What's the story? #9 – why storytelling will always be the key to building great brands. There’s a famous story Richard Branson tells, about when he was a little boy, around five year’s old. He was travelling in the car one day, when his mother stopped a few miles from home, made him get out and find his own way back. She wanted to teach him to be independent and overcome his shyness. Luckily he did, as we might not have had seat-back screens on planes, or the Sex Pistols. Th

What's the story? #8 – why storytelling will always be the key to building great brands. A MacGuffin is the name Alfred Hitchcock popularised (if not invented) for an age-old storytelling device, that he used frequently in his films. Not something you can order at the Drive Thru. Rather, it is an object, person or even piece of information that helps to move the plot forward, and compel the characters to act in a certain way. But its actual nature is not necessarily significa

What's the story? #7– why storytelling will always be the key to building great brands. Psychopaths have a reputation for being cold, calculating and manipulative. But they can also be charming, charismatic and extraordinarily persuasive – often master storytellers – to get people to do what they want. Such personality traits don’t always get them into trouble, but can get them a long way – in the boardroom and the bedroom. In his book The Wisdom of Psychopaths, psychologist

What's the story? #6 – why storytelling will always be the key to building great brands. Luke Skywalker. Katnis Everdeen. Marty McFly. Mr. Muscle. The much-loved heroes and heroines we root for in popular stories who – often despite personal flaws – always save the day, the world, the galaxy. Or maybe just the effort. So, when we tell stories for brands we want customers to love, we need to make the brands heroes too. Right? With the possible exception of Mr. Muscle. Wrong. W

What's the story? #5 - why storytelling will always be the key to building great brands. I was at the Comedy Store in London a few years ago, and one of the acts (called Mike Gunn, I think) was on a roll. He told the audience that he was a keen amateur golfer, and had just got back from an amazing golfing holiday, in Malaysia. He was playing on a beautiful course in the middle of the lush rain forest, assisted by a local Malaysian caddy. He teed off from the ninth hole, and j

What's the story? #4 - why storytelling will always be the key to building great brands. "Story is structure" is the premise of the 1979 book 'Screenplay,' by Syd Field. It became a bible for generations of screenwriters – in how to tell a story on the screen. Or anywhere else, for that matter. He argued that every great screenplay should follow a specific three-act structure. To illustrate his point, he uses the screenplay of the classic 1974 movie, Chinatown, starring Jack

What's the story? #3 - why storytelling will always be the key to building great brands. Monsters Inc. Finding Nemo. Toy Story. Apart from being much-loved animated movies, that have become part of our culture – and maybe your childhood – what do they all have in common? Andrew Stanton. You may not know the name, but he is the creator of them – as writer, and also sometimes director. He gave a brilliant TED talk a few years ago, the premise of which was: “storytelling is joke

What's the story? #2 - why storytelling will always be the key to building great brands. The great American writer Kurt Vonnegut knew more than a little about storytelling. His most famous book, Slaughterhouse Five, is widely regarded as one of the best novels of the twentieth century. Based on his own experiences as a prisoner of war in Dresden, during the devastating firebombing, it is a story of time and space travel, and the horrors of war. Vonnegut wrote many other novel

What's the story? #1 - why storytelling will always be the key to building great brands. Anybody who calls themselves a writer – and lots of people who don’t - have probably heard the story. True or not, it goes something like this. Ernest Hemingway was sitting in a bar one night soaking up daiquiris, with his fellow-writer and bullfighting buddies, when one of them bet him $10 that he couldn’t write the shortest story ever told. He whipped out his pen, and on a napkin scribb

How an actor’s creative choices might help you make better ones for your brand. Everything I know about advertising I learnt from the movies #17. Laurence Olivier was one of the greatest stage and screen actors of the twentieth century. For playing Nazi dentist Dr. Christian Szell, in the 1977 movie Marathon Man, he received one of his 10 Oscar nominations. On top of winning Best Actor for Hamlet, way back in 1949. How was he able to so brilliantly embody the character and po

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Your brand is the story you want to tell to the world – whether it’s for your business or yourself. Or even your country. Everything I know about advertising I learnt from the movies #12 As advertisers we are storytellers, if only in a small way. As such, we need to create stories that resonate with and reflect the values and beliefs of our audiences, of the society in which we live. Stories – whether they are in an ad, a song, a book or a Hollywood movie - that do, are the o

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