1. The Science of Story
Understanding How Stories Work for Brands

2. Stories are a Base
Human Function.
More science than art
Like a heartbeat, stories come natural
They are how we evolved, truly

3. What is a Story?

4. “Beginning, middle, and end.”
A Story is Not…

5. “You’re a moron.”
Gross
Oversimplification
“Beginning, middle, and end.”

6. Story is Structure.
Conveying
information
through the rise
and fall of
emotion within a
range of time.

7. Connect Emotionally with your audience
Story Structure

8. Connect Emotionally with your audience
Build Tension through conflict and obstacles
Story Structure

9. Connect Emotionally with your audience
Build Tension through conflict and obstacles
Offer Relief and repeat
Story Structure

10. Story Structure
It’s a measurable push and a pull — a way to play
on feelings — consistently engaging, informing,
tempting, and reengaging an audience.

11. Why We Need Stories.
They give us an escape; letting us play in fantasy
worlds. Every night, we go to bed and our brain sits
up telling itself wonderful stories, both memorable
and mundane.

12. They prepare us mentally for conflict. Like a flight
simulator, they help us perform better in the world. We
fail tests every night in our dreams, so we can succeed
in real life.
Why We Need Stories.

13. Stories Are a Drug.
Our brains are wired for stories. Like a drug, we
seek them out to find comfort in them. They help us
feel joy, comfort, pleasure, fear, tension, fun, love,
romance, passion, lust, need, etc.

14. You Can’t
Escape Stories.
The average daydream is 14 seconds long, and
you have about 2,000 per day, whether you
want to or not.

15. We spend ⅓ of our waking hours crafting
stories, and the rest of the time consuming
them. Our brains are always
searching for stories.
You Can’t
Escape Stories.

16. Stories Connect.
They help us share information — fire, the
wheel, what’s safe, what’s not, cooking,
hunting, etc.
They create a person-to-person
conversation and an entertaining source for
information.
They offer lasting emotional connections,
and are entertaining enough to keep our
attention.

17. “Cool story, bro. Down low!”
The Goal: As much useful information
and emotional engagement as possible, in
the shortest amount of time.
Stories Connect.

18. Facts Tell, Stories Sell
The Science of
Brand Stories

19. Stories have a spooky ability to mold our thinking,
emotions, and behavior by changing our
memory and opinions.
The Science of
Brand Stories

20. Only Emotion Endures, and that’s why we use
emotion-driven stories to sell brands and businesses
The Science of
Brand Stories

21. A Brand Story is an Experience.
Stories appeal to fundamental human desires – to
contribute, to be included as part of something, to be
understood and loved as a result.
They help our audience understand who we are as
a business, and as a group of people.
They give consumers a reason to interact with us,
to join us on our journey. It’s the opening of a door, a
beginning of a relationship.

22. Brand Stories
Humanize.

23. Brand Stories Humanize.
A story is about creating a person-to-
person conversation, making the brand
more relatable and appealing.
Businesses do not have emotion.
People do.

24. Brand Stories Sell.

25. Stories help solve a need, or craft a new need
based on unarticulated needs and desires.
But, people don’t want to know they’re being
sold.
Brand Stories Sell.

26. We are not to be sold. We are to be entertained!
“So I said, “Don’t shoot,
I’m unarmed!”

27. “Your puns are getting out of
hand, and I don’t know how
I feel about it.”
“So I said, “Don’t shoot,
I’m unarmed!”
We are not to be sold. We are to be entertained!

28. Group A Group B
Personal stories make a
hotel room worth more
$126 $133
(Photo & story from a guest)
Knowing the artist makes
a painting more valuable
$100 $110
(Adding their personal story)
Short fiction on eBay
listing makes an impact
$43 $70
(Short story resulted
in 64% more bids)
*Origina/Hill Holliday conducted a study with a representative sample of 3,000 people.

