Posts Tagged ‘watchmen’

I love the idea of building a tribe around a story. A while ago, there was a post by Mel Exon at BBH Labs about the Storyteller’s Story, that drew heavily on Dan Light’s description of the marketing machine that was in motion ages before the Watchmen movie was released. The Labs post ended with these lines:

All this leaves me feeling there is a real and significant opportunity for brands to excite and inspire again through storytelling. That it is possible to reinvent a lost art, rather than dismiss it. That storytelling can be a powerful tool to drive new creativity in the interactive space.

I just came across this presentation by Helen Klein Ross, who heads a company called the Brand Fiction Factory, that made me think of the the Labs post in the first place. Helen is the voice of @BettyDraper on Twitter, and the presentation summarises how Mad Men has successfully used (and continues to use) social media to keep fans enthralled even as it is into is third season.

For some reason, I kept re-reading the definition of brand fiction as put forth by the Brand Fiction Factory on their website:

Brand Fiction is original narrative and mythology built around a brand’s unique promise.  Brand Fiction is valuable not only as a marketing vehicle but as pure entertainment that can ultimately be franchised. Brand Fiction brings a brand to life in a way that validates and encourages consumers to create a deeper, more meaningful relationship with the brand, turning prospects into enthusiasts who spread the brand story.

I know a lot of people mention the Meerkat as a success story in social media, but to be honest, the character does not a) bring a narrative to mind, and b) isn’t meaningful in any sense, so for me doesn’t do much. To the end that it brings up the brand (i.e Comparethemarket.com), it is successful, I’ll give it that. But as a STORY that truly channels a tribe (never mind Aleks the Meerkat’s 600,000+ Facebook fans), that is long-lasting and emotional, it does nothing. So if you’re thinking of mentioning it as an example of creativity in the interactive storytelling space, it doesn’t count. Mad Men, as you can see from the presentation, has gone as far as organising an event replete with Eventbrite tickets and ’60’s-style prizes, through which they’ve got a database of fans’ details. The over-arching idea is that the characters take the show from season to season.

I see a clear gap here, which places like the Brand Fiction Factory are probably going to fill. I’m not sure how easy it will be to execute for a brand as opposed to a media channel like a film (Watchmen) or a TV series (Mad Men), but I see that as a surmountable challenge. What is absolutely mandatory though, is a very courageous client. That, and patience. Easy asks? Perhaps not, but with the way social technology is breaking new barriers almost every day (if you are a digital native, you’ll understand what I mean), I think it’s just a question of that client finding the courage to  say ‘Yes’.

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