Brand Story that Works: Creating Branded Stories in the Era of Social Content

By Seung-Chul Yoo, Ph.D.

Content platforms have started to change dramatically, and channels diversified remarkably. But no matter how creative the majority of the brand content advertising is, it doesn\'t have a deeper meaning than triggering the attention and interest of the target consumer. This book adeptly addresses today’s marketing communication challenges and opportunities in the era of social media. In order to build a strong brand, the company needs to establish a deeper connection with the consumers through story value. This simple, enjoyable, and brief book is full of how-to better position, market, and sells the products and services that you market via effective branded stories.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Amelia Bella Publishing
• Release date: Nov 17, 2020
• ISBN: 9788967843113

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Brand Story That Works

creating branded stories in the era of social content

First Printing | 11. 2020, Republic of KOREA

Author | Seung Chul. Yoo

Publisher | Amelia Bella Publishing

Homepage | www.penreeve.com

ISBN | 978-89-6784-311-3 (15320)

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, write to the publisher, addressed 

Attention: Copyright Manager, at the email address below.

Copyright manager | [e-mail]

Copyright © 2020 Amelia Bella Publishing

CONTENTS

Author Bio

Beginning Thoughts

Chapter 1. Strategic Planning for Branded Content Communications

Chapter 2. Creative Content Idea for Brand Messaging

Chapter 3. The BIG IDEA for a Brand

Chapter 4. Brand Communication & Storytelling Approaches

Chapter 5. Story Analysis & Brand Story Creation Practice

Chapter 6. Brand Communication & Media Creative

Chapter 7. Brand Message & Media Effect

Chapter 8. Idea Mapping for Branded Content Development

Chapter 9. Brand Story Case Analysis

Chapter 10. Advertising Creative Strategy & Consumer Psychology

Chapter 11. Finding Audience & Stakeholder Analysis

Chapter 12. Audience Insight & Analysis

AUTHOR BIO

Seung (Seung-Chul) Yoo is an associate professor of [Media Engineering & Entrepreneurship / ADPR/Strategic Communication] in the School of Communication & Media at Ewha Womans University. Dr. Yoo is teaching courses in Digital/Interactive Advertising/PR and Consumer Psychology. He is an expert on new media advertising and a consultant on digital media technologies and interactive marketing. In his many years as an advertising professional, he worked as a sales promotion media planner at Cheil Worldwide and a senior account manager at W Brand Connection. Also, he worked as an assistant professor of digital advertising for Loyola University Chicago. Dr. Yoo's recent research explores brand communication through new content formats with a focus on persuasion design.

FOREWORD / BEGINNING THOUGHTS

Writing is an act that reveals the true nature of the author. So even in a short article, the reader can see the truth or falsehood of the author. So, writing and publishing requires the author to be bold to the point of fear and recklessness. Writer Paulo Coelho said, The ship is the safest when it's in the harbor, but that's not why it exists. The challenge of this book, despite my lack of knowledge and short teaching experience, began with a desire to take an exciting intellectual adventure away from the relatively stable course of life as a college educator and new media researcher.  

The realistic motivation was that even though the new trend of brand social content centered on the YouTube platform is growing fast around the world, there is no professional book that incorporates theory and reality. In fact, I have had a hard time finding a work of reference on 'branded social content planning and creation' that is transforming in the digital world while teaching subjects related to new media/interactive advertising at university. In addition, practitioners also rely on fragmented information found online. 

This project is an excellent preparation and implementation of the Social Media Content Creation Strategy and Business course, started as an MBA course at Ewha Womans University's Business School in the fall of 2019. Specifically, this book was prepared in the hope that executives will be able to use this textbook in their future MBA classes. 

In this section, I would like to thank the professors and students of Ewha Womans University for providing the driving force for writing. I would also like to thank Professor Yang, Hee-dong of Ewha Womans University's Graduate School of Business for giving me the opportunity to open my content-strategy course in the MBA program. I am also grateful to the students of the business school who took my course where there were many trials and errors and gave productive feedback.  

I would also like to thank Diana Piscarac, a Ph.D. student at our School of Communication & Media who collaborated with the English translation and editing during the writing process; Ki-Hwan Lee, head of WC Media Act, who helped prepare the writing materials; and Tu Anh Truong, a master’s student of and Communication & Media, who contributed with editing the writing. Finally, I want to thank my family for giving me the reckless courage to write. 

From the new media research lab in the Ewha Posco Building at Ewha Womans University 

December 1. 2020 

Seung Chul Yoo, Ph.D.

CHAPTER 1.

Strategic Planning for Branded Content Communications

While watching the The Guardian’s video Point of view, we get insight into the importance of the communicator’s standpoint when delivering a message. Let’s also recall the local commonality factor in cult movies such as Kurosawa’s Rashomon (1950) or Im Kwon Taek’s Seopyeonje (1993), which was a crucial ingredient in the success of the productions both at domestic and international level. 

Learning Outcomes

When delivering an advertisement message, what is the essential ingredient? Strategic persuasion? Or strategic ad placement? The core aim should be to create advertising content with intention.   

