep looking for occasions to celebrate. Sweets are ingrained in Indian culture and associated with positivity and prosperity. Cadbury Dairy Milk

has tried to capture the essence, the flavor and nitty-gritty of the mithai moments, building itself on the back of a widely followed custom and familiar rituals. By continuously honing the strategic communication behind the brand’s eloquent campaigns and commercials and through insightful product innovations, Cadbury Dairy Milk has succeeded in devising ways to increase consumption and become a healthier choice of replacement to the traditional sweets. The targeting of each segment has been with innovative story line behind it and with issues they could associate. If all the elements of a good story can be incorporated in such a short span time and leave a smile on your face at the end, then the ad surely sets a standard for itself in terms of being creative and fulfilling the purpose for which it was meant. You never get bored seeing the ad again and again.

CADBURY, STORY BASED CAMPAIGN

- Ankur ShuklaIIM Rohtak

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DIFFERENT, AND, INSIDE

THINK DIFFERENTIn an almost forgotten, long ago time, dire

straights were where Apple was in. It was 1997. Steve Jobs had returned. Press wasn’t interested in Apple. The TV studio on Cupertino campus was unneeded. Umax’s updated S900 embarrassed Apple. Apple’s brand was diluted.

Acting as the de facto CEO, Jobs took on the problem personally. Lee Chow, creative director of Chiat/Day, one of the three ad agencies invited to present ideas, presented Jobs with a new slogan and aesthetic for the ads: Think Different. Chow said he wanted to feature filmmakers at Dreamworks SKG working on their Macs.

Jobs, enamored with the concept had other ideas. Instead of filmmakers, he wanted to use celebrities and thinkers. The brainstorming began on the spot.

Chiat/Day and Jobs got working on the ad, in a totally computer based creative environment. Though the ad was entirely produced by Chiat/Day, Jobs reviewed revisions at every step. The Television commercial was produced using an Avid 4000 system on a Mackintosh with Adobe AfterEffects. Jennifer Gulab, who worked on the TV commercial, was in contact with Jobs daily, working out the images, the music and the narration which was done by Richard Dreyfus. Dreyfus read a free verse poem, “Here’s to the Crazy Ones” written by a Chiat/Day copywriter, Craig Tanimoto.

The first rule of the campaign was that there would be no products in the ads. The participants (or their estates) instead of being paid, were given money and computer equipment to be donated to the charities or non-profits of their choice. Apple

bought space in popular magazines and fashion magazines for the print ads.

The campaign debuted on September 28, 1997. It was remarkably popular, receiving glowing press write-ups. It was the turning point for Apple. The ads won a slew of awards. Developed a cult following. After the first campaign, Apple started sending complimentary products to public schools to hang in the classrooms.

The campaign maintained till 2002, some of the Apple stores featuring Think Different tableaus.

Inspiration springs from the most dire of situations and that inspiration flares the imagination, that’s how great concepts are sometimes born. Two of the biggest names in today’s world stand proof to the statement, names that we see everywhere we turn, names that have grown to supersede all others, names both of which are duo syllabic and five letter long.

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INTEL INSIDE

From the dawn of personal computing in the 1970s, marketing was driven by computer vendors and software publishers. The processor drove the rapid increase in performance which in turn helped systems run smoothly and faster. Intel played a central role in transforming the PC. But the consumers were none the wiser. One mentioning “microprocessors” would get mystified stares from the consumers.

Then came 1989. And Dennis Carter. Marketing manager at Intel, he formed a small group and marketing microprocessor 386SX to the IT managers purchasing PCs for their businesses. The effort was successful and the team realized the time was ripe to launch a new marketing program, a novel campaign of marketing to the end users. The idea seemed a stretch to the people within the company and to the media too. Another issue was that the semiconductor was only a component, a key component but a component still.

After much study, in 1991, Carter and team launched the Intel coop marketing program. They came up with the tagline “Intel. The computer inside” which was later shortened to “Intel Inside”. The OEM program was the first, and when it was underway, Intel started print advertising around the world explaining to the customers the logo and what it meant. In 1992, made by George Lucas’ Industrial Light Magic, Intel debuted its first TV

advertising stressing speed, power and affordability. It used state-of-the-art special effects to take viewers on a sweeping trip through the innards of the personal computer before hovering over the campaign's raison d'être - the then new Intel i486™ processor. Along with colorful TV advertisements, Intel added a distinctive and memorable three-second animated jingle (known as a signature ID audio visual logo), displaying the logo and playing a five-tone melody.The tune, now familiar, cemented a positive image in the consumers’ minds.

The campaign was a huge success. The PCs took over the world in the years to follow. And with them, Intel grew on too. From being a component unknown, the processor became The component in the PC and Intel was on the Top.

ABSTRACT’S THE KEY

There are numerous campaigns that the world has witnessed, which are built around a story. There are also the many more campaigns that aren’t so obviously built around a story. But, the fact remains, there is no campaign that doesn’t have a story at its heart. A successful campaign is like a well written story, pulling in the reader into the world of the story. It is up to the marketer to choose the design of the campaign and the

style. While many would choose to tell the story open and clear; most consciously, and unconsciously, tilt over to the more abstract telling of the story, so much so that the lack of story seems an argument holding ground. It is here that the line takes birth, Abstract’s the key.

Could it be so? The story certainly seems to be with the abstract. And these abstract stories change fortunes, change the world itself, telling of

greatness from the past and the present, and telling of the treasures hidden inside. Campaigns centered on stories certainly can be successful, if told properly.

- Bharadwaj BattaramIIM Rohtak

MARQUE! 6 NOVEMBER 2011

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