How Joker teaches us Storytelling!

Why so serious? Take a chill pill and indulge in the marketing lessons by someone who redefined the concept of storytelling while playing a breakthrough character.

Try however hard to convince me but I can never erase the ultimate Joker blueprint created by Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight. He was phenomenal and will always be the most legit Joker for me.

You even ask why? Well, the depth, conciseness, and nuance that his character embodied had the essence of humanness in so many ways.

But above all, the joker taught us the very flawed yet true nature of life that we collectively ended up agreeing upon. It made sense. We used his quotes and referred to his philosophy in countless instances of real life.

Just have a look at this dialogue:

The Joker is cruel, a psychopath with a warped, sadistic sense of humor. People called him a monster. Although, he had a subtle way of finding a fine line between not accepting and not denying his monstrosity. Instead of accepting his acts of disgrace, he builds a story around his personality and why there is nothing wrong with him but with the world.

He knew how to create a satiric context to justify his actions and killings.

Remember, his story behind how he got his scars? Gives me chills even now, oomph!!

Somehow, he portrays his story with conviction and intensity, which makes the other person buy into it without even realizing it. He paves the way to tap on his audience’s subconscious minds through the art of storytelling!

Extractions: (What can marketers and creators learn?)

1. Create and portray a story to add emotional weightage to your product. Imagine going to movies without watching a trailer, how uncertain would it be for you to buy those expensive tickets, right?
   Likewise, if the concept makes sense to them, the product definitely will.

2. Remember how Joker has different versions of the same story depending on the audience he comes across? Similarly, add different flavors to your story depending on who is consuming your content or product.

   For eg. If your product is lipstick and you are selling to working professionals, then use a classy and inspirational story of how this lipstick can create a positive impression if you were on your dream job interview or an important client meeting.

3. The joker fuses emotions with his consistent actions (even if they are brutal), which makes him one of the strongest antiheroes despite being physically not-so-strong.

   Make sure you deliver the promise that your act of storytelling made.

   They will see the magic when you express the story but they will feel the magic when you serve the story.

4. Your value proposition is the benefit that consumers derive from your product. Now, that VP is not a standalone entity. It requires a push and it doesn't mean you have to spend lakhs of rupees on paid ads or billboards to do the same.

   With a minimal budget and a good piece of writeup/script, you can make the most of organic growth with an engaging YouTube video that gets you thousands of views or a kickass sales pitch that converts your high potential leads into prospects!

5. Alas, how do you even crack the art of storytelling? Firstly, there isn’t a definite formula, but there are some components you can consider to somehow reach the objectives. To be precise..

A good story = Kilograms of Emotions + Brand values + Use of visuals + Next level Relevance + Delivery of the promise with succeeding actions

Make sure you leverage all the five mentioned ingredients that make up the recipe for an epic story.

So next time, you try to market or sell something, don’t forget to

• Create a pitch that is packed with emotions, rawness, and relevance.

• Make ad campaigns that tell stories with some level of relevance.

• Utilize the power of your editing and content team to give birth to some noteworthy campaigns.

• Encapsulate your company’s long-term vision, principles, and values every time you run a storytelling campaign.
  

Some notable brand examples that excelled at storytelling:

1. Breaking down the walls by Airbnb.

2. The man on the moon by John Lewis

3. One day we won’t need this day by Nike

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If you reached this point, you are either growth-oriented or just too sweet to be true.😊
In either case, your time is appreciated. Look forward to my upcoming articles, which will be published here and emailed to you (if subscribed) the next Monday!
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See ya and shine as you mean it.:)