Meet Andrés López-Varela, General Manager of Storyation, and someone who knows a thing or two about storytelling in the business arena.
His years of expertise developing strategic branded content and global marketing strategies are rooted in telling the stories of brands like Blackmores, James Hardie, Commonwealth Bank, Nespresso, NRMA, Pfizer, PlayStation, hipages and more. Andrés was also the Global Content Editor for Tourism Australia from 2014 to 2017, where he revamped the brand’s content by combining a data-led approach with editorial storytelling.
Here are some insights to consider when developing branded content and building a brand narrative encompassing internal and external communications.
How can storytelling help brands shape how they present their values in engaging ways to build genuine relationships with their audience?
“Storytelling is such a broad term that means something different for every brand and industry, so rather than say there’s one or just a handful of ways this approach can help, it’s important to consider what good storytelling looks like for your audience.
Most importantly, you’re looking for the formats, channels and styles of stories that really cut through the noise for your audience and feel familiar to them. I encourage marketers and communicators to approach this concept with an open and curious mind to discover what matters to the people they’re trying to talk to. In fact, this is really the greatest benefit of a storytelling approach for brands; understanding their audience’s interests and motivations better by observing their responses to the stories you share.
If you can identify the sorts of topics and channels that really pique your audience’s interest, you’re going to be in a much better position to speak to them in ways that create a meaningful relationship with them over time. And that relationship is probably going to be based more so on what matters to them and how you can play a useful role in their lives, rather than just talking about your own brand.”
How can a shared understanding of storytelling and narrative improve internal communications?
“Brands that embrace the storytelling approach more often than, say, retail-style content tactics might find themselves in a better position to create a shared understanding across their organisation about the way marketing/comms team contribute to the brand’s shared goals.
For example, if you’re leading with storytelling in your above the line content, you might find that you have an easier time educating stakeholders about why you’re making certain creative, comms or media choices. Human beings love stories, it’s how we make sense of the world, so it might make some of that previously impenetrable marketing jargon into something more accessible for your colleagues and other teams that aren’t as immersed in the content work as you are.”
From your experience, do you notice an improvement in the creative outputs when teams have a shared understanding of the storytelling pillars that shape the brand’s narrative?
“Yeah, without a doubt, this is generally true across most brands and teams, especially when there are multiple disciplines involved in more complex and cross-functional projects. In my experience developing strategies for clients and working in-house as part of a large marketing team, when you line your content activity up under storytelling pillars, you have a greater chance of getting buy-in across the organisation and are less likely to have to field nuisance requests for content.
The benefits of storytelling pillars (also known as content themes or many other jargony words) generally come to life in two main ways: improved efficiency in creative development and better understanding of success metrics. Your development of creative is more likely to move through concept and validation stages faster and with less friction if you can demonstrate how ideas align to storytelling pillars. Similarly, a stronger shared language around what success looks like might make it easier to discard those ideas and approaches that aren’t quite working so you don’t waste resources on endless experiments or creative variations which might previously have been based on opinion or conjecture.
However, I would say that storytelling pillars can often become a comfort zone for brands that don’t really reflect the dynamic nature of how consumers/customers engage with your content. The nature of digital channels, social media in particular, is that they’re in constant flux, so what worked for you last year may not be right for this year or the next. Consider your storytelling pillars as flexible base ideas that can respond to changing audience needs in ways that keep the stories relevant and compelling.”
Having led content strategies for brands with multiple touchpoints, diverse channels and broad target audiences, how do you ensure content creation is cost-effective and reaches its maximum reach potential?
“For me, it’s all about the research. You need to put in the work to understand your audience, the category, your competitors and your brand’s role amongst all that. Research doesn’t need to be large-scale surveys or deep dives into 10 years of historical data, but it does need to be fit for purpose and, ideally drawing on primary sources.
This research could be as simple as an understanding of the types of search terms and keywords that bring traffic to your site or even just knowing what kind of people make up your social media audience. This clarity is vital for understanding the most cost-effective and efficient ways to direct your content efforts, especially when it comes to exploring new channels and initiatives. Gut feels and subjective opinions have no place in this game; understand your audience’s preferences for content and double down on the content and stories in your wheelhouse that match those preferences.”
Don’t miss the opportunity to learn more from Andrés as the industry speaker at the Storytelling for Business workshop delivered in partnership with IAB Australia.
Presented in partnership with IAB Australia, Storytelling for Business is an in-person workshop designed to help commercial and business professionals master the art of crafting narratives that engage customers and resonate with peers.
Enrol now – IAB members can take advantage of a 20% discount.
