Show or tell? Which is better for commercials?
There is no right answer, but narrative storytelling is a great way to show how your product can be used. The idea is to “show” not “tell” the audience the features and benefits through an entertaining story. The goal is to create a memorable commercial and spur your audience into action.
In fact, according to cognitive psychologist Jerome Bruner, we are 22 times more likely to remember a fact when it has been wrapped in a story. This is what we mean when discussing the power of story for sales and marketing videos. We need to be memorable. Your customer may not remember the charts and graphs, or other analytics, but they will remember your name and how you made them feel. And that is powerful.
Commercials that compel action.
The action we try to compel is different from video to video. For example, buying a product, calling for a demo, or encouraging them to learn more. But generally, we want them to either do something or think differently.
The idea for the Father and Son commercial surfaced after we completed Skipstone’s product launch video. The product launch video was professional and informative, but the narrative story showed how it could be used in everyday life.
The folks at Skipstone loved the idea and gave us the green light. From there we started talent auditions, writing the script, and scouting locations. After weeks of planning, the commercial came together over the course of a three-day shoot in late summer.
We had a great crew consisting of a creative director, director, director of photography, gaffers, script supervisor, audio tech, and production assistants. With all the duties split up, we were able to focus on telling the best story possible and cover all the bases
