As you fly through the first half of the piece, columnist Mia Pearson covers familiar ground -- this whole online marketing thing is big and going to get bigger. Then we arrive at the reason why we clicked: Coca-Cola and Nike are "evolving their storytelling style" and using social media to start conversations and engage their consumers (notice how we don't use that word anymore -- now they are called fans.)
Watch the videos here and here.
What makes it work, Pearson asks? "Get real people involved. Let the brand go. Don't focus on the product. Keep the objectives in mind."
So which did you like better and why?
As in our previous post, we're big believers in feelings and impressions as being the key takeaways of this visual medium -- so what feeling were you left with?
Coca-Cola wins points for social responsibility and overall heartstring-tugging, and Nike apparently wins points for lingering on bikini girls on the beach (according to the comments on this 4+ million views link. Stay true to your target audience, non?)
But I wonder if it would have been more interesting if Nike filmmaker Casey Neistat instead took a poor kid from public housing on this trip around the world, rather than his (largely unseen) entourage... or perhaps a Nike factory worker?
We'd like to add another story, brilliantly told, to the mix here -- "Grow your own way" by PwC.
This one wins on all counts -- it's beautifully shot, it engages our inner mensch, it runs less than 100 seconds and yet feels rich in detail and emotion.
Six months from now, you won't remember "lease accounting" or "Craig Jones"... but you will recall sunlit playgrounds and laughing children and the company, PwC. You'll be able to recall the impression that PwC does good things, and that their people give back to the community. With that, their goal is realized.
Depending on your message, your target audience and your desired takeaways, perhaps this brand of storytelling is the answer. As Pearson says, Get real people involved. Why not explore your values through the people in your company that live them?
