You can halve your comms budget, but double its impact? It sounds too good to be true. In fact it isn’t true. It’s actually more like quadruple or octuple or… this is where my Latin starts to desert me.
But the basic idea is that it is possible to get much, much more value from your comms budget with a far smaller spend on the media you use to reach your customers. Which in this age of austerity and belt-tightening is particularly needed.
What’s the secret to increasing your comms budget’s impact?
Well, actually, there isn’t one. Or, at least, it’s an open secret. It’s good story-telling.
The power of story telling
It’s not really rocket science: we tell stories that we love. We love a good story when we see or hear it for the first time. AND,,, (here comes the bit that most marketeers and ad men don’t understand, but it’s at the core of how you get most value from your budget) we love re-telling the story (or emailing the link) to friends and colleagues. Which is when your budget starts to behave more like a springy elastic band than a tight leather belt.
You can see the stories’ power and memorability if you look at the Channel 4 Greatest TV ads (voted by the public).
Thirty out of the top fifty all use good storytelling:
Nick Kamen in the Levis Laundrette story
Maureen Lipman in the BT ‘Ology’ story:-
Katie and the Oxo family:-
And the other twenty? Well, they all have compulsively catchy tunes, since you ask.
Message in a bottle?
So is it possible to ‘bottle’ what makes these ads such good examples of storytelling? Because, while we tell each other stories all the time, most people don’t understand what a good story needs to be truly memorable. And because if you could bottle it, imagine how much you could save on your comms.
Happily there is a framework you can use, which will ensure your comms are ‘elastic’ not ‘leather’. It’s:-
- Surprising
- Touching
- Obstacles
- Risk
- Individual
- Empathetic
- Simple
Which, it won’t surprise you, spells STORIES. But how can you apply it practically?
If you’d like to find out how good storytelling can help halve your comms budget, get in touch today.
About the author of this article
This article was written by Simon, one of Skillstudio’s consultant trainers.
Simon is based in London and has designed and runs our in-company Powerful Storytelling and Persuasive Writing workshops.
As well as being an experienced trainer and role-player Simon is an accomplished actor, writer and theatre director. He has worked as a writer, designer and film director for a range of large companies and organizations.
Simon has a MA in Politics, Philosophy and Economics from Oxford University. He has a wide range of writing experience, in both the commercial sector, as well as for television, film and radio.
You can read more about Simon here.
Like some more information?
If you’d like to find out how good storytelling can help halve your comms budget or would like to find out more about our:-
in-house workshops and 1-2-1 coaching then give us a call on +44 (0) 8456 444 150 and we’ll get Simon to touch base with you to discuss things further.
Skillstudio also offer a number of other communication and presentation training options. If you’d like some more details, please click here and then get in touch with us if you’d like to discuss your training needs in more detail.
