Responsible Storytelling Done Right

Chapter 20 of "Share This" talk about three skills PR people need for the future of industry: storytelling, content and technology. The book notes storytelling gives brands “the capability to use digital channels to listen and speak to mass audiences directly and facilitate customer-to-customer conversations.”

One company implementing storytelling to speak to a mass audience is Budweiser. Every year Budweiser celebrates Global Be(er) Responsible Day which is observed in September to remind people to drink responsibly. This year Budweiser created an advertisement for Be(er) Responsible Day that I can’t help but love. It is a PR piece aimed to help spread the word about drinking responsibly through the use of an emotional story.

This year’s ad tells a story of a man and his puppy and the friendship they share together. The ad progresses to a night when the dog’s owner leaves the house for a night of drinking. The dog misses his owner dearly and whimpers and mopes only to be embraced by his owner the next morning. The ends with the hashtag: #FriendsAreWaiting.

Budweiser applied principles of storytelling as outlined in "Share This". Chapter 20 notes developing a story requires a deep understanding of the subject matter and an understanding of customers. By using the friendship between a man and his dog instead of using the friendship between a man and his family or his friends illustrates Budweiser did its homework on what matters to its customers when they choose to drink. This ad suggests when you drink and drive your decision has more implications than you might think. By emphasizing how drunk driving effects a pet’s unconditional love for you demonstrates Budweiser has a deep knowledge of its customers and knows what really matters to them.

This ad is beautifully crafted to communicate a very serious and important message. What’s great about this ad is Budweiser in no way condemns people’s decision to drink or lectures people about their behavior choices. Instead the ad relies on storytelling and emotions to make a powerful point.

Budweiser didn’t have to use any menacing music, deep voiced narrators or drunk driving statistics: They never even had to show a car because Budweiser knows it doesn’t need those things to get its message across.

Chapter 20 also suggests companies should think about how to make a campaign bigger than the sum of its parts. This public service announcement by Budweiser implements this idea by including a hashtag with the ad. Now people can have a conversation on social media about what it means to drink responsibly.  This ad was also created to be viewed across multiple social media channels such as YouTube and Twitter, not just on television. If you are looking for a good example of the principles of storytelling as outlined in "Share This" look to Budweiser because I think they did a great job.