29. It’s easier for people
to remember stories
than cold, hard facts.

30. The brain doesn’t distinguish between hearing/
reading a story and actually experiencing it.
In both cases, similar neurological
regions are activated.
It’s easier for people
to remember stories
than cold, hard facts.

31. Crafting
Brand Stories
Brand stories are about giving the consumer
what they want and need, whether they ask for it
or not, and whether they know it or not.

32. Find Your One Thing.
Your Hook
Your Why
Your One Thing No One Else Has
Your One Thing No One Else Can Do
That One Thing That Will Get Attention

33. Find Your Why.
Brand storytelling is less about crafting a
story and more about finding one.
Find your brand’s why, and
you’ve found your story
There’s always a story behind a brand,
whether it’s in the product line or company
value system. It’s just waiting to be told. It’s
rarely an RTB.

34. The Brand
Isn’t the Hero.

35. The Brand
Isn’t the Hero.
Normally, brands believe themselves to be at
the center of their story, saving people.
The best brands make their consumers the
hero of the story, facilitating their
dreams and desires
Make the product or service the great gift,
tool, or mentor so they can save
the day themselves

36. Know
Your Audience.
Understand the customer and what
motivates them, what they want out of life —
their goals, dreams, aspirations.

37. Assume They’re Stupid, Your
Story will be Stupid.

38. “Tell me a bedtime story.”
Assume They’re Stupid, Your
Story will be Stupid.

39. “Once upon a time… you have
tuberculosis.”
“Tell me a bedtime story.”
Assume They’re Stupid, Your
Story will be Stupid.

40. Check the Ego, Make the Sale.

41. We’re still trying to sell, so don’t leave the product or
service out entirely
Stories that entertain, but do not inform,
generally, do not sell
Always connect the brand to the story with emotion and
purpose. Do it in a believable way.
Check the Ego, Make the Sale.

42. In this industry, we try too hard to
force-feed content, stories, claims,
RTBs, etc.

43. We offer one perspective,
one solution, one way to
think.

44. Sometimes the Story
is in What You
Don’t Say.

45. Tell stories that aren’t 100% clear, so
people will fill in their own elements,
utilizing story layers and depth to create
narratives across audiences.
Sometimes the Story
is in What You
Don’t Say.

46. Like an iceberg, have the consumer fill
in the pieces to an incomplete picture,
taking them on their own journey by
allowing them to customize their story to
fit their needs and desires, and what they
envision in their own mind.
Sometimes the Story
is in What You
Don’t Say.

47. Consider the legendary six-word Story
by Hemingway, “For Sale, Baby Shoes,
Never Worn.” It incites a story in your
mind. You fill in the pieces yourself.
Sometimes the Story
is in What You
Don’t Say.

48. Also consider Ogilvy’s creation: The Man in
the Hathaway Shirt. This "story appeal" aroused
reader curiosity through an eyepatch. How, they
wondered, had the man lost his eye? What
adventures has he experienced in those
interesting shirts? What adventures
will I have if I buy one?
Sometimes the Story
is in What You
Don’t Say.

49. Never Let the Truth
Get in the Way of a
Good Story.

50. Don’t Give’m a Song.
Give’m Something to
Sing About.
We’re not just selling products, we’re selling the
emotional connections that come from them — the
people and passion behind the work.

51. Intrusive, self-involved marketing doesn’t work,
so you must tell stories that endure.
Don’t sell a mattress. Sell a good night’s sleep.
Don’t Give’m a Song.
Give’m Something to
Sing About.

52. Remember, You’re
a Storyteller.
Everything you do is a story, and the stories you
consume help you in everything you do

53. Remember, You’re
a Storyteller.
Use the communication of emotion in a specific
structure to build brands

54. Remember, You’re
a Storyteller.
Believe in the power of stories, and their ability
to be a tool, a weapon, for us as marketers,
whether you’re writing an email
or pitching a client.

55. The Science of Story
by James Dowd