10 ways to improve your ads (with storytelling being a big part of it)

By Paul Zak. Excerpts:

"The most important thing you can do to sustain neurologic immersion is to go back to English 101 and always, always, build a narrative arc for your commercial. 

A montage of unconnected  scenes may seem like a good way to evoke emotional attachment, but our data show that with the montage approach, within 10 to 15 seconds, the brain "gets it" and there is little reason to spend the metabolic energy to continue to be immersed. Low immersion shows that the information is unimportant and will not be remembered.

On the flip side, more immersion means more sales - because the brain values and remembers the content. Your commercial has to grab and grow immersion to be successful. A dramatic arc that introduces characters who face a dilemma that they then resolve keeps the brain immersed and wanting more. The data shows that a complete story arc can be done in as little as 6 seconds, so you don't need Tolstoy to write your script - and we all know you usually have 15 to 30 seconds to get your message across. 

Regardless of the time you have, you do need to have product-story congruence.  That is, the commercial must weave the product into the dramatic arc in a natural way. Many commercials tell wonderful stories and then just drop a "buy now"at the end. This does not cut it. Tell a story and make your product part of the plot."

"The story and those who embody it need to express genuine emotions that are absorbed by viewers and get them to care about your product as much or more than the many other things they care about. Solid narrative and writing, good actors and voiceover artists, and thoughtful directors are all necessary to create a hit commercial."

"What does drive brand awareness and sales? High and sustained immersion.  For this, you need a story.  Including a family who expresses emotions in a story is the way to generate an emotional "wanting" for the same experience. "

"Build a story around a pet and you can sustain immersion." "The pet, product, and story need to be congruent so that the puppy or kitty or pony is tied to the product. This is how to turn "awws" into dollars." 

"stories rule and unrelated quick cuts drool. Client data show that nostalgic ads without a story do not sustain immersion and have little impact on sales. 

Nostalgic stories, yes. Nostalgia because you think it looks pretty, no."

Farewells Masquerade As ‘New Adventures’

See Is That Co-Worker Really ‘Off to a New Adventure’? Almost every goodbye message from a soon to be former colleague sounds like the start of something exciting. Don’t buy it by Callum Borchers of The WSJ. Excerpts:

"The message just landed in your inbox or LinkedIn feed with all the cheer of a holiday greeting card:

I’m leaving to pursue new opportunities!

I’m excited for my next adventure!!

Can’t share the details yet, but stay tuned!!!

Sometimes, there really is something cool in the works, and the exit was purely voluntary. Often, the situation is a bit more complicated. 

People who’ve been pushed out—or need a change after burning out or hitting a ceiling—seldom admit it up front. And the old saw about spending more time with family…well, didn’t we all do plenty of that during the pandemic everything-at-home era? Better to frame the end of a job as a triumph, or at least a step in the journey toward self-fulfillment.

So many of us want our jobs to reflect a sense of great purpose, which can make it unbearable to suggest that change is anything less than destiny calling.

“It corresponds to how much people now talk about following your passion and being authentic to your true self,” says Adam Galinsky, a professor of leadership and ethics at Columbia Business School. 

Vague, euphemistic announcements about chief executive officers’ departures are practically an art form. Walt Disney Co. recently thanked Bob Chapek for his leadership throughout the pandemic and said he had stepped down as CEO. There was no explanation other than that the “uniquely situated” Robert Iger was returning to lead the company. A press release didn’t mention that Disney executives and investors had alerted the board of directors to concerns about Mr. Chapek’s management. 

Salesforce Inc. co-CEO Bret Taylor said a couple of weeks ago in a press release that he wants to “return to my entrepreneurial roots” and asserted that now—barely a year after his appointment—is the time to do just that. The abrupt career shift is hard to square with the company’s original plan for Mr. Taylor to help lead its next chapter, not to mention the tensions that had been growing between him and Salesforce co-founder (and now solo CEO) Marc Benioff, according to people familiar with the executives. 

We nonbosses are carefully managing our farewell messages too, as if we were running investor relations at Me Inc. Controlling the narrative can feel especially important when many businesses are cutting staff, and as economists are warning of a looming recession.

“Nobody wants to appear injured in the marketplace,” or like damaged goods,  says Dale Gibbons, a management consultant in Louisville, Ky."

"CEOs and corporations, which portray every transition as smooth and well-planned"

"many professional breakups are recast as the beginnings of thrilling new exploits."