storytelling

Marketing Success Through Storytelling

Once upon a time there was a chain of sandwich shops with failing sales. Corporate hired an agency to develop an ad campaign designed to bring in droves of customers, hungry for their tasty—but healthy sandwiches. The results were dismal. Then one franchisee stumbled on Jared.

Jared’s story of unbelievable weight loss by following his version of a sandwich diet was written up in a local newspaper, which just happened to be seen by one franchisee. Why not use Jared’s story in their marketing?

Legal said no, you can’t make medical claims. Marketing said no, you can’t sell healthy fast food. The independent shops said yes, but we have no money to make any ads. The idea was stalled until a creative advertising executive saw the potential and agreed to make the ad for free.

The rest is history and Subway was on its way to double digit growth. All thanks to an overweight but determined young man, a string of coincidences, an ad man willing to take a chance, and the value of telling Jared’s simple story.

Subway may be a national brand with a mega-dollar marketing budget, but the moral of this story for any small business is the value of storytelling.

Story telling is hardwired into the human brain. We are hardwired to tell stories and we are hardwired to listen to stories. Best of all, every and any small business can use this to their advantage, regardless of marketing budget size (even no budget if you utilize free social media!).

And best of all, it is a tool just waiting to be used. Every company has stories. You just need to know where to look and how to nurture them.