EuroPack Summit 2015, Monaco, France

Why storytelling adds value to a product – people will want to buy it

By Jenny Eagle

- Last updated on GMT

AB InBev on storytelling EuroPack 2015
When you give meaning to something, people want to pay for it and this applies to any brand or product, according to Erwin Dito, former innovation and packaging director Western Europe, Anheuser Busch InBev.

In his case study: Fine Feathers Make Fine Birds: The Importance of Storytelling in the Packaging Innovation Process at EuroPack 2015, in Monaco, France, Dito advises businesses to capture a moment and add it to their communication in the packaging. 

The Value of Storytelling

As an example he talked about an experiment, called The Value of Storytelling’, by Joshua Glenn and Rob Walker to connect an objective value to stories. 

They bought insignificant objects off ebay and hired storytellers to write stories for that object and resold it on ebay and increased the value of the insignificant objects. 

Jim Stengel as part of his ‘The Brand Ideal’, embraces this idea and researches successful brands. He believes what separates successful from unsuccessful brands if that they understand what their brand ideal is. 

‘The ideal is the brand’s inspiration, reason for being, it explains why the brand exists and the impact it seeks to make in the world… it aims to improve the quality of people’s lives. It creates a meaningful goal…’ 

Knowing that storytelling is important and it adds value is a powerful tool to create value​,” said Dito. 

We have worked within AB InBev to capture this brand ideal and user method to express a creative idea​.” 

Referring to examples not related to AB InBev, Dito highlighted Coors Light and its message ‘Coor exists to bring men together to have fun’, he said, this product exists to bring the ultimate refreshment in beer for a great drinking experience, the creative idea is ‘exaggerated coldness’. 

This ‘over the top’ idea is incorporated into their marketing, refrigerators, brand identity and into their packaging with a ‘cold activation window’,​” added Dito. 

Coca-Cola

The advertising is about the packaging but how many people will use this cold activation window, not many. It’s not about whether it’s useful but the message is what is important. They want people to be aware they have that packaging​,” 

Another example, Dito mentioned was Coke, ‘to share happiness’, a well-known message for the brand, as a facilitator of sharing and togetherness. 

Two years ago we saw an innovation from Coke, with its ‘Share a Coke’ mini cans that can be split into two to share a coke. This is another example of a creative idea,​” he said. 

Urban Eat offers busy urban people great, crafted food on-the-go. They created Urban Eat Summer editions and portable beach huts, the packaging was developed to resemble the feeling of a beach hut, it’s impactful​.” 

Dito has worked on a campaign with Jupiler beer, which tells ‘a story about coldness’. 

“A can that keeps cold does not exist, but Jupiler’s message is the beer exists to foster male complicity,” he added. 

We offered it only in small packs and increased the price. It was a good business case​.”

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