Future's in the magic of stories

The Gundappa ad doesn't try to hard sell Lifebuoy. Instead, the soap's role was delivered in the most subtle way, trusting the audience's intelligence to make the connection

As kids, each one of us loved stories, where there lived dragons, forests and fairies.Then we grew up on 70mm, larger-than-life movies that pluck episodes from people's life and immortalised them. Stories, in fact, have been the very genesis of our culture: Mahabharata, the greatest epic, was a story told. Stories and people share an impermeable connection, and now these stories have found a new muse: Advertising! The long-format story is the new protagonist of advertising. Commercials, till now, were more about brand stories, for which people have little empathy. The audience is more interested in stories which they can relate to, that reflect and revolve around them. This truth is now the new insight of advertisers. Content creation is moving in this direction, which is heartening to see.

It all began with the success of Lifebuoy's Gundappa, which received 20 million YouTube hits and is still
counting. What followed was the heart-warming Google Reunion story. Recent creations include Fortune Oil's Stubborn grandmother and the Nescafe stammering stand-up comedian story and DBS' Chilly paneer love story. The common thread that runs through these creatives is a 'brilliant human story and emotion'. It is in the emotion that is evoked that the role of the brand is weaved in. For instance, the Gundappa ad doesn't try to hard sell Lifebuoy. Rather, it shows the purpose the brand fulfils, which is relevant to the audience. In it the hero isn't the brand, but the father and the brand just surfaces as a support for the story. The purpose in the story was to ensure children live longer by eliminating bacteria-led diseases. But the message about the soap's role was delivered in the most subtle way, establishing a connection. It is good to see brands just bringing forth a story and trusting the audience's intelligence to make the connection.

The more selfless the story greater the impact; the Reunion is a brilliant example. A beautiful story told in which the role of the product is seamlessly woven.

In the story of the stubborn grandmother and the joy of homemade food, Fortune appears nowhere, but the ad so simply endorses homemade food and describes the oil's role in it.

As for the Nescafe ad, although the product seems a bit forced into the story - its role in the stammering comedian's life feels a bit deliberate - yet the storyline and the way it is executed are beautiful. The insight is so unique and premise so different - a man who stutters can be a loved stand-up comedian - the ad becomes refreshing.

These experimentations can have their own drawbacks. DBS bank's Singaporean food blogger and the art director's love-story falls flat due to its lack of originality.

But discounting the flaws these stories may have, it is a gallant effort by each of these brands to make people and stories the protagonists and connecting the two. This is not branded content but brands themselves becoming content. Today, advertising is changing so much that the brands need to do most of the content creation and curation. The way forward for any brand today is to become a publisher. But in doing so, they need to be more selfless, fresh, more engaging.

With these long-story formats, we have taken the first step, but there is still a long way before we can make consumers live the story - because a story lived is better than a story told. For instance the Intel and Toshiba's The Beauty Inside was a path-breaking way of making the customer live the story. It is about a man who wakes up every morning as a different person, one day a young boy, another a woman, an old man. He knows this is happening and thus, maintains a diary and talks on the web about how he feels that day because he doesn't remember what he was yesterday. His life progresses happily until one day he falls in love with a girl. In this twist, they involved the audience. Thus, the two brands created an interactive film where any one of them became him for that day and lived the way he would. I am sure each participant would never forget this campaign because they were in it.

The moment we learn to tell a story, we learn to create a brand experience to involve people. That is where the we are headed. Let's learn the magic of stories!

The author is chief creative officer, Sapient Nitro, India