Storytelling, I believe,
is a distinctly human thing.
It's our super power. But, why? Why is storytelling the quintessential human experience?
There are an endless number of reasons, but these are a few I believe in and why I love what I do.
Time Travel
The closest thing we have to traveling through time — whether back to the past to see where we've been or into the future to imagine where we might go — is a good story.
Beware...
"...the witch in the candy house." Cautionary tales told around a campfire and read at our childhood bedside have taught us encoded danger signals not kindly learned through actual experience.
Memory Transfer
Maybe a little more poetic than it's titled, but oral and written stories have carried humanity's experiences since the dawn of time *give or take a few millennia.
Around the Water Cooler
Be it (non-toxic) office gossip, or an inside joke, shared stories give groups commonality and a connection that bring them together. It's the social glue that helps us all coexist on the same beautiful rock hurdling through the vastness of space.
Imagine a World
Oh to travel to a wondrous new world at the edge of space, or dive into a life filled with magic, or fly with dragons in a lost kingdom. Where would we be without a little imagination?
Who am I?
Not unlike Memory Transfer, our own personal identity is found through story. It's how we portray ourselves to new people when they ask us about ourselves, and it's the meaning we hold dear from the family stories shared over dinner.
But what about storytelling within branding?
Make it sticky.
While the above reasons are true for any good story, it's also what we strive for in branding and advertising. Contrary to popular opinion, most creatives don't want to pump out slop for the void, we want to create something sticky.
I believe this can be accomplished when we're not afraid to push back, when we challenge the status quo, and ask questions of our clients in order to get them to to see past the obvious. And, yes, this is easier said than done, but why not try anyways.