Fig. 1-1. Please Hire My Wife billboard ad (Ohio, USA) 

[Source: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2195990/Please-Hire-Wife-Husband-puts-billboards-help-wife-job.html]

This chapter unfolds around four core aims. First, to help students know what value proposition is. Second, to understand the four steps of strategic planning process. Third, to enable students to become familiar with the diverse terms in strategic planning. The fourth aim is to understand branded content communication planning. 

1. Strategic Planning 

In order to discuss strategic planning, we need to take a look at the needs, wants, and demands that shape the planning process, from both the perspective of the market and the consumers.   If we briefly turn our attention to human needs, psychologist Abraham Maslow, in 1934, postulated Maslow’s Pyramid or theory of human behavior for understanding the motivational needs. This model classified five different primary levels of human needs into the pyramidal structure, which are predominant in HR-related activities. A. Maslow (1954) identified a need is something that is necessary for organisms to live a healthy life. Needs can be objective and physical, such as food, or they can be subjective and psychological, such as the need for self-esteem. On a social level, needs are sometimes controversial (Wikipedia). Moreover, according to this pyramidal structure, for motivation to occur at the next level, each level must be satisfied by the individuals themselves. In other words, people need to satisfy the low levels before moving to higher levels.



Fig. 1-2. Maslow's hierarchy of needs

[Source: https://pmhealthnp.com/pmhnp-topics/maslows-hierarchy-of-needs/ ] 

Therefore, when considering online social content, what are people’s needs in 2019?   A survey run by the analytics platform social blade, found Black Pink’s official video channel to be the most popular YouTube channel in Korea, with over 29 million subscribers, while Boram Tube Toys Review (over 13 million subscribers) and 1theK (over 17 million subscribers) came in second and third ranks. 

Fig. 1-3. Top 250 Youtubers in South Korea, sorted by rank  

(Source: socialblade.com/youtube/top/country/kr) 

→ Need, Want or Demand? Is advertising a good thing for society?

Human needs are basic requirements such as food, clothing, and shelter, without which we cannot survive. Wants are mainly dependent on the needs; however, they are not a mandatory part of life. Furthermore, when an individual wants an expensive product and has the ability to buy it, the wants are converted to demands. 

According to Essentials of Behavior (1951), C. L. Hull proposed the Driver-Reduction Theory, which states that a psychological need creates an aroused tension state that motivates the organism to satisfy that need. For example, the need (for food or water) drives (hunger, thirst) the organism towards drive-reducing behavior (eating and drinking). In similar logic, the market identifies the needs, wants, and demands of the public and offers products to satisfy them. An advertising message promotes these products to meet the audience's perceptions of needs and wants. It creates an appeal that moderately convinces the audience that the items will gratify their desire and need, consequently, results in their purchase behavior. Thus, is advertising a good thing for society? 

Fig 1-4. American Pyscho (2000) movie poster  

[Source: https://www.redbubble.com/people/markitzero/works/10619990-american-psycho-there-is-an-idea-of-a-patrick-bateman?p=poster] 

The business card scene in the movie American Psycho (2000) is a superb example, where Bateman flips out his newly made card, only to find his co-workers have better-looking ones, which sends him into an obsessive rage. This scene demonstrates a status symbolism which satisfies the esteem needs (Maslow, 1951), most of us uphold in our daily lives. Another instance is Chinese number symbolism, with one Hong Kong citizen paying no less than 18.1 million Hong Kong dollars (or $2.3 million) for an auspicious license plate bearing the number 28, which in Cantonese spelling sounds similar to the words for easy and to prosper, and thus, the number is thought to bring good fortune to its owner.

Fig. 1-5. Hong Kong Just Auctioned Off a License Plate for $2.3 Million (source: CityLab, 22 February 2016) [Source: https://www.citylab.com/transportation/2016/02/hong-kong-license-plate-lucky-auction-23-million/470409/]

Likewise, if we consider the emerging market for right dust masks prompted by the deteriorating air quality major urban areas across Asia, what are the criteria for selecting mask types? Although masks with 2.5PM filters are more expensive, these items hold the top preference of most consumers. Customers have needs for mask usage and wants of good masks, which are popular among other customers; ultimately, these needs or wants prompt demands for product opportunities, which eventually contribute to value creation. 

Fig. 1-6. Fine-dust mask products of the Chinese brand Xiaomi. 

[Source: http://blog.naver.com/PostView.nhn?blogId=shafran] 

What is value creation?

Apple founder Steve Jobs pointed out during a conference that marketing is about values and how crucial the customer’s memory of the product is in the planning process, in addition to the importance of creating a clear message (i.e., Think Different) about the company’s system of values (human core values and mission) to be associated with the brand.  For understanding value creation, we need to first understand the concept of value. A company’s value is understood as a price-cost relation, while the customer’s value is expressed through a perceived benefit – price relation. So, what is more enduring – performance or value? 

Fig. 1-7. Product positioning and the multidimensional scaling (MDS) example

If we take multidimensional scaling (MDS) into