This week we saw the annual celebration of World Book Day. A fantastic occasion where schools, libraries and people like you and I celebrate all that is great in the world of literature.

Here at TAP we were thrilled to join in. Following our sponsorship of new chairs for the reading corner at the local pre-school, we took the opportunity to share some of our favourite farm stories with the children.

This experience also got us reflecting on the value of storytelling. Good storytelling engages and captivates an audience, evoking emotions and building a relationship with the audience. In fact, it’s a way of communicating which is almost as old as time itself.

Some of the world’s oldest books – The Bible, The Quran, the Torah- all tell a story to deliver a message or even to explain history.

We all have a favourite book that evokes memories. And despite the digital revolution, books remain an important part of our world today. Everywhere you look there’s a story to be told, or being told.

Storytelling is so relevant to everyone’s world but no more so than in our world of marketing where we are all competing for attention. One of the most successful ways that brands connect with their customers is through the power of storytelling.

Steve Jobs was an expert at telling the story of new Apple products in his launch speeches, creating a must-have, iconic brand.  We’ve all seen many big brand names successfully engaging with their customers through a well thought out ad campaign narrative – Nike have become global masters at this.

Their #DreamCrazy campaign was a brilliant example of inspiring the viewer and addressing current affairs in a way that makes you think – about yourself, your actions and… their product!

The trick is telling a tale that resonates with your customer. It could be the history behind your product, it could be the people behind your product or, it could be aligning your product or service with a sentiment or conversation. We love this example from Dodge, which featured at the 2013 Superbowl.

Here, Dodge have taken a powerful recording, with strong sentiment and used the commercial to associate the “mighty farmer”, who people depend on, with their mighty, dependable truck.

Using imagery and a poignant, familiar speech they have created the perfect balance and produced a really engaging and thought provoking piece – which, according to some of the comments on YouTube even reduced farmers to tears! 

All these examples make it look so easy – we all have a story don’t we? But the key to success in the world of marketing, however you choose to tell your tale, is to always be truthful and authentic.

In doing so, you build a relationship and trust with your customer that can only go on to build bigger and better things, as well as growing true brand advocates.

And in this fast-paced world we live in, whether you used World Book Day as an excuse to indulge in your favourite book, or to talk with your family about favourite characters and tales of old, we hope you were able to take the time to disconnect and reconnect with those around you. After all, when you look back at life, it won’t be the evenings spent online you’ll recall, but the memories you made along the way. 

We all have a story to tell, make sure it’s a good one!