Brand storytelling: how brands tell about themselves on social media

  • Caterina Scianna
Keywords: Visual storytelling, Brand, Social media, Marketing, Instagram

Abstract

Internet and social networks have changed the rules of brand storytelling and the way they see the role of the consumer. Brands are becoming more and more storytellers, and their aim is not so much to describe the product, but to increase brand awareness. In this sense, brand storytelling is the development of a story that can excite and create an identity; a story that links the consumption of the products to experiences, relationships, values and habits. In this way, the reader/consumer can identify himself with the story of the brand. In the last years, semiotics has shown the different ways in which advertisement develops brand storytelling, but social media have led to new narrative principles, to a communicative relationship – advertiser and not advertiser – that is mainly visual, in which the story is told more through images than through verbal language. The images follow the rules of narration as the verbal stories, but they are more direct, evocative, with an immediate impact. This article investigates some brands storytelling on Instagram, a social networking platform where the chosen sequence of pictures and videos creates a text that, during time, produces a reality, with the aim of governing the brand image. Through visual storytelling, brands create their own lives, illustrating the type and quality of experience that consumers would have buying their products.

References

Alexander, Bryan Levine, Alan (2008), «Web 2.0 Storytelling Emergence of a new genre», in Educase Review, n. 43(6), pp. 40-46.

Baker, Bill, Boyle, Cookie (2009), «The timeless power of storytelling», in Journal of sponsorship, n. 3(1), pp. 79-87.

Barthes, Roland (1977), L’obvie et l’obtus, Paris, Seuil. (L’ovvio e l’ottuso, trad. di vari, Torino, Einaudi, 1985).

Brakus, J. Josko, Schmitt, H. Bernd, Zarantonello, Lia (2009), «Brand experience: what is it? How is it measured? Does it affect loyalty?», in Journal of marketing, n. 73, pp. 52-68.

Branzaglia, Carlo (2011), Comunicare con le immagini, Milano, Mondadori.

Bredekamp Horst (2015), Immagini che ci guardano. Teoria dell’atto iconico, Milano, Raffaello Cortina.

Calabrese, Stefano (2010), La comunicazione narrativa. Dalla letteratura alla quotidianità, Milano, Mondadori.

Cartier-Bresson, Herny (1952), Immagini al volo, Milano, Novecento.

Codeluppi, Vanni (2012), Il potere della marca, Torino, Bollati Boringhieri.

Cosso, Alessandra (2013), Raccontarsela. Copioni di vita e storie organizzative: l’uso della narrazione per lo sviluppo individuale e d’impresa, Milano, Lupetti.

Costabile, Michele Raimondo, Maria Antonietta (2006), «Valore di marca: modelli e management», in Sinergie, n. 67, pp.157-186.

Crisan, Camelia, Bortun, Dumitru (2017), «Digital storytelling and employer Branding. An exploratory conection», in Management dynamics in the knowledge economy, n. 5(2), pp. 273-287.

Dahiya, Rekha, Gayatri (2018), «A research paper on digital marketing communication and consumer buying decision process: an empirical study in the indian passenger car market», in Journal of global marketing, n. 31(2), pp. 73-95.

Eco, Umberto (1979), Lector in fabula, Milano, Bompiani.

Eco, Umberto (1984), Semiotica e filosofia del linguaggio, Milano, Bompiani.

Fabris, Giampaolo Minestroni, Laura (2004), Valore e valori della marca. Come costruire e gestire una marca di successo, Milano, Franco Angeli.

Finocchi, Riccardo (2016), Ipermedia e locative media. Cronologia, semiotica, estetica, Roma, Nuova Cultura.

Floch, Jean Maria (1990), Sémiotique, marketing et communication, Paris, Puf. (trad. it. Semiotica, marketing e comunicazione, Milano, Franco Angeli, 1992).

Fontana, Andrea (2009), Manuale di Storytelling, Milano, Etas-Rizzoli.

Fontana, Andrea (2016), Storytelling d’impresa. La guida definitiva, Milano, Hoepli.

Fontana, Andrea Sasoon, Joseph Sorano, Ramon (2011), Marketing Narrativo, Milano, Franco Angeli.

Ginsberg, Kate (2015), «Instabranding: Shaping the personalities of the top food brands on Instagram», in The Elon Journal of Undergraduate Research in Communications, n. 6(1), pp. 78-91.

Giorgino, Francesco Mazzù, Marco Francesco (2018), BrandTelling, Milano, Egea.

Gottschall, Jonathan (2012), The storytelling animal. How stories make us human New York, Mariner Books (L’istinto di narrare. Come le storie ci hanno reso umani, trad. di G. Olivero, Torino, Bollati boringhieri 2014).

Greimas, Algirdas Julien (1983), Du Sens II Essai Sémiotiques, Èditions du Seuil Paris (Del senso 2. Narrativa modalità passioni, trad. