Storytelling is an integral part for brands to deliver their message to the end consumer. Stories that are passed around on social media about a brand can be powerful in shaping up mainstream perceptions. Finding the human story for any luxury brand creates an emotive tale that more people can relate to, and the more people relate to the story, the better it will perform.
“Consumers need to feel an association with the luxury brands and see themselves in the brands’ storytelling. It is more about saying that this is how the brand is and how the brand reflects the lives of the consumers,” said Rachel Arthur, Senior Editor, WGSN.
For contemporary artist, Marc Ferrero, who uses the art of painting to tell a story, its about creating characters and taking consumers on a journey. He said, “To make people care and connect with your brand, create a fictional story on what is the spirit of your brand and make it a reality.”
Over the years, while the process of developing a story hasn’t changed, what has changed are the different ways to deliver that message to the right audience at the right time.
“The biggest issue that the industry is facing today is the concept of going viral. But they don’t realize that it loses the essence of storytelling. In the last few years we have seen that humor is placed essentially in brands, which was not seen earlier. Humor, in addition to the quirkiness, makes it more entertaining and engaging the consumers,” explained Ms Arthur.
Along with humor, many brands feel that telling an intriguing and shocking story can also get the conversation going around the brands.
“Being funny can get the attention but creating something that is shocking can also get the attention. At W Motors we spoke about a lot of crazy stories which intrigued the consumers, like having diamonds in the headlights of our cars and they started talking about it. Sometimes telling a story that shocks people can also create conversation but at the end, we always deliver what we tell,” remarked Ralph Debbas, Chairman & CEO, W Motors.
The art of storytelling also changes depending on the demographics it is catering to.
“You should know your consumers enough to be able to feed information locally. There is no doubt that nothing beats looking at the art physically but at Christie’s, we still get good response online,” said Hala Khayat, Director Head of Sales, Christie’s.
“Social media is a very good way to connect with consumers, understand what they are looking for better service for them. In fact, it was through Instagram that we realized that many of our consumers were making comments in the local language on our global account. That is when we went ahead and created our Arabic Instagram account,’ divulged Marco Tedeschi, MEA Regional Director, Hublot.
Carlos Fuente Jr, a cigar maker and President of Tabacalera A. Fuente y Cia. advised, “Be it for mass luxury or niche luxury, brands should be careful with the content on what is said and spoken. Brands should be unique, strong and unwavering with their message.”
