This year’s Brand Storytelling Elevate conference brought together top brands and agencies for an inspiring weekend of presentations, screenings, and networking. We met in Park City, Utah to hear and discuss the merits of long form storytelling with formats lengthy enough to let the subject matter breathe,as well as social content. Here are the 3 biggest takeaways from Sundance this past week.
Brand Credibility Gained Through Individual Stories
The value of long-form storytelling is ultimately deeper engagement with consumers - the trick is figuring out how to get consumers to lean in. Narrowing in on an individual narrative to speak to a larger trend or theme was a common refrain in this year’s conference.
One great example of this was Special Olympics International’s documentary featuring Chris Nikic, the first person with down syndrome to successfully complete a full Ironman triathlon. The film, A Special Olympics Story, resonated with audiences around the world, bringing well-earned attention and awareness to the brand.
Neutrogena took an informative and emotional approach in their documentary In the Sun. The documentary told poignant personal stories of seven families each on personal health journeys with their skin and the sun. The film also shed light on stories from people of color suffering from skin damage. Neutrogena was a natural fit for the documentary - given their lines of skincare products - but the focus remained on the personal narratives of the protagonists.
Toyota's doc, Imparable: Ismael Guzmán (Unstoppable: Ismael Guzmán) explored just how unaffordable youth sports have become. The doc follows the story of one Texas man, Ismael Guzman, who made it his mission to start his own soccer club for poor youth players. B-roll of work done out of Toyota trucks tied the brand to the narrative and exemplified Mr. Guzman’s grit throughout the documentary.
The takeaway: brands gain credibility and foster emotional connection with audiences by focusing a narrow lens on individuals. You don’t need to “boil the ocean” to tell a compelling narrative. Rather, finding a provocative individual story can move audiences immensely. The investment in story provides brands with a path to speak to like-minded consumers.
Best Practices for Short-form and Social Content
Being aware of your medium was another big takeaway for best-practices in social media storytelling. Leveraging the culture of the platform and creating content that fits natively, speaks to trends, or features native creators, all perform markedly better than its competition.
Persistence and consistency were also key to finding success on any given platform. Testing a variety of different content types, creators, or themes organically will help you determine what works best for your brand. Every brand will differ, but persistent posting and rigorous testing cements a brand’s presence on a platform.
Once a brand builds an organic foundation, larger paid investments on those found successes deliver higher ROI. New ad products on TikTok and YouTube are constantly evolving, allowing brands to boost reach and engagement of the content that works.
Reconnecting with the Creative and Storytelling Community
The simple act of putting creative marketing leaders in a room is a recipe for passionate collaboration. After two years of endless Zoom meetings, many felt disconnected from their peers and were hungry to get together and share ideas. The energy throughout the conference was collaborative, animated, and exciting.
Brand Storytelling gathered some of the best creative minds together to listen, engage, and teach. I personally enjoyed the conversations and ideas put forward on how to break convention in traditional advertising, explore the difference between content for brand vs. content for product, and design alternative methods to reach consumers through emotional appeals.
These types of special gatherings are crucial for our industry, and we can’t wait to see what future collaborations spring from our weekend at Brand Storytelling Elevate.