The power of storytelling in advertising

Author: Esmé Bouhali

Unless you’re into American football, you probably never heard about Colin Kaepernick before 2016. Let me fill you in quickly. Kaepernick, an African American quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers, chose to kneel during the United States national anthem at the start of NFL games. He was protesting racial injustice and police brutality towards African Americans. His actions against it divided the nation…

On September 3rd, Nike revealed their new campaign, featuring Kaepernick. Billboards with the words ‘Believe in something. Even if it means sacrificing everything,’ followed by Nike’s, ‘Just do it,’ were spread across the country. America was in turmoil, Nike customers were divided and even Trump gave his opinion on the campaign.

Nike is all about the power to change how people feel about what they can achieve when they wear Nike. This campaign tells Nike’s story about who they are as a company, knowing that their decision would polarise not only America. Marketing analyst, Scott Galloway, called it ‘the most gangster marketing move of 2018’. He also made the conclusion that Nike risked billions of money, just to get a deeper and worthier connection with their customer.

Mostly storytelling is used to get attention for the products you are advertising. But the power of storytelling is getting an emotional connection with your audience. By creating an audience that believes in what you believe as a brand. That’s why the best storytelling, isn’t for everyone.