Video Stories: Marketing’s Next Big Thing

Video Stories: Marketing’s Next Big Thing http://t.co/1m9kIp23

Neil Perry points to a trend for brands to produce human-scale stories as part of their marketing, and how successful this is becoming. Not surprising, really, as humans love stories. In fact, the lack of decent stories is what ails “Hollywood” today.

The resulting human interest stories, with a specific brand as a centerpiece, are being utilized in a number of creative ways. For example, the videos are showing up on a brand’s Web site as personal brand commentary to humanize and personalize their corporate website.  Equally or even more common, the video stories are used as a part of content on Facebook and other social-sharing sites. These videos are perfect complements to commercials that are uploaded on brand pages on YouTube, too.

In the last week three people have sent me links to what is effectively advertising, but disguised in an interesting story, they become something people willingly share.

Practically no one is going to share a video that’s nothing more than a typical commercial featuring a new Mustang or other new car, but they might share a touching story of how someone felt about their first Mustang 10, 20 or even 30 years ago, and how they felt that first day cruising down the highway with the top down.

It’s not for nothing that Apple never push (or even talk about) specifications on their iDevices: they talk about the feelings. Emotional, personal stories will find an audience, whether it’s purely entertainment or there’s a brand behind it.