The STORY will always be the only CONSTANT!

A quick rewind to 20 years back ....Remember the cool cassette device and the VCR tape that used to

be the icon of entertainment until the early 90’s revolution of the well-known cds? Recall the excitement,

around the family time in the living room, defined by the combined watching of a primetime show on

Sunday mornings? If you really have no clue what I am talking about then obviously you must be one-third

my age and I probably sound like 'gen-Xtinct' to you ! Let’s now flash-forward to our current entertainment

icons, powered by the influence of the man who tamed technology, Steve Jobs. Today, in the midst of

the Apple vs. Android battle, we as consumers have a plethora of devices that swallow our wallets but

never our hunger for more. Even our television, apparently the 'idiot-box', links up now to our smartphones;

not just with a cord, but with a super cool technology that enables content display and sharing with just a

gentle screen swipe. We really belong to a highly complex multi-screen world where consumption

behavior is way too difficult to predict with a linear logic. Content being the king as always, is funneled

down our consumption network now in innovative ways like never before. However often overlooked and

underestimated, what is most important for us to remember is that from the passive experiences of

entertainment consumption in the past, to the currently active, interactive and immersive capabilities, the

one thing that continues to stay constant, unbeatable in importance and at the heart of the complex

layered consumption ecosystem- is the - story, story and Story.

Story has always been and will always have to be the heart of the consumption eco-system. But if story is

the constant, then let’s understand what has really changed. Spotting the easier first, no doubt that the

medium and devices of course have changed and so has the method. With them evolving, even

distribution innovation has had to follow fast. All this has boosted a dynamic consumption environment.

But the one ultimate element worth noticing and accepting, is the evolution in the storytelling style and

format. This has happened for two reasons; one being the consumer’s quick and frequent adoption of

technologically advanced devices and second being his constantly evolving preferences, dominated by

his extremely competitive lifestyle. To express this better, let’s compare our yesterday's media ecosystem

with today’s. What stands out the most is the dramatic movement of consumption from 20 channels on

television with a remote in a fixed living room, to 500 channels anytime and anywhere across television

and the mobile, laptop, tablet or now called ‘the second screen’.

However while the ecosystem

has branched, the fundamental

seed that ensures it is healthy and

relevant, is afterall the 'story',

which forms both the need and

desire for consumption. Therefore

what now is interesting to observe

is how all this branching out of the

consumption ecosystem has

boosted 'the art of storytelling'.

If we were to analyse storytelling

evolution, one might wonder

what was the real trigger for such

innovation. Many may say it was

the advancement of Technology,

marketers would boldly claim it

was the need for differentiated

brand communication and some technology businesses would share their insight being the demand of

the consumer. I, on the other hand, have a different theory. I strongly believe it was the stagnancy in

content consumption due to the rise of the highly mobile or transit lifestyle that drove businesses across the

consumption value chain to push their limits and this positively triggered the spark in storytelling evolution.

It was the consumption stagnancy that pushed technology businesses to work on smarter content

consumption solutions which was complimentary to the lifestyle of consumers. This, in return, influenced

content producers and marketers to revolutionize their storytelling format. Thus was the beginning of the

constantly evolving up-gradation from not just a liner passive format but the story as well.

Technology cannot lose focus that it is always going to

be differentiated on the ‘how’ value it brings to the

experience of consumption. Media channels cannot

afford to forget that it is always going to be the network

effectiveness that will ensure its value. Finally Brands and

their marketers, absolutely need to always question their

communication goal in the clutter of all. In a chaotic

world where every professional and every business is

struggling to win the rat race of consumption, it is

extremely important to stay focused on the heart, the

'story', while battling against each other.

So if you spend your average 12 hours a day running the much admired rat race with your own

professional batten, do not forget to ask yourself the fundamental question, time and again... "really what

is the story?"

If you have used any of the above strategies or have any additional strategies or recommendations, please do share…

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