Advertising best practice, evidence and insights

What we know about storytelling strategies

Article • WARC Best Practice, September 2017

This article provides guidance and reading on storytelling strategies, or the fashioning of events into a meaningful, relatable story for customers to identify with and remember.

Back to the future: a story too far

Opinion • Malcolm White, July 2018

It has now come to the point that brands have started stretching storytelling too far, turning it from a good way of thinking about themselves into a bad way of trying to connect with consumers, says Malcolm White.

Louvre Abu Dhabi Highway Gallery

Case Study • Remie Abdo, WARC Prize for MENA Strategy, Shortlisted, 2018

New museum Louvre Abu Dhabi took its famous artworks to the people to generate brand love and increase footfall.

EGBank: The Chronicles of Oufa

Case Study • Naila Fattouh, WARC Prize for MENA Strategy, Shortlisted, 2018

EGBank used a non-traditional campaign on social media to target Egyptian youth and secure their custom.

Nissan: Camelpower – The world's first measure for desert performance

Case Study • Vishal Badiani, Ali Marashi, WARC Prize for MENA Strategy, Shortlisted, 2018

Automotive brand Nissan Middle East created a new industry benchmark for automotive desert performance.

du: #PostWisely – If it were your pain, would you share it?

Case Study • Haytham Dayeh, Omar Kishk, Mahmoud Jaber, Pooja Beri et al., WARC Prize for MENA Strategy, Shortlisted, 2018

Leading UAE telco du created a fully integrated campaign to encourage people to actively consider the choices they make when interacting online about painful issues.

Egyptian Tourism Authority: Rebounding for inbounding

Case Study • Amir Adib, Sally Ezzat, Razan El Meligi, WARC Prize for MENA Strategy, Shortlisted, 2018

The Egyptian Tourism Authority used market-specific communication with experience-led messages to increase the volume of inbound tourism from ancillary markets.

The Egyptian Autistic Society: More to Autism

Case Study • Lina Fateen, Tahaab Rais, WARC Prize for MENA Strategy, Shortlisted, 2018

The Egyptian Autistic Society used an integrated strategy to change society's misperceptions about autism.

Stories are not just for telling, but for doing

Opinion • Phil Gault, June 2018

The methods through which brands tell their stories need to change, argues Phil Gault, a strategic consultant.

How Twentieth Century Fox drives attentive reach

Article • Brian Carruthers, Event Reports, IAB UK Engage conference, June 2018

Explores how the Twentieth Century Fox film studio drove ‘attentive reach’ by incorporating elements of storytelling into its online promotional activity for a new release.

Spotify: Wrapped

Case Study • Cannes Creative Lions, Entrant, Creative Effectiveness Lions, 2018

Spotify, a music streaming service, created personalised playlists to summarise its global customers' year on Spotify in order to increase usage and downloads of the app.

Finding our Virginity: How fighting fact with feeling helped Virgin Media take on the might of Sky

Case Study • Cannes Creative Lions, Entrant, Creative Effectiveness Lions, 2018

Virgin Media, a telephone, television and internet services company, increased demand for its productsin the UK by using its brand ambassador, Usain Bolt, to show what it's like to be the fastest.

Child Focus: Coins of Hope

Case Study • Cannes Creative Lions, Entrant, Creative Effectiveness Lions, 2018

Child Focus, the Belgian Centre for missing and sexually exploited children, successfully raised awareness for missing children, and found a child, by launching a multichannel campaign across Belgium.

Iziko Museums of South Africa: The Slave Calendar and the Iziko Slave Museum – How a simple calendar touched the lives of 33.7 million people

Case Study • Cannes Creative Lions, Entrant, Creative Effectiveness Lions, 2018

The Iziko Museums of South Africa, a group of museums, created an oversized calendar to celebrate and remember the stories of enslaved family members of South African citizens, in order to increase visitor numbers.

Barbie: Imagine the Possibilities

Case Study • Cannes Creative Lions, Entrant, Creative Effectiveness Lions, 2018

Mattel, a toy manufacturer, changed the perception of Barbie among millennial mothers to something their children could be inspired by with its Imagine the Possibilities film and introduction of Tall, Curvy and Petite Barbies in the US.

Visit Faroe Islands and Atlantic Airways: Google Sheep View

Case Study • Cannes Creative Lions, Entrant, Creative Effectiveness Lions, 2018

Visit Faroe Islands, a tourism brand for the Faroe Islands, and Atlantic Airways, an airline company, attached cameras to sheep to create their own street view, 'sheep view', of the Faroe Islands.

Canada Goose: Out There

Case Study • Cannes Creative Lions, Entrant, Creative Effectiveness Lions, 2018

Canada Goose, a clothing brand, increased sales and brand awareness across Europe and North America by launching an integrated campaign that told the stories of five outstanding Canada Goose consumers through an interactive film.

Buster the Boxer, John Lewis’ best Christmas ever

Case Study • Cannes Creative Lions, Silver, Creative Effectiveness Lions, 2018

John Lewis, a department store, launched its Buster the Boxer Christmas ad in 2016 to create an emotional connection with the British public.

adidas Originals: Original is Never Finished

Case Study • Cannes Creative Lions, Bronze, Creative Effectiveness Lions, 2018

Adidas Originals, an adidas sub-brand devoted to streetwear, remade Frank Sinatra's My Way and made it the soundtrack to its online video to spread the message globally that original is never finished.

The New York Times: The Truth Is Hard

Case Study • Cannes Creative Lions, Bronze, Creative Effectiveness Lions, 2018

The New York Times (NYT), a news publication, increased subscriptions in the US by launching a campaign that showcased its commitment to truthful reporting.

Mirinda (PepsiCo): #ReleaseThePressure

Case Study • Cannes Creative Lions, Entrant, Creative Effectiveness Lions, 2018

Mirinda, a PepsiCo beverage, ran an ethical campaign in India to drive a stronger association with teenagers and increase brand awareness.

Donate Life America: The World’s Biggest Asshole

Case Study • Cannes Creative Lions, Entrant, Creative Effectiveness Lions, 2018

Donate Life America, a non-profit organ and tissue donor registry, created a YouTube video to persuade millennial men to become organ donors in the US.

Gesicht Zeigen!: Mein Kampf – against racism

Case Study • Cannes Creative Lions, Entrant, Creative Effectiveness Lions, 2018

Gesicht Zeigen!, a non-profit organisation, launched a campaign that marked the return to print of Hitler's 'Mein Kampf' in Germany with a special edition of the book that instead featured 11 stories of holocaust survivors or refugees.

Kyrö Distillery Company

Case Study • Cannes Creative Lions, Entrant, Creative Effectiveness Lions, 2018

Kyrö Distillery Company, a Finnish distillery, designed packaging that told a story in order to promote its gin in Finland, despite strict laws on advertising alcohol.

Vicks: Touch of Care

Case Study • Cannes Creative Lions, Entrant, Creative Effectiveness Lions, 2018

Vicks, a cough and cold medicine, increased sales and brand affinity by launching a campaign that featured a transgender mother as a way to portray new types of families in India that use Vicks to care for their loved ones.

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