STORYTELLING CONTINUES TO BE A HOT TOPIC, WITH PEOPLE EAGER TO UNDERSTAND HOW TO CONSTRUCT ENGAGING STORIES AROUND THEIR BRAND. AND EAGER TO FIND OUT WHAT’S NEEDED TO CREATE STORIES THAT ENGAGE WITH CONSUMERS.

We deliberately use the term ‘audiences’ and not ‘customers’ or ‘consumers.’ We’ve taken what we learned from music and working with successful artists all over the world and applied it to brands. Working with artists you quickly learn to achieve strong enduring audience connections you first need to entertain to engage. Our humble belief is that if you truly think of them as an audience the way a band or solo artists would, that will put you in the right mindset to engage them.

Even when we were working with newly signed artists, we would be looking for a reason for an audience to care (although, being the Music Biz, we had a much blunter way of expressing that). You need to give your audience a reason to invest their ‘emotional capital’ in your message and your brand. Do it well and you may create a Fan!

**ENGAGING STORYTELLING DOESN’T START WITH YOU, IT STARTS WITH YOUR AUDIENCE.**

That means shaping a successful storytelling strategy for your brand (or your artist) doesn’t start with you, but rather your audience. That requires a deep understanding of them – their values, beliefs, motivations – that’s what will shape your message. However, that kind of insight will not be found in the type of WHAT data that we’ve talked about before. It's the WHY you gain from attitudinal insight that you need. It’s insight that will spark creative ideas and shape your story.

At Sound Effects, we’ve developed a unique approach to this. We use our experience within the music business, working with audiences all over the world to help brands ignite lasting audience relationships through music. We believe passionately that great storytelling and enduring brand relationships are only borne out of robust human insight. Our ideas spark from a combination of primary insight and our own proprietary tools.