Hike #4: The Art of Storytelling, Utilizing the Brand Voice and Brand Wars

When reflecting on commercials and marketing messages, it is good to recognize which ones stood out to you and were the most compelling overall. Most likely it will not be the ones that convey a story of perfection or achievement without struggle. This is mainly due to the fact that we cannot relate to such a message as life is not perfect, and struggle will always be present when we are chasing after our goals and objectives. And this is exactly where storytelling can make the difference between a boring commercial that will soon be forgotten and a compelling advertisement that will stick with you for longer periods of time. Simply because it resonates to you, or keeps you wondering about the plot of the campaign. These elements can contribute to the success of a marketing campaign, even more so when elements of persuasive advertising are implemented into the whole. So before digging into this subject further, it is good to analyze what exactly storytelling and persuasive communication in marketing is all about and how it used in practice. At last, the usage of storytelling and persuasive communication in brand wars will be highlighted along with a few of my insights on the matter.

A Brand Story and Storytelling in Advertising: What is it and why would a brand use it?

Storytelling is a topic that is not as straightforward as you might think. Some common thoughts that might come to mind when thinking about storytelling might be:

• Storytelling is about conveying a message or keeping your intended public entertained by telling something interesting.

There is certainly a core of truth behind this statement, however the complete definition of storytelling is more layered than that. To demonstrate this, we are gonna have to dive into the definition of the brand story. The brand story of a certain company can be described as something that "recounts the series of events that sparked your company's inception and expresses how that narrative still drives your mission today" (Chi, 2023). Or in more comprehensive language, the brand story highlights the narrative of why the brand began and how this reason still serves their purpose today (Chi, 2023). It's about wrapping your brand's unique history, challenges, successes and value proposition into a unique story that ultimately taps into the emotions of the customers that you are trying to reach. That's how a brand differentiates from the masses of other companies that solely throw facts, statistics and testimonials at their potential customers (Da Costa, 2019). Another aspect that makes it a brand story worthwhile, is that a story can be up to 22 times more memorable than facts (Women’s Leadership Lab Stanford University, 2019). It has become pretty clear that the brand story and storytelling in advertising is important, but how does it enhance persuasive communication? And which brand has successfully leveraged storytelling in their campaigns?

A Big Player in Storytelling and How Storytelling Enhances Persuasive Communications

In order to sketch a proper image of how storytelling can be leveraged in advertisements or marketing campaigns, it would be useful to give a few examples of the brands who do it very well. Something to keep in mind, is that storytelling or a brand story always has a certain layout upon which it is based. First of all, the brand story starts with describing the status quo, followed by the conflict and ending with the resolution of the conflict.

The status quo: Refers to the state of how things have always been, the current state of affairs.

The conflict: Causes a major disruption in the Status Quo and poses a dilemma for the protagonist to solve.

Resolution: The way in which the protagonist finds a way to solve the conflict that arose in the advertisement or marketing campaign.

(Chi, 2023)

AirBNB's "Host Stories" is a Masterclass in Storytelling

An effective way in which AirBNB managed to craft a compelling story is by means of their "Host Stories" series that portrays how AirBNB has managed to make a difference in the lives of different hosts. The main focus lies on the hosts and how AirBNB managed to solve a certain problem in their lives therefore creating a powerful narrative rather than just telling people why AirBNB is so amazing. One of the articles is about a property manager of rental properties, who managed to increase her booking by means of utilizing AirBNB tools (This Property Manager Increased Bookings With Airbnb Tools – Resource Centre, n.d.). First of all, it nicely sketches the status quo by telling the story of the busy life of property manager in a ski-resort town. The article then zooms into one of the specific challenges that make the life of this property owner so challenging (the conflict), such as the fact that she needs to know everything about all the rental properties out there, have extensive knowledge about the locations and their renovation needs, keep track of availability and has to know everything about the home-owners and their needs. Lastly, the article zooms in on how AirBNB managed to solve these issues for her, such as management tools that help her to keep track of the occupation of all the properties and pricing tools that help her determine rental rates across many properties and different seasons (resolution). In this way, accurately sketching how storytelling can be utilized properly while also sending out a message that appeals to people's emotions.

My View on the Matter

Personally, I think this is a very clever way to grab people's attention as the story is created by someone who uses AirBNB rather than AirBNB creating a story about all the aspects that make it an excellent option for finding housing or offering housing. It taps into people's emotions as the woman in the article, Candace, describes her struggles as a property manager and how it can be a daunting task to keep track of it all. It shows the anxiety behind managing it all, which can be a strong trigger for people. Then, it sketches the contrast of the relief it gives to her when she found AirBNB and all the tools that she could now use to make it easier for her, while also increasing bookings in the process. Besides, it nicely aligns with AirBNB's mission statement, which is "to create a world where anyone can belong anywhere".

In this instance, it is written from the perspective of the host so it might be less applicable to the mission statement. However, it indirectly signals that AirBNB provides all these tools for hosts to ensure that they provide the best housing options for you, no matter your wishes or location, which aligns perfectly with the mission statement (Pereira, 2023). The article also demonstrates the brand voice that is so characteristic of AirBNB as AirBNB's brand voice is inclusive and community focused (Prpic, 2024). This can be recognized by the emphasis on all the tools that the host has at her disposal to offer the best experience to anyone who chooses to rent a property via AirBNB. Which invites people to join their 'community of travelers'. In conclusion, it can be summarized as clever, memorable and a leading example of how brands can utilized storytelling in their campaigns.

Persuasive Communication

So how does all of this storytelling and the usage of the brand voice contribute to persuasive communication, and how is it utilized in Brand Wars?

So in order to assess this, we need to delve into the meaning behind the persuasive communication. The essence of persuasive communication is about "the art of leveraging' consumers emotions to make them want to buy/do something, using a mixture of graphics and targeted words"(Chalk & Chalk, 2023). And there are a few ways to do this, which I will explain using the previously mentioned case of AirBNB. There are 14 techniques of using persuasive communication but I will only touch upon the ones used in the AirBNB article and the ones AirBNB uses in general, which are: the carrot, the stick and sense of control.

The carrot: Emphasizing pleasure in the advertisements so people are tempted to get the product or service that is being offered. Which is demonstrated in abovementioned article by stating how much easier the life of the property manager became with the tools of AirBNB which, also increased the amount of bookings.

The Stick: Emphasizes the opposite of the carrot, and conveys the discomfort that people would want to avoid. Which tunes into people's emotional aversion. This can be demonstrated by another commercial the AirBNB has put out, which emphasizes the discomfort of having to share a bedtime when bringing your kids to a hotel, opposed to not having to do this when renting an Airbnb. Also contains elements of the carrot strategy.

(AirBNB, 2024)

Sense of Control: Giving people the sense that they are fully in control by giving them a range of options in terms of products and services. Emphasizing that the choice is fully up to them. This can be recognized in the article about the property manager, which states that there is a variety of tools that hosts can use in order to make their lives easier. The commercial above also highlights the aspect of choice. If you choose an Airbnb, you choose your own bedtime. The choice is yours, which gives a sense of control.

When all of these elements are used in the context of a properly crafted story, it will cause a very strong emotional appeal in the marketing campaigns and will ultimately make it stand out from the crowd.

Brand Wars: The Art of Verbal Warfare

The last topic of discussion will be brand wars, and how it all fits into the perspective of storytelling. Airbnb does have a few competitors that it competes with, but has not really engaged in a very distinguishable brand war yet. That's why I will use a different example, that will probably be familiar to you. Namely, Pepsi vs. Cola. The need to stand out for both of these brands is very much present as both of them provide a product that a lot of consumers consider to be similar. And this caused a fair share of back and forth action between these two. One classic example of a campaign that contributed to the brand war was the Pepsi Challenge commercial in 1975 that demonstrated a blind taste test between Pepsi and Cola in which participants had to choose their favorite. The outcome showed a substantial amount of participants that preferred Pepsi over Cola. The nature of the commercial was fairly hostile as it directly challenged the taste of Coca Cola opposed to Pepsi. This marked the beginning of a long chain of back and forth commercial war, each more provoking than the other.

(Pepsi, 1975)

The type of persuasive advertising used in this commercial is the product comparison, where Pepsi aims to show their superior feature, in this instance taste, opposed to Coca Cola. But another method also used quite often in this feud is the usage of humor. There are certainly a few differences between the storytelling. Coca Cola, mainly emphasizes unity, happiness and refreshment (Szymoński, n.d.), whereas Pepsi has embraced the position of challenger of other brands. The taste test commercial is good example of this challenger attitude. Another part of Pepsi's storytelling is that tries to convey connection and engagement which has shown to create significant brand loyalty (Sushmith, 2024).

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Sources used:

1.     Airbnb. (2024, 23 juli). Bedtime [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GFM_3D8GdXs

2.     Chalk, R., & Chalk, R. (2023b, May 22). The Art of Persuasive Advertising + Techniques & Examples. Workamajig. https://www.workamajig.com/blog/persuasive-advertising-techniques

3.     Chi, C. (2023, 7 maart). How to Tell a Compelling Brand Story [Guide + Examples]. Hubspot. https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/brand-story

4.     Da Costa, C. (2019, 2 februari). 3 Reasons Why brand storytelling is the future of marketing. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/celinnedacosta/2019/01/31/3-reasons-why-brand-storytelling-is-the-future-of-marketing/

5.     Harnessing the Power of Stories | VMware Women’s Leadership Innovation Lab. (z.d.). Stanford University. https://womensleadership.stanford.edu/node/796/harnessing-power-stories

6.     Pereira, D. (2023, June 10). Airbnb Mission and Vision Statement. Business Model Analyst. https://businessmodelanalyst.com/airbnb-mission-and-vision-statement/#:~:text=Airbnb's%20mission%20statement%20is%20%E2%80%9Cto,aspect%20of%20a%20customer's%20trip.

7.     property manager increased bookings with Airbnb tools – Resource Centre. (n.d.). Airbnb. https://www.airbnb.co.uk/resources/hosting-homes/a/this-property-manager-increased-bookings-with-airbnb-tools-232

8.     Prpic, N. (2024a, September 19). 15 brand tone of voice examples to help you find yours. Filestage: The world’s best-rated review and approval platform. https://filestage.io/blog/brand-tone-of-voice-examples/

9.      Sushmith. (2024, July 26). Pepsi’s Marketing Magic: Strategies for Success. Sprintzeal.com. https://www.sprintzeal.com/blog/pepsi-marketing-strategies#:~:text=Pepsi's%20story%20is%20intrinsically%20linked,always%20embraced%20its%20challenger%20spirit.

10.  Szymoński, T. (n.d.). 10 Examples of strong brand Storytelling. https://www.proquoai.com/blog/10-examples-strong-brand-storytelling#:~:text=Coca%2DCola%3A%20The%20Taste%20of,joy%2C%20connection%2C%20and%20optimism.

11.  uwsadstrategy. (2009, April 6). Week 7 Pepsi Challenge 1975 tvc [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TnsdDbfhdqA