Winning the Story Wars makes the following bold claim on its cover: Why those who tell – and live – the best stories will rule the future, and then proceeds to back up that claim in a book that is interesting, insightful and even possibly a glimpse into the future. Author Jonah Sachs ties effective marketing to its roots in those replicators of memes in the oral traditions of the past: Stories.
The book’s prologue provides a great summary of the book’s content, and sets the scene: just as in the movie “The Matrix,” Sachs offers readers a red pill, which symbolizes an “invitation for you to step into the role of hero and to play a part in the fight for a better future” (p. 9). Myths help us organize our world, “a world that we can approach with confidence rather than fear or despair” (p. 9). Understanding of myths represents enlightenment and thus is also something that can be used to connect with an audience in a meaningful way.
This book’s “story” is told in two parts: The Broken World of Storytelling (Part I) and Shaping the Future (Part II). Part I provides the background in four chapters. In “The Story Wars Are All Around Us”, Chapter 1, Sachs defines stories as “[…] a particular type of human communication designed to persuade an audience of a storyteller’s word view” (p. 18). He then explains:
Wherever you find human-scale characters playing a larger role than facts or proclamations and a clear lesson you can apply to your own life, you know you’re in the presence of the unique persuasion tool known as a story […] great stories, well told, will rule the wilds of the media marketplace now emerging (p. 19).
That marketplace, which the author calls the Digitoral Era, replaces the traditional mass communication methods of the broadcast tradition with a digital culture of sharing (e.g. texting, instant messaging, social media) that harkens back to the oral tradition of storytelling. It is in this emerging context that storytelling becomes a critical path between marketers and their audiences.
In Chapter 2, “The Five Deadly Sins”, the author identifies five pitfalls for marketers to avoid in their storytelling: vanity, authority, insincerity, puffery and gimmickry. Each is introduced with a vignette illustrating the problems the “sin” can pose for a brand followed by examples of how marketers commonly commit those mistakes. For example, in the case of the sin of vanity, marketers must realize that droning on about why they think their cause or brand is special misses the point – audiences want to see their own values embodied in a brand’s message:
Start with your audiences and their needs, then introduce yourself as a catalyst for helping them meet those needs, and a story instantly begins to unfold: Multiple characters and, most importantly, your audiences in a starring role. Conflict between your audience’s desires and their current state. And a plot or journey that you invite them to join you on to reach those desires (p. 39).
Chapters 3 and 4 speak to the “Myth Gap” and “Dark Arts” of contemporary marketing. Myths, Sachs tells us, are important for a culture to codify, express and share its beliefs and depend on three ingredients: Symbolic Thinking, which sets myths apart from the literal world; Story, Explanation and Meaning, all essential components; and Ritual, which enables application of myths to people’s lives. A myth gap is formed when society changes rapidly and its myths do not evolve to function in light of that change. Thus, enduring myths must be flexible enough to adapt to changing realities, and marketers have been positioned to create those myths:
That marketers are some of our most powerful mythmakers is, for now, a basic fact of life. And marketers would be foolish not to take advantage of the power this confers—it’s the most direct path to success in the work we do (p. 76).
Sachs also points out potential missteps when marketers attempt (sometimes inappropriately) to capitalize on perceived myth gaps in current cultural and political events for commercial purposes. Kenneth Cole making light of protests in Egypt while promoting his spring clothing line on Twitter illustrates the dark art of marketing, which “emphasizes the act of consumption as the highest human purpose” (p. 83). Sachs believes that marketers, as contributors to a culture’s myths and stories, can and should do better.
Part II of the book comprises four chapters designed to help brands strategically craft stories that will resonate with their audiences while rejecting marketing’s dark arts. The author counsels communicators to always be interesting, tell the truth and live the truth through their brand stories. Chapters 5 and 6, “Tell the Truth” Parts I and II, respectively, provide guidance for producing stories designed to advance to the level of myth. Sachs promotes what he calls “empowerment marketing”, which includes “stories told to help encourage audiences on their path to maturation and citizenship” (p. 113). The tactics prescribed for empowerment marketing include exposing the lies of commonly accepted marketing narratives, casting the audience as the hero and inspiring and empowering consumers of one’s brand. These chapters draw from well-known concepts such as Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, with advice on how brands can align their values with those of their consumers. An interesting discussion of plot points in the process of casting a brand’s customers as the hero ensues. This cleverly includes character descriptions, complete with exemplar brands that have successfully developed each character type.
Chapter 7 encourages marketers to “Be Interesting”, with detailed guidelines on how to develop story devices to create breakthrough stories. For example, genesis stories focus on how a brand was born, in an attempt to get audiences to applaud the organization’s beginnings. The author’s instructions to do this include steps such as “Cast your protagonist as a familiar”, “Identify your nemesis” and “Find your tone and character” (pp. 202-207). The final chapter, Chapter 7, urges marketers to “Live the Truth”, by describing well-known brands that failed to connect their values and actions. Modern audiences demand this and can become brand evangelists if a brand authentically lives its values.
This book provides a unique perspective on creating brand myths, but doing so in a way that is responsible to both the organization and society. Creatives would find this book useful as guidance for developing such messages, as would students of the process. As Sachs tells us, stories have the power to change people’s behavior, which is the essence of effective marketing, and ultimately marketing is the language that brands use to connect to their customers.
