Week 2 Storytelling with Liquid Death PDF

Storytelling for short stories Weekly Lesson Summary 01. Concepts 02. Concepts 03. Concepts 04. Concepts Emotions / Pathos Hero’s Journey cont. Virality STEPPS Engagement triggers Brand Archetypes Humour...

Storytelling for short stories Weekly Lesson Summary 01. Concepts 02. Concepts 03. Concepts 04. Concepts Emotions / Pathos Hero’s Journey cont. Virality STEPPS Engagement triggers Brand Archetypes Humour Relatable Characters for social media Three Act Framework Shock Tactics Memes Creative concepts that Hero’s Journey Character Development Case study Duolingo work well on social Case study Nike Case study Liquid media Death Various brand examples Assignment Summary Quiz Update Reminder that Quiz 1 is available now and will be open until Oct 25th. This Week Case Study: Liquid Death Industry: Bottled water Mission: To make people laugh and get more of them to drink more healthy beverages more often, all while helping to kill plastic pollution. From 0 to $1.4 billion in under 7 years. They are the modern day Redbull. What is The Hero’s Journey? Popularised by Joseph It provides a blueprint for Campbell, it involves a creating stories with emotional protagonist who embarks on an depth and engagement. adventure, faces a crisis, and returns transformed with Used in some of the most popular movies like Lord of the newfound wisdom and growth. Rings, Star Wars and in many It's a powerful framework for of the greatest video character growth and advertisements. storytelling. Its Steps in The Hero’s Journey Source: Locally Creative Labs How to Apply ‘The Hero’s Journey’ to your Brand 01 02 03 04 05 06 The Ordinary Call to Refusal of the Meeting the Crossing the Tests, Allies, World: We meet Adventure: Will Call: They resist Mentor: A First Threshold: Enemies: our hero they meet the the adventure. teacher arrives. The hero leaves Making friends challenge? their comfort and facing zone. roadblocks. Present the brand Introduce a Recognise the Present the brand The customer Emphasise the and your challenge, hesitation or as a guide, begins the journey, obstacles and customers, problem, or desire resistance providing making the first challenges the creating a familiar that motivates your customers may knowledge, tools, move toward customer might and relatable customer (the feel when and support to transformation by encounter, along starting point for hero) to begin a confronted with help the customer engaging with the with the allies and the journey. transformative change or a new conquer their brand's products or resources the journey. opportunity. challenges. services. brand offers to help them overcome these trials. How to Apply ‘The Hero’s Journey’ to your Brand 07 08 09 10 11 12 The Approach: The Ordeal: The Reward (Seizing The Road Back: Resurrection: Return with the Getting closer hero’s biggest the Sword): We aren’t safe The final hurdle Elixir: The hero to our goal. test yet! Light at the end yet. is reached. heads home, of the tunnel triumphant. Create anticipation Show the pivotal Highlight the Reinforce the Emphasise the Encourage as the customer moment when the customer's customer’s customer’s customers to share approaches their customer faces success, confidence and personal growth their experiences goal, confronting a and triumphs over emphasising the their readiness to and the positive with others, final major their biggest benefits and use their new impact the brand inspiring others to challenge or challenge, rewards they've knowledge or has had on their embark on their obstacle. symbolising their gained throughout changes in daily life. own hero’s journey transformation or their journey with life. with the brand. success. your brand. Liquid Death - Deadliest stuff on earth? Liquid Death - Summary of Concepts Brand archetype: Outlaw Their brand story is all about the hero journey. The hero: Their customers. The antagonist: The bottled water companies, soft drinks companies. The mentor: Liquid Death by providing a healthy and environmentally friendly alternative. The fighting force against plastic. The fundamental reason humor helps build your brand is that advertising and content are created for human beings, and human beings are governed by emotions, and humor builds emotional connection. —Juan Isaza is Chief Strategy Officer at DDB Most commonly used humour in advertising Relatable Humour Visual Gags Jokes or situations that reflect everyday experiences can Humor that relies on visual elements or actions can be resonate with viewers. When people see themselves in the particularly effective in video ads. These can be physical ad, it can create a stronger connection to the brand. comedy or visual absurdities that are funny on their own. Surprise Humour Character-Based Humour This involves an unexpected twist or punchline that catches Creating unique, funny characters or personas that interact with the audience off guard. It can make the ad stand out and be the product or brand can add charm and relatability. more memorable. Exaggeration Parody or Satire Over-the-top scenarios or characters can be amusing and Mimicking or exaggerating well-known themes, tropes, or trends memorable. This type of humor often plays with extreme can be humorous and engaging, especially if it’s done in a way versions of reality to make a point. that resonates with the target audience. Playful Puns Self-Deprecating Humour Clever wordplay or puns related to the product or service When brands make light of their own flaws or limitations in a can be engaging and help make the message stick. humorous way, it can build trust and relatability. What types of humour were used in the Liquid Death video? Satire Exaggeration Visual gags Unexpected twist How to adapt this style of humour for your brands Create a satirical character Identify industry cliches Showcase your difference Express real opinions How to get humour right for your brand? Kantar’s NeedScope model is a cheat sheet for the types of humour that work best depending on your brand’s characteristics (almost reflective of archetype). Six characteristics are matched with their humour styles. The key is to align the humor with the brand's identity and understand what kind of humor resonates with your target audience. Why does Liquid Death’s humour work so well? Their humour is a perfectly matched for their target audience. Their humour is focused on entertainment - not selling. Every piece of content they create is about entertainment. They combine their humour with shock tactics. The shock tactics stop their audience in their tracks and the humour builds an emotional connection. Shock Tactics The feeling of shock may imprint itself more permanently on the mind. MRI studies comparing participants exposed to shocking versus neutral content revealed increased activity in both the amygdala, which processes emotions, and the medial prefrontal cortex, responsible for higher-level cognitive functions. The intense emotional responses triggered by graphic content may lead to longer-lasting effects than fear or information alone. That is why we so often see shockvertising used by NGO’s, public service announcements and charities, who want to elicit behavioural change instead of brand awareness. Why are shock tactics effective? Emotional Psychological Viral Cut Through Impact Impact Potential Noise Shock tactics trigger Shock marketing taps Because they In a media landscape strong emotional into our need for provoke conversation flooded with content, reactions, which consistency. When we and controversy, shock tactics have make the ad more are see something shocking ads are the ability to cut unexpected or memorable. These more likely to be through the clutter contradictory, our imprint deeper on brains want to resolve shared or to go viral. and capture attention the brain than logic, the conflict. This where other ads may facts or information. internal tension, known go unnoticed. as cognitive dissonance, can be harnessed by marketers to capture attention and increase engagement. Liquid Death Mindset Your competition is not actually your competitors!” You are competing against the feed, against influencers who are constantly releasing amazing content, and the algorithm. How are you possibly going to stand out against it? —Dan Murphy, SVP of Marketing Liquid Death Even though Liquid Death’s stunts are little more than old school shock tactics. Stunt-led content has been far more effective for building brand awareness than traditional advertising. Q&A  If you have any questions about this week’s material. Email: [email protected] Or find me on Facebook messenger and ask. Thanks!