What made a 2011 commercial for the Volkswagen Passat, with a young boy dressed as Darth Vader, so memorable? Was the boy’s acting so believable? Was his Star Wars costume so cute? Was it the use of John Williams’ iconic “Imperial March?”
It wasn’t any of these.
The commercial works because there is a humorous, moving story presented in less than a minute. The story is what made the Star Wars fans giggle, got stuck inside the Gen Xers’ minds, and made parents tear up a little at the end. Uploaded to Youtube before the Super Bowl, the commercial racked up 17 million views before kickoff.
“It paid for itself before it ever ran,” , CEO of Deutsch North America.
Think about that. The video resonated so much that they made enough money on Youtube ads to pay for the production.
Sure, you can tell your target market that your broom cleans things quickly. But if you demonstrate that the side effect of speedy cleaning will be extra time to spend with their family, you’ve got them.
In respect to video, publications like Wired and Adweek claim over and over again that attention spans have dropped considerably over the years. So, if over the past three years video has become the most consumed media online, then why have certain brands moved away from short form video and doubled down on longer branded films? It’s because story structures are how our minds process information. If a story is presented in the right way your mind will stay tuned in, even if you have a short attention span.
Storytelling can and should be used in any kind of communication and design as well. Effectively communicating your stories should be the main focus of your design. Design should be used to help communicate the story effectively, or not produced at all. As in video creation, you should work through many versions of your design in order to refine or remove unnecessary elements that don’t add to the end goal of your design work.
Remember, while it is true that attention spans are shorter than ever, the actual truth is that when our brains are bombarded with massive amounts of messages with no structure or story we end up unconsciously searching for more meaningful content.
One of the oldest marketing and communications tricks is to shout a product or company’s virtues from the rafters. You’ve seen it all before: Save with us. We’re the best! Leave our competitor behind.
These claims can be easily dismissed, and these promises met with deep skepticism. Consumers will not let anyone, online or off, tell them what they must believe. If you reformat the messaging and craft a story around the consumer and their interaction with your brand, they’re more likely to keep an open ear.
Give the brain the stories it craves in order to make sense of the world, and you will see the difference.
![Political cartoon showing "The Times" building with speech bubbles that say "Scandal after scandal, All I can Say is Four more Years" followed by "Why is he so happy" and then "He's the cartoonist."](/sites/default/files/styles/768_width/public/media/image/2024-10/MS-01047%20Mike%20Smith%20Box%2038%20Folder%201.jpg?itok=6iVxnNMX "Political cartoon showing "The Times" building with speech bubbles that say "Scandal after scandal, All I can Say is Four more Years" followed by "Why is he so happy" and then "He's the cartoonist."")