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Agencies and the art of storytelling

February 8, 2010 at 1:36 by Martina Comments

Posting cool stuff on Adverblog is getting more and more difficult. I mean, I think the time of cool microsites is almost over. I was discussing the topic with some friends in Amsterdam the other day. To be successful and to be meaningful, you need to do more than a website. You need to connect it with the offline world, and surely you need to create a story worth being noticed and shared through social media. Paid media is no longer enough to drive traffic. And, in the same way a good/creative website doesn’t make a campaign successful if you don’t build an integrated action around it. So, getting back to the point, to become a cool campaign we can write about, you need to tell us a story that goes beyond sharing a link.


The video I received this morning from Farfar is a good example of a case study that provides you with the full picture of a campaign. It’s useful to evaluate the creativity and it’s also useful (if you are a client) to evaluate the 360 approach of the agency.

The World’s Biggest Signpost for Nokia idea is nice, and probably a good number of consumers spent time interacting with it. But, in my opinion, you appreciate it (and you might value it more) because of the way it is told (or better, sold) through the video recap. So the lessons we learn here are pretty simple: if you want to create a successful campaign, make it fully integrated. If you want to win new clients (and bloggers’ attention) make sure you recap well your initiative!

5 Responses to Agencies and the art of storytelling

  1. RC says:

    Totally agree. Microsites and banners are a has been. 2/3 years ago microsite was the king. Now, in the clients/brand perspective a facebook app/social media/ and much abused word ‘platform’ has become the microsite. What’s to say or speculate that maybe in a few years time there’ll be a new avatar?! (The way augmented reality is being used/abused by the advertisers & agencies alike is discerning, it could very well be packaged as the new trend…which is what my worry is.) Digital communication needs to focus on core purpose - that to enable conversations through an interaction or an experience.
    Maybe it’s time for the fraternity to start a co-creation process based on human insights/opportunities. Maybe we should look beyond such ‘microsites, etc’…we need to think harder and create an actual Nike Plus/ Fiat EcoDrive etc like media products…instead of being the end-execution based outfit.

  2. I quoted you guys in my last blog post, hope that’s ok! Of course I link back to you.
    Good thoughts!
    / Ludwig.

  3. elisabetta says:

    geniale!

  4. Brava Martina,
    purtroppo è una cultura, soprattutto in Italia, fortemente ostacolata dalla stesse agenzie e da chi vi lavora all’interno!

  5. Part of the campaign was also coordinated and launched by WOM in the blogosphere before the start.
    Selected people received a “Nokia Good Things delivered in Little Packages”-box.
    More details on: � superform http://wp.me/pKoMI-5B

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