Robyn Roste, Systems & Funnels

Storytelling and Advertising, Part 1

There is something about storytelling and advertising, which leaves me captivated. I listen to the ads, think about how they chose to sell their product, service, event, or cause, and then think about how effective it was.

Storytelling and Advertising

Storytelling and Advertising

I watched POM Wonderful Presents: The Greatest Movie Ever Sold and it made me think about storytelling and advertising. It’s possible I’m obsessed, I catch myself listening to the radio specifically for the advertisements now.

Funny, right? I mean, after my first two years of media studies I was so disgusted with the manipulation in the industry I quit school and moved to a place without cable (I think they have it now). But they still had radio there.

The main radio station in town was, like, hyper-local. Where the announcers pronounced words like “cache” cash-aye instead of cash. I spent a lot of time listening to this station. Not by choice. It was because the place I worked had a radio waaaaaaaay up on 18′ shelves and I couldn’t change it. It played on and on all day, every day.

I’m thankful for this time in my life because listening to this silly little station for eight hours a day introduced me to syndicated programming in the form of Paul Harvey.

And now, for the rest of the story

The late American journalist’s storytelling was captivating. These short features presented little-known facts on an array of topics with the key element of the story held until the end. I learned to look forward to these daily story times. It made the other seven hours and 55 minutes bearable.

As I listened each day I became more and more interested in telling stories too. In fact I believe this was one of the many small incidents, which led me back to university and media. Maybe I could become a great storyteller too.

So how does advertising fit in? Well as the years have passed I’m learning advertising can be an effective means of storytelling. And for the most part I like it, so long as the content is truthful and not manipulative.

These Anchorman spots for Dodge are a home run.

For example. They’re a perfect example of what The Greatest Movie Ever Sold was studying about media partnerships.

Fascinating!

I’m finding myself intrigued by the industry and curious to know what works, what doesn’t, and why.

Next up, Storytelling and Advertising, Part 2.

There is something about storytelling and advertising, which leaves me captivated. I find myself listening to the radio specifically for the advertisements.

One more thing. You may be interested in my free resource library. This is where I keep my files, downloads, ebooks, worksheets and whatever else I manage to create. I love sharing what I learn and want to keep adding to this library so it becomes a wealth of helpful goodness.

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