Listen up. If you haven’t figured it out by now, the old marketing paradigm is pretty much over,
and the era of broadcast television is sucking wind for its last few feeble gasps of relevancy. As a marketer you can no longer buy people’s attention and expect them to line up at a time you’ve selected, to be spoon-fed a sales pitch for your products. Sure you have more ways than ever to reach them now, but they just don’t want to hear what you have to say. Especially, not on the social platforms they all seem to be on now. It just isn’t what they are looking for when they’re online.
And ultimately people never really turned on the television because they wanted to watch the ads. They don’t want to be sold to; they want to be entertained, engaged, moved and inspired.
This is a prime opportunity for brands to connect on a deeper level with your audience and the only way your going to build a lasting relationship between them and your brand is by telling them a great story.
But do you know how to tell a story? Does your advertising agency know how to tell one that doesn’t involve a USP as the main protagonist in a storyline that is over in thirty seconds and ends with a clever catchphrase? We doubt it.
In the spirit of getting your brand on the right path to understanding how to tell great stories we wanted to turn you on to a really great book that came out a few years ago; before everyone and their twenty-something girlfriend became a ‘content creator’. The book is called Winning The Story Wars and we believe it’s something every marketer should have on their nightstands in printed form or on their favorite device.
The author Jonah Sachs knows what he’s talking about. You’ll learn about the fundamentals of the ancient oral tradition of storytelling; and you’ll probably pick up a new buzzword or two—like ‘digitoral’—that will make you look like the smartest one in the room at your next meeting…for that other meeting about that thing you met on this morning.
As you breeze through this fast and fun read you’ll learn some great insights like The Five Deadly Sins of Storytelling, Symbolic Thinking, The Myth Gap, and The Hierarchy of Needs; all as they relate to crafting inspiring stories around your brand.
Seriously, pick it up. Give it a read over the holidays. Then give us a call and let’s talk about how Windowseat can help you tell your brand’s story. If you don’t believe us just see what other well known names have to say about this book:
“History is written by the winners. And as Jonah Sachs makes abundantly clear, it is now being written by the marketers, the new mythmakers of our time. Whatever your product or your cause, if you want it to succeed, read this wise and enlightening book.”
— Nick Coe, CEO, Bath & Body Works; former CEO, Land’s End
“You may think you know how important stories are to the success of your enterprise — but Winning the Story Wars will take your understanding to a whole new level. A crucial book in our media-saturated world.”
— Robert Hanson, former CEO, American Eagle Outfitters; former Levi’s Global President
“Winning the Story Wars will convince you that storytelling is the most powerful way to move people to action. And it will teach you to use that power to orient our world to a more positive future. If you’re ready to be a great storyteller, read this book.”
— Kumi Naidoo, Executive Director, Greenpeace International
The author also gave a pretty good Ted Talk about the subject of his book you can watch below.
Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for an opportunity to win a copy of Story Wars. We will be selecting random followers who have followed, liked an shared our posts about the book between now and the end of the year.