From Boring to Buzzworthy: The Power of Storytelling in Advertising
By Sydney Wuensh
Design Intern, Spring 2023
Have you ever seen a commercial, fun packaging, or had a great purchasing experience and thought about it for days after? Or immediately told a friend? Like a good book, TV show, or movie, the best advertising leaves the same residual impact.
The goal of an advertisement should always be to leave viewers with a feeling
Can you remember your favorite 2023 Super Bowl commercial? Farmer’s Dog anyone? The ad told the story of a dog that lived long enough to watch her owner go from being a child to having one of her own. The constant in the story was both the love shared between the two, and the dog’s diet that consisted of products made by The Farmer’s Dog company. The implication of this spot is -if you feed your dog our food, they will live a life just as long. Now, instead of simply advertising their product with some cool shots of the packaging and a cute dog, they did so in a subtle way. Showing the lifecycle of the featured family and how their product played a role. Without the key storytelling element, the advertisement wouldn’t have left sports fans tearing up and talking about it on Monday morning at work.
You can’t build a house on a weak foundation
Now on the flip side, we have branding. Have you ever been influenced to buy a product because of its attractive packaging? Oftentimes that’s a result of exceptional branding. Take Liquid Death for example. What’s their product? Mountain water. At the end of the day though, to compete with huge water companies like Ice Mountain, Aquafina, and Dasani, Liquid Death relies heavily on their branding and eco-friendly advantage. By doing so, customers have bought into their dark and dramatically different aesthetic. This approach has set them apart, landing them a deal with Live Nation, providing an alternative to plastic at over 120 venues and festivals throughout the United States. Begging the question, are they selling water or their branding?
Stories told through the purchasing experience
These days, in-store purchasing experiences are few and far between. Get in your car? Drive to the store? Get out and go inside? Never! Not when you can find it on Amazon and get it delivered three hours from now. A store most people are always ready to go into though? Target. The reason? Target has focused on elevating their in-store experience. From the jump, you are greeted with the smell of Starbucks coffee, inviting you to “have a drink and take a look around.” Followed by “designer-esque” clothing and home brands and luxury cosmetic departments, Target keeps customers coming back for more. A piece of Target’s slogan is “expect more” and their customers sure do. Expecting more can be seen across industries, take it from one of the biggest tech giants out there.
Apple does a stellar job at this. Since we are leaning more towards online purchasing experiences, the user interfaces of these web pages are increasingly important. Take their iPhone 14 Pro product page for example. The seamless scroll design with various animated details keeps viewers engaged and intrigued by the product. There’s no quicker way to lose a customer than a clunky website. When purchasing a product, this element should help instead of hinder your products.
The lasting impression
Sounds easy, right? Just tell a story. When crafting an advertisement, branding, and designing an in-store or website experience, it's important to keep in mind the impact of storytelling and the potential to leave a lasting impression. Next time you find yourself enjoying an advertisement, purchasing a product with stylish packaging, or having a memorable shopping experience, ask yourself if the brand is focused on its story.
