Deep cuts: Story matters

Have you heard of this 43,900 year old growth hack?

Author

Jess Bachman
January 19, 2023

Story matters

Hey Deep Cuts fam. Now that there are 31 of you it's time to come up with a name for this fanbase. The Deepsters? The Cuties? It's going to be the Cuties unless you reply with a better suggestion.

I'll always be super transparent when it comes to sponsors and affiliates. Nothing grosser than not disclosing that stuff. So, FYI, Triple Whale paid $150 to sponsor the show and this newsy. Check'em out, makes email KPI monitoring so easy.

So Cuties, if you missed it we had a great ep of Adtopsy with Ridge CMO, Connor MacDonald and it taught me two things.

The first is to close as many tabs and apps as you can before you attempt to live stream. Connor's computer melted halfway through the show but the show had to go on. That's live streaming baby!

The second is that story matters.

My boi Fraser dropped this hot take on twitter the other day.

And while I love my boi Fraser and his outfit Fraggell Productions does good work, he's dead wrong here.

Humans have been using 'story' to communicate for a very long time. Check out this static ad that appeared in people's feeds 43,900 years ago.

And while you make think it's hard to tell a story in the short attention spans on social, that doesn't mean that we aren't ALREADY hardwired to think in stories.

The ad had a bunch of high-quality and functional but seemingly unrelated shots:

  • Putting cash in wallet (playing poker)

  • Dispensing coins (to play an arcade game)

  • Ability to scan cards (using it on subway turnstyle)

  • AirTag holder (lost wallet)

But when those were all put together it formed a rather sad narrative."The story of this ad is someone went out to play poker, got drunk, lost and had to take the train home, and then lost their wallet" - DaraWhile it may seem far-fetched that a viewer would read into that, it's actually what happens all the time. Human brains crave context, and we will subconsciously construct narratives that fill in any blanks. You can string together a bunch of cool shots to portray the life of a total loser. Which probably won't work so well as an ad unit.

So the two thoughts I'll leave you with.

  • Don't be afraid of experimenting with 'story' in your ads. You likely already are and don't know it.

  • As an editor it can be very easy to get in the weeds of the footage. Outside perspectives, even from novices, are often all you need to prevent a "what have I done?" ad from going into market.

Now make sure you schedule your next lunch for Friday 1pm ET when one of my favorite agency owners, Daniel Okon joins us for Adtopsy Live!✌️🙏Jess