I believe that all that we work for in business is relationships. Stories and storytelling is something that has been in discussion a lot lately, and the reason for me is clear: Stories are all about relationship. A story effectively changes the relationship of an audience member with something. In business it is usually a product, brand or a person. The subjects are often intertwined. A story achieves change by creating new understanding and relatable feelings in the audience, and guiding them through a dramatic change, resulting to an emotional relationship shift towards the subject. There are two kind of basic stories in business, and I describe them here as claims. A story needs to claim something to be relevant. A story just for a story’s sake, is an uninteresting one.
1. What is this
The first story claim type in business context can be told in a product video. A well structured story tells vividly the story of why and what is the product. It changes the view of the audience from not understanding, relating or caring to understanding, having personal insight, being intrigued, trusting, sharing, wanting and eventually purchasing the product and making it a part of his or her own story and identity. This story’s emotional effect is dependent on how enjoyable the execution of the story is and if it can create and an epiphany moment.
2. What is this really, emotionally about
The second claim in business could be told through a brand video. It appeals to and invokes your feelings about the core of the subject and revitalizes them, making the subject emotionally significant for you in a new way. These stories are very effective, and when the drama ties into a as big picture as possible, it makes the shift of your emotional point of view as effective as possible. And thus effectively changes your relationship to the subject.
Mixing
Great stories mix these claims purposefully in ways that slip by the viewer’s consciousness. Noticeable is that to use the second, the emotional claim, in business you need to have a relatable brand. If you don’t yet have a know brand, you can use a brand representative person or/ and you can establish your brand within your story. Because you need something that people can have emotional relationship with to make an emotional claim.
We want to engage into new meaningful relationships, and that is what stories cause us to do. They change us by changing our relationships or by beginning new ones.
P.S. A good example of using both claims described above is a well made jubilee video. Here is one:
Antti Sipilä