Storytelling, especially “visual storytelling,” has the ability to illuminate the mission of a brand and connect people to it in a way that doesn’t feel ‘commercial.’ Storytelling may be trendy right now, but it is certainly not ephemeral. Stories are to marketing what water is to fish – it is the context for everything we do, so we can too easily forget it’s happening. I believe that Widen, and the products and services we deliver, can serve as a command center for your storytelling, serve as a foundation for stories that actually matter to your customers, and help you see the water.
Storytelling is how we create and reaffirm an emotional connection with people. Something memorable happens; we retell the story again and again, hopefully in a way that allows others to share in the joy, pain, comedy or flash of insight. Visual storytelling amplifies this emotional connection because of the “Picture Superiority Effect.” Simply stated, a picture really is worth 1,000 words. Visual storytelling produces a stronger bond than written content.
Visual storytelling techniques may depend on or deeply benefit from the use of a digital asset management system. DAM systems help you capture, organize, share, and track your brand's’ best assets. We know this thanks to all the DAM users who participated in our recent storytelling contest.
Digital asset management systems house the visual story of your brand. The metadata defines, describes and protects all the assets that, in combination, form great stories. To embrace DAM to power storytelling humanizes the otherwise daunting and highly manual task of organizing and administrating photography and all other forms of visual content.
Throughout history, stories have been passed on from generation to generation. In the spirit of preservation, DAM preserves your story so that it can be passed on, reimagined and shared in many forms. DAM provides you with a time capsule to access and share all of the visual artifacts that are part of your brand story.
Stories have been passed on for generations through song, too. So, in honor of my recent achilles tendon repair surgery, I want to share some more thoughts on DAM and storytelling with a rewrite on a classic kid’s song, The Skeleton Dance. This little jingle is a reminder of all the common and cliche visual stories that should remind us not to take ourselves too seriously.
The Storytelling Dance
♫ DAM bones, DAM bones, DAM dancing bones.
DAM bones, DAM bones, DAM dancing bones.
DAM bones, DAM bones, DAM dancing bones.
Doin' the storytelling dance.
The search bone's connected to the share bone.
The share bone's connected to the track bone.
The track bone's connected to the data bone.
Doin' the storytelling dance.
The secure bone's connected to the control bone.
The control bone's connected to the command bone.
The command bone’s connected to the brand bone.
Doin' the storytelling dance.
Shake your brands to the left.
Shake your brands to the right.
Put your pains in the air.
Put your problems out of sight.
Shake your brands to the left.
Shake your brands to the right.
Put your stories in the air and share!
Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle, wiggle, wiggle.
DAM bones, DAM bones, DAM dancing bones.
DAM bones, DAM bones, DAM dancing bones.
DAM bones, DAM bones, DAM dancing bones.
Doin' the storytelling dance. ♫
