Content is the new king of marketing, they say. It´s not. Content that makes people talk is.
Renault UK created a life-sized Scalextric race in London featuring the all-electric Renault ZOE.
Nike created a “chalkbot” to promote its LiveStrong campaign during the Tour de France 2009. While people, in real-time, send texts to a web, a robot wrote their messages on the road.
Starting in 2011 the Colombian Ministry of Defense promotes demobilization amongst FARC guerrilla members during Christmas. For their campaigns, they set up illuminated Christmas trees in the middle of the forest and invite guerrilla member´s families to send messages to their relatives in capsules distributed by letting them float down the rivers. In the capsules, the families put letters, pictures or small Christmas presents. Their letters usually ask their relatives to demobilize and come home.
It doesn´t matter if these campaign executions look poorly made or even fake, if they are advertising or propaganda or if they are traditional advertising, guerrilla campaigns or Ideas Bigger than an Ad. They all work because they reach their goal: they make people talk about them. And people do it because the stories have conflicts, they are full of emotions and sensations and they contain the truth. Let your story spread the word.
Brand Storytelling is not about using the old broadcast mentality: producing static content. It´s about helping people to engage in conversations around content.
For ideas and tips on marketing, storytelling, and communication, you can join Antonio Nunez´s free newsletter at antonionunez.com or follow his Twitter @AntonNunez
