Impact of Stories in Motion

The mobile web and search are shaping a new world of branded news and information.  It is a world where the consumers of news and information have the power to select how, where and when they access the content they value – all on their own terms. A brand’s story is no longer fixed or static, it is in a constant state of flux and fluidity as its stories and its customers are in constant motion. And whilst a brand’s story and its customers will regularly intertwine, without careful consideration and planning, brands will never be able to control this motion. Until now. But how do you predict and influence this motion? You need to understand the forces driving it.

At the heart of this motion is the smartphone – the device that rules them all. With its high mobility and highly established eco-system of devices, platforms and mobile first channels, it’s no wonder it has empowered a world of consumers to engage with a multitude of stories and content regardless of time of day or channel.

But brand marketers shouldn’t read that and relax because all their campaign content is designed mobile first. Absolutely not. Whilst the smartphone is the one device that allows us to traverse the worlds of paid, earned and owned, your customers’ worlds of motion are influenced and driven by the world of multiplicity in many different constructs and contexts.

Multiplicity exists through the devices we use. Smartphone usage is highly prevalent throughout the day, and location does play a role. When at work or at home, both desktops, laptops and TVs are all part of this multi-device equation where a brand’s narrative and its customers often travel across multiple devices in a non-linear fashion. Despite this disjointed consumer journey, brands need to ensure that their narrative comes across succinctly and effectively regardless of content or device.

With the multiplicity of devices comes the multiplicity of channels and content. In this new frontier social, mainstream media, digital platforms, paid, earned and owned are equal partners fighting for the attention of your customers.

It’s not only the shiny new digital and social media channels that can drive and influence motion. Surprisingly, the greatest influence still sits within traditional mainstream media titles and sites. Whilst social media and messenger apps are driving a large part of our content consumption, earned media is still our go to trusted source. This in turn creates an interesting paradox.

Despite its enormous influence, the number of big hitter legacy media is shrinking so competition for placement in these titles will only increase. Brands not only have to turn to deep insight and understanding to design stories that can provide value and ultimately secure placement, they must be also be prepared to amplify earned to further drive reach and impact. Brands may master the channel equation, but multiplicity also exists in how a brand’s customers discover content – both intentional and intentionally.

When an individual has a specific question or information need to answer – the task in hand is slightly simpler.  It is here that ‘functional’ content, which informs and details the product or service in question, will always help speed up motion. It is also where your customers are not specifically searching for your brand, product, service or content that the greatest opportunity lies and where multiplicity of content can make or break a brand’s ability to win over a new or prospective customer.

Success can be achieved in these moments of ‘unintentional’ discovery if the branded content in question is designed to generate an emotional response from the audience, especially if the desired response is laughter or enjoyment. This sort of content will have the greatest effect when amplified or discovered via highly influential earned media titles. For brands, this places great importance on the need to nestle content in the right places in order for it to be discovered at the right moment in time.

So, where does this leave us and where does it leave brand marketers? We haven’t entered a brand new frontier – this current state of play has been evolving for some time now – but we have certainly entered a phase where brands and their stories are in motion at a greater velocity than ever before… across devices, platforms and channels. And this shows no signs of slowing. 

Brands must create deliberate threads of content that engage consumers in their daily motion and move away from static messages and single-platform content to creating, co-creating and amplifying real-time, living Stories in Motion.