Thread by @minethatdata

1 - Ponder this message: adcontrarian.blogspot.com/2020/02/storyt…

2 - Across my projects, there is a genuine lack of storytelling. Once the data folks took over and drove out creatives, the art of telling a story disappeared. Sometimes the art was replaced by data-driven storytelling, which is (of course) ... worse.

3 - 35 years ago, Wendy's had a "Where's The Beef" campaign. That's storytelling. They're helping you understand why they are different.

The modern Popeyes chicken sandwich is storytelling fueled by the masses ... seeded by Popeyes but stuff fueled by "the community".

4 - Once the data folks gained an amount of control, customer awareness changed ... my clients would ask "where should I put my money" ... which is a very different strategy than "where should I put my energy"??

5 - "Where should I put my money" leads us down very different paths ... we end up putting our faith in platforms (Amazon, Facebook, Google).

Meanwhile, we have nothing to say.

6 - If we can't craft a single storytelling narrative for a mass audience, how in the heck are we going to create a personalized, one-to-one message for individuals?

7 - View the world as a flat triangle with three points.

a) Brand Message / Storytelling.

b) Platforms.

c) Personalization.

8 - You need a strong brand message / storytelling in order to have something to amplify the platforms where you "buy" customers (FYI - you don't have to "buy" customers as the message gets stronger).

9 - But what about personalization? Data folks love it. Vendors love it. And if you believe that moving from 7 in 10,000 customers to 8 in 10,000 customers responding is a glowing personalization success, then customers love it as well.

10 - Across my client base personalization works extremely well at a customer level when the focus is ... wait for it ... merchandise!

11 - In other words, if you personalize the products you sell each customer (while maintaining a consistent brand messaging / storytelling component across platforms), response/conversion improves.

12 - In other words, when I visit Schwans, I should see products that I like aligned with products that I might like. Their emails should promote items that I like alongside products I might like. Those items are personalized to me.

13 - However, Schwans should have a common storytelling / brand messaging strategy that creates awareness ... and that awareness fuels the personalization strategy, which then helps you generate a ton of profit at a customer level.

14 - One client generates a 50% increase in conversion rates when they personalize email and home pages and landing pages ... with personalization focused on the products the customer loves.

They also have a strong storytelling strategy to create awareness ...

15 - And the storytelling process creates enough new prospects / customers to fuel the personalization strategy (which is employed at a customer level).

Storytelling / Brand messaging for masses.

Personalization at a product level.

Platforms to buy customers.

Make sense??
KH