Whirlpool presents the volume 2 of the Digital School. Lesson 4 is dedicated to storytelling and how to create interesting content for your audience, in order to stay relevant in a crowded landscape.

1. LESSON 4
the art
of storytelling

2. introduction
How to capture the attention of a
public that is impervious to traditional
advertising?
How to create interesting content for
the public?
THE ORIGINS OF STORYTELLING
FROM HUMAN TO BRAND STORYTELLING
THE POWER OF A STORY
STORYTELLING CASES
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1
2
3
4

3. A definition
Storytelling is the interactive art of using words and actions to reveal
the elements and images of a story while encouraging the listener’s imagination*.
is interactive uses words uses actions presents a
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story
encourage
active
imagination of
the listeners
*National Storytelling Network

4. A story that began long ago...
- the origins of storytelling -
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5. Man as a social animal
“Man is by nature a social animal; an individual who is unsocial naturally and not
accidentally is either beneath our notice or more than human. Society is
something that precedes the individual. Anyone who either cannot lead the
common life or is so self-sufficient as not to need to, and therefore does not
partake of society, is either a beast or a god. ”
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Aristotle, Politics

6. The original structure
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ACT 3
CLIMAX
Turning point
ACT 4
REVERSAL
Falling action
ACT 2
COMPLICATION
Rising action
ACT 5
DENOUEMENT
Moment of release
ACT 1
EXPOSITION
Inciting moment
The novelist and playwright
Gustav Freytag has described
the structure of a classic plot.
For years the Freytag’s pyramid
has been the reference point for
every writer.

7. The evolution of storytelling
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"Yes We Can!" Photograph: FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP/Getty Images
Stories became the emotional context
able to bring people in a larger
experience.

8. We are all storytellers,
brands included
- from human to brand storytelling -
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9. We are all storytellers
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click to play
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mpOjnXcy8NE

10. Brand and human stories
The researcher Elizabeth Hisrchman demonstrated that the
“brand stories and human stories are both the products of a human tendency to see causality in the
world, to experience time (whether cyclical or linear) as an opportunity for change and challenge, and
to project human-like traits onto external objects and those of external objects onto ourselves.”
Hirschman, E. (1986). Humanistic inquiry in marketing research: Philosophy, method, and criteria. Journal of Marketing Research, 23, 237–250.
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11. Brands as storytellers
As the media landscape continues to evolve, audiences are gaining more and more control over the
information they view and share. To remain relevant, brands understand that telling compelling stories
to reach them is fundamental. Today brands are “the emotional connection between a customer and
a product”.
A real a cultural a mindset shift for companies, possible thanks to four pillars:
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brand
authenticity
meaningful
message
content
and media
skills
conversational
attitude

12. 10 functions of storytelling
1. Explain origins
2. Define individual and group identity
3. Communicate tradition and delineate taboo
4. Simplify and provide perspective, reduce complex problems to a series of easily principles
5. Illustrate the natural order of things
6. Concisely communicate complex history
7. communicate moral and ethical positions and the transference and preservation of values
8. illustrate relationships to, and with, authority
9. describe appropriate responses to life or model behaviours
10. define reward and detail the paths to salvation and damnation
What's Your Story?: Storytelling to Move Markets, Audiences, People, and Brands By Ryan Mathews, Watts Wacker
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13. Tell before you sell
- the power of a story -
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14. The first principle of storytelling behaviour
Human memory is story-based
Schank, 1999
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15. Why stories are so powerful?
Humans are social creatures and are emotionally influenced by
the stories of other people.
By lining up key elements of intelligence, cooperation, pattern-seeking,
alliance-making, and the understanding that other beings have beliefs and
knowledge of their own, stories make us stronger and more effective as a
species.
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Source: Brian Boyd, On the Origin of Stories: Evolution, Cognition, and Fiction

16. Consumers love stories
The state of online advertising Research.Adobe and Edelman Berland
http://www.adobe.com/aboutadobe/pressroom/pdfs/Adobe_State_of_Online_Advertising_Study.pdf
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Tell before
you sell

17. Some stories people loved
- storytelling cases -
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18. Dove’s Real Beauty Sketches
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In May 2013, Unilever published a research
asserting "over half (54%) of women globally
agree that when it comes to how they look,
they are their own worst beauty critic, which
equates to a staggering 672 million women
around the world”.
The campaign teaches an important lesson
about how we perceive ourselves compared to
how others see us.
The video has been viewed in more than 110
countries and became the most watched video
ad of all time, with over 114million views.
Source http://online.wsj.com/article/PR-CO-20130520-905751.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XpaOjMXyJGk

19. The beauty inside
Everyday Alex wakes up, he wakes up in a completely
different body. He's the same person on the inside, but
on the outside he's always someone new. And it's been
happening for as long as he can remember. He shares
his story through filmed episodes and real-time
conversations with the audience. Audience members
play Alex throughout the experience, both in filmed
episodes and on his Facebook timeline, via photos and
videos, adding to his narrative every step of the way.
The Beauty Inside is a 2012 social film developed by
Intel and Toshiba: six episodes, connected by
interactive storytelling that takes place on the main
character’s Facebook page, and that gives everyone
the chance to play a role in the plot.
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http://www.thebeautyinsidefilm.com/
http://vimeo.com/album/2229079

20. stories can change the world for better...
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21. Bat Kid by Make a Wish
In November 2013, Miles Scott, a five-year-old leukemia
patient, realized his dream to become Batman for a day.
Thanks to the Make a Wish Foundation, thousands
volunteers - and also businesses, the San Francisco
Giants and even the city’s mayor and police department -
responded to an avalanche of social media blasts, lining
the streets wherever Miles and a full-sized Batman
swooped into action.
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/nov/15/batkid-san-francisco-charity-make-wish
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22. 22
THANK YOU
Have you heard of the "digital natives"?
Discover who they are in our next lesson and why
are they important!
For questions or suggestions please write to:
whirlpool_emea@whirlpool.com