Influx

Pete Blackshaw over at CGM makes a great point about the power of storytelling. He was reacting to a speech Saatchi’s Kevin Roberts just gave at Ad:Tech, which focused on the power of emotional stories and how these are often overlooked in the interactive world, where clicks are often the most important thing.

Advertising agencies pride themselves in being master storytellers, but Blackshaw’s point is that consumer’s stories are often far richer and obviously more real.

This quote sums up his point perfectly.

“Roberts shared an intensely emotional Pampers TV ad. As a new parent, my eyes got watery, but the emotion was nothing compared to the feelings I have when I post photos and videos to my own blog dedicated to our twins Liam and Leila, some of which implicate (positively or negatively) brands. And I’m not unique. There are tens of millions of emotion-rich, consumer-created “points of expression” blossoming across the web. Nearly 50% of consumers are now content-creators, and emotion is the core driver behind why they share experiences and feeling openly with other consumers.”

In a battle for authenticity, whose emotions are more relevant, the ones manufactured by corporations or the ones really experienced by consumers? The answer is that you probably need both and you can have both. Great advertising, as long as it is great, is like great filmaking, it has the power to inspire us and the new openness of the internet now allows people to tell their own stories. So the future is probably about a combination of these two elements; inspiration and participation.

One of the upcoming battles in the marketing world will be over creative control. How much are advertisers and their agencies willing to encourage creative contributions from consumers and exactly how will they facilitate a process that enables people to tell their stories in a compelling way?