Storytelling as an Image creation tool (Brand Storytelling)

A newly emerging international trend in the field of food and beverages, is returning to traditional, pure products and flavours, where consumers are turning to products asking authenticity. The fast pace of life and fear that has now passed in various forms in everyday life, combined with the stress, has created an emotional need for return to roots, back to those memories, fragrances and the flavours, that make us feel safe and sure, throwing away the "illusion of supposedly". The traditional diet products are products associated with nutritional culture of a place, and through it with the local history, traditions and customs. The traditional character of these products due to the specificity of the materials or the manufacturing method (recipe or technique) has a history of decades or centuries and transmitted from generation to generation.

This search for "truth" brings to the surface and gives value to the local Greek tradition. From the Kozani “Krokos” to the Alexandroupolis cheese pies and from the “Rakomelo” of Amorgos to the Thracian “Kavourmas” (or Syglino as they say in Mani ...), the Greek traditional products are traditions, culture and ambassadors of the forgotten local identity. The increased global demand for traditional products is one of Greece's last opportunities to gain a competitive edge that transcends its borders with claims and confidence. Greece is full of amazing products that combine quality, taste and nutritional values, making unique proposals to the Greek as well as the international consumer. The importance of their emergence, both for preserving the heritage and historical identity of an area, and for developing the local economy, is obvious. Traditionally, however, they rarely have the right image that will act as a customer-to-customer communication channel ensuring the first test. New ways must be sought and developed so that these products take advantage of their specific character in order to gain the trust of the foreign consumer.

Brand Storytellers - "A myth I will tell you ..."

A valuable ally in this effort is the operation of Branding, which is called to "dress" the products in communication, creating the "clear and believable Myth" that encompasses all those values that make the product unique, giving arguments to the consumer who recognizes them and is tempted to discover them. One of the most modern tools that will synthesize and visualize all the above, building a robust and dynamic brand, is the narrative of the unique story of each product-service-place, to the consumer. According to the new global trend, every advertising effort tells a story. This Narrative Storytelling is the most persuasive and attractive way of promoting today. All modern communications theories advocate that consumers no longer buy products, but the stories they are "telling" about. They do not buy the brands themselves, but the Myths and Archetypes that these brands symbolize. For several years now, the world's largest companies have put forward their narrative rebuilding. Narrative scenes replaced advertising campaigns. The brand image was replaced by the Brand Story. We have gone into the Storytelling Era, where the biggest challenge faced by businesses is how to talk about their story in the most effective and trustworthy way. Storytelling is the most useful tool in this effort because it has the ability to easily attract public attention by emitting messages that effectively penetrate the emotional world of the targeted audience.

The narrative of old local traditional stories stimulates the imagination of consumers in relation to tradition and Greek customs (Heritage Branding), highlighting an abandoned equity Capital, capable of leading Greek Enterprises and local Municipalities to a dynamic presence in Brand Storytelling, reinforcing their struggle for extroversion and targeting in specific competitive markets.
Please get in contact with us at New York College to attend Brand Storytelling Seminars that will teach you about the power of Storytelling and how it can shape beliefs and behavior.

You will:

• Learn about the power of Myths and the Archetypes of stories that permeate all cultures and shape the way we communicate,
• Understand how stories can motivate and engage people,
• Discover how to put these Storytelling principles into action in your own Businesses or Organizations.

See you soon!

Charalampos Michailidis

Director of Corporate Affairs NYC Thessaloniki Campus