Abstracts Communications and the Arts

"Peculiarities of storytelling in the context of brand communication"

by Aurimas Pocius

Storytelling is a tool which has been used for centuries. The previous studies have found out that storytelling is of significant importance, as generally people tend to accept and relate to the information which is presented in storytelling more positively. This study aims to identify if that is correct in the context of brand communication, and what is the most important element of the story, as well as what type of story resonates with the customers the most. In order to find out the answers to previously mentioned questions, a quantitative research was conducted, where 157 respondents gave their opinion towards storytelling marketing. The findings have shown that there is no correlation between the respondents’ demographics and their perception of storytelling, meaning that generally all people tend to perceive information presented in storytelling more positively than the same information in hard facts. The story types which resonated the most was event and customer story and the main element of the storytelling appeared to be the message of the story. Out of those results, the recommendations for the marketers can be concluded - the storytelling is indeed a powerful marketing tool, which resonates with people of all demographics. Although all the elements of the story are important, the results show that the message is perceived as the crucial one.