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We have been telling stories forever and our brains have evolved to love them eventually because a story tends to make information way more memorable. Now, we have harnessed the power of storytelling power for marketing. Storytelling in advertising is really important as it hooks the customers and increases brand awareness.

These best storytelling ads tell not only real-life stories but, historical tales and inspirational accounts and while they differ in their delivery, they all cause a multitude of emotions in viewers. We have curated a list of best storytelling ads.

What are Storytelling Ads?

Storytelling ads are passively developing the strength of emotional connection in advertising. These storylines are basically emphasizing ones like “dramatic story,” “powerful history,” “love the storyline” and “tells a meaningful story”. We use storytelling marketing as a means of using a narrative to communicate a message to people.

The main aim is to make the viewer aspire so that it’ll inspire them to take some action. Storytelling in marketing helps consumers to understand why they should take concerned about something. It can be said that a storytelling ad sometimes also works to humanize your brand.

The human brain is genetically wired to love storytelling, and in today’s world of content overload, a well-told story is often a marketer’s best chance to capture the attention of their audience.

For instance, every Rakshabandhan (Hindu festival which symbolizes the selfless love between brothers and sisters) Cadbury, Dairy Milk always advertises with a story and a special bond and comes up with its pack of chocolate boxes. So does, every brand is eventually adopting nowadays.

Storytelling advertising is not just limited to film; stories can be told in pictures, verbally, or in written form. Because stories can help sellers achieve cut-through in a marketplace in a way that could be: by design distracting, creating advertising that resonates with people, and sticks to it.

Top 9 Best Storytelling Ads

These top 10 best storytelling ads have no fewer than eight emotions that fire, an impressive feat when many ads struggle to fire on more than one.

1. Mercedes – Bertha Benz

Rank	Brand	Ad Title	Length	Narrative Score
1	Mercedes-Benz	Bertha Benz	1:00	10

This ad hit on a wide spectrum of emotions with the connections relating to powerful messaging, inspiring, and heartfelt feelings. This is the top storytelling ad through which Mercedes- Benz excelled at delivering information in an entertaining manner with a motive.

2. Travelers – Legacy

Rank	Brand	Ad Title	Length	Narrative Score
2	Travelers	Legacy	1:00	10

Both of the ads Legacy and Footsteps were among the best storytelling commercials. One was ranked 2nd and the other behold 10th position. The Travelers insurance ads outperformed many other insurance industries on every quantitative measure and evoked similar emotions in both of these ads. However, the “Likeability” factor laid the stronger storytelling spot in “Legacy”, which turned out to be the better performer of the two with an ace score.

3. Charles Schwab – My Journey

Rank	Brand	Ad Title	Length	Narrative Score
3	Charles Schwab	My Journey	1:00	10

This ad also hit a wide audience. Kelly’s real-life narrative in Charles Schwab’s “My Journey” grabbed a lot of attention at significantly different levels. The story was Powerful and Inspiring with a message of Corporate Responsibility to its viewers. However, over the lack of ‘product details,’ they were at 3^rd position.

4. Hallmark’s – Mom’s Love is for Always

Rank	Brand	Ad Title	Length	Narrative Score
4	Hallmark	Mom’s Love is for Always	0:30	9.3

Hallmark in fourth place tapped into heart-warming emotions which surely established the relevance for the product in the mind of customers. Emphasizing the occasion of Mother’s Day, the card is a must for those who are celebrating motherly love.

The intense emotion of heartfelt feeling scored rare in the narrative of the storytelling ad. The impressive part of this ad is, that it scored in the rare territory for an ad where there was only single emotion. Only less than 2.9% of ads score above 9 for a single emotion.

5. Principal Financial – Dream Car

Rank	Brand	Ad Title	Length	Narrative Score
5	Principal Financial	Dream Car	1:00	9.2

This ad was even more successful ‘quantitively’ than Charles Schwab’s “My Journey”. This ad was basically built on the emotion “Desire” which eventually resulted in positive consideration among 55% of its viewers.

6. University of Phoenix – Discover Your Wings

Rank	Brand	Ad Title	Length	Narrative Score
6	University of Phoenix	Find Your Wings	1:00	8.6

This famous ad parallels a child’s bedtime story wherein his mother is going back to his school. Its Likeable and Inspirational message has been one of the strongest performers in its category.

7. Verizon – First Responders

Rank	Brand	Ad Title	Length	Narrative Score
7	Verizon	First Responders	1:00	8.2

In the ad of Verizon’s 60- second Super Bowl spot, Los Angeles Chargers’ Head Coach Anthony Lynn got an opportunity to meet and thank his personal heroes. This ad hit on a different level to its viewers with emotions of Inspiration, a Heart-warming, Powerful message with good storytelling.

8. Jim Beam – Raised Right

Rank	Brand	Ad Title	Length	Narrative Score
8	Jim Beam	Raised Right	1:00	8.2

Holding onto the eighth spot, this ad pays tribute to the brand’s heritage. The historical context along with the story narrative delivered more information than most of the liquor ads out there. In fact, Jim Beam’s ad particularly scored 30% above liquor norms.

9. Nike – You Can’t Stop Sisters

Rank	Brand	Ad Title	Length	Narrative Score
9	Nike	You Can’t Stop Sisters	1:00	8.2

This ad earned above apparel norm score on attention and likeability and it’s presumed only because of a story between the heart-warming and poetic imagery. According to some observations, it was Nike’s lowest-scoring ad on Desire and on Relevance too.

With very subtle branding there was no explicit link to the story. This shows that sometimes outstanding storytelling, alone does not make a top-notch ad.

Top Storytelling Trends in the Advertising Industry

• Data-Driven storytelling
• Stories that are directly sourced
• Brands becoming associated with immersive podcasts
• Companies and Brands hiring public relations companies to create their stories
• Sparklines provide a visual representation of data
• Visual storytelling focuses on driving the narrative in the frontline
• Storytelling Marketing helps customers to learn about food brands
• Advertisers should tell stories via new “Digital Realities”
• Marketers like to direct Influencers to tell stories their way

Although we’ve got more technology at our levels than in early times, the power of a simple story always beholds everyone firmly. However, if you choose your ad to tell a story then ‘as long as you spin a good yarn’ with an intriguing plot, compelling characters, and plenty of emotion—will keep your audience captivated.

Conclusion

Storytelling marketing not only opens up a world of creativity for marketers but also enables brands to communicate key messaging in a way that needs no explaining. Here’s a top-secret: It’s all about balancing an insight with killer creativity because no story, no glory.

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