In the year 2009, a journalist by the name of Bob Walker set out to unearth if storytelling really is the most powerful tool that helps brands outshine their competition. He purchased 200 items from eBay and priced each item at $1 on average. He then contacted 200 authors and posed a question, “Would you like to be a part of the significant object study? That is, can you write stories for these items?” The authors were happy to oblige and fabricate a narrative for each item.

One of the items was this intricately carved horse bust that cost around $6.

Intricately Carved Horse

The horse bust that was initially bought for $6 was sold, after it was compounded with a compelling story, for a whopping $65. Yes, you read that right! That’s around 10 times the original price of the object. And why did people buy it at such an exorbitant price? The story was engaging enough to coax them into making the purchase, despite the high price.

Was this a one-off situation? No. The items that were bought for $200 were sold for $8,000. Insane, right? I don’t know what Bob did with all that money, but what I can tell you is that he taught us a valuable lesson. The power of storytelling and how it is impacting our lives.

All the top-notch digital agencies are using storytelling or we can say the power of visual storytelling in cutting down their marketing costs and exponentially increasing their sales.

Here is your chance to find out what the top agencies are actually doing that is working in their favor.

Twoodie

Let us start with Twoodie. The images they post are easy to understand. Everything is gray except the toys, which are the only pops of color in the images. Each image is telling us a story. A story of beauty, simplicity, playfulness, and fun. These are not just simple objects; with compelling visual storytelling, Twoodie has transformed them into phenomenal objects that are stirring, lively, and essential.

Twoodie Storytelling

Charity Water

Every time we donate to a social organization, our major concern lies in whether our donations will serve their purpose and reach their destination in time. Charity Water does an awesome job of making sure that the money we are donating is benefiting the communities in getting access to cleaner water. And the best part, they are using storytelling to make us trust them even more than any other social organization. By portraying the happiness of people over the globe, they instill in us a passion for giving back to the community.

Charity Water Storytelling

Knownsupply

There is a 39% chance that your best employees are thinking of quitting in the next month. How so? Well, a study by Gallup shows that if you do not keep your best employees happy, they are bound to leave the nest soon in search of greener pastures.

Amidst a raging global war, brands are working hard to come up with the best teams and flaunt how happy they are and how much fun they have at their jobs. While everyone else is dreaming about it, Known supply is making it possible. If you’re working in Known Supply, you are valued for sharing your stories on your Instagram account.

Known Supply

The Wild Unknown

Are you into magic, tarot card reading, and the mystery of destiny? Well, I am not. But still, I bought the whole collection from The Wild Unknown. Why, you may ask? Their gripping Instagram visual storytelling cast a spell over me and made me buy the item.

Instagram Visual Storytelling

If you peruse through their Instagram feed, you’ll fall head over heels in love with the way they are narrating stories. Every picture and every piece is magical. Their stories will teleport you into a different dimension and you will return to Earth only after you purchase something from them.

The Wild Unknown

Piston

Consider this: you just finished watching a James Bond movie for the umpteenth time. You’re highly impressed by the man. You’re walking on your way home and thinking; how can I be like this man? And you see a watch in a shop display that is exactly like the one Bond was wearing. You bought the $8,000 watch and you step out of the store feeling like bond.

What just happened? The story they told in James Bond was compelling enough to force you to buy that $8,000 Rolex watch.

Piston – a San Diego-based marketing agency is making the same impact on people. They are a nut most professional agency that markets themselves as the James Bond for the digital age.

James Bond Movie

When you avail their services, they give you a feeling of heroism. It is just an ordinary agency that is using visual storytelling to turn your brand into a superhero.

The Happy Ending

You can use maps, data visualizations, and real-life photos to tell your story. Whether your goal is to boost your sales or bring traffic to your website, you need to harness the power of visual storytelling. Most importantly, you need to keep your hero – the audience- in mind.

Whereas old customers preferred to skim through long product descriptions including even the tiniest details about the product, Generation Y customers are more predisposed towards the stories you telling them, about how your product is adding value in their lives!

If you want your brand to stand out, you need to start telling stories that customers are willing to hear.