From first glance 2014 offers enormous potential for the marketing world to finally, and broadly, embrace the oft-discussed topic of authentic storytelling as a market moving tactic. To wit I offer two examples that came to my attention barely moments after the ball had dropped. One is a consumer product; the other a work of pop art—and both effectively embrace what I might call the new “realism” that authenticity and storytelling can facilitate for advertising, publicity and overall marketing application.
The folks over at Turbo Tax along with its new agency Widen + Kennedy, have struck proverbial gold with a re-branding spot that literally asserts the idea that annual tax preparation is simply a story recap of your life’s previous twelve months. Unlike more recent competitive thrusts in the product category that has chided competitors or suggested the annual ritual of civic tax responsibility was somehow a punitive element of American life, the spot literally celebrates all that one did in 2013 in a neat 90-second story with a beginning, middle and end. So impressive and impactful is the communication heft of the spot that even the folks over at Forbes (hardly a marketing centric publication) have taken close attention and paid high praise.
Get this–in talking about tax filing the spot promotes that one’s tax-relevant events and activities of the last year (e.g., having a baby, purchasing a home, etc.) is just another chapter in the individual stories of all of us. Seldom have I found an advertisement to be socially redemptive communication in its storytelling—but this one is and among the very, very few advertisements (such as Apple’s 1984 Macintosh “Orwellian” ad) that may be remembered years from now and considered a stand-alone work of art.
The other example has the unique duality of possessing a product feature that is authentic storytelling, and simultaneously leverages said authenticity as primary marketing tactic. The widely revered Humans of New York is the latest result of the ongoing work from Brandon Stanton to portray everyday New Yorkers in a photo blog form. An anthology of sometimes sub-professional snapshots and accompanying, brief quotes is what Stanton’s book uses to frame our understanding of real New Yorkers from every walk of life. So real and so authentic is Stanton’s ambition that his minimal professional photography skills are something he considers an asset to enhance the authenticity of his portrayals.
So far he has been rewarded with the top-spot on the New York Times bestseller list (uncommon for a conventional photo book) and has fueled literally dozens of lesser-known spinoffs that are trying to extract the same magic for a different geography. Stanton’s concept is ingenious in its warmth, simplicity and above all else, authenticity.
If Turbo Tax and Humans of New York are any indication of where the marketing is headed, 2014 may be remembered as a pivotal year when marketers finally came to their senses and decided being authentic made both good communication and business sense.
{{cta(‘4aa57eb1-f5f9-4ff9-b510-26fee7c0e9df’)}}
_____
John Durante is marketing services director for WordWrite Communications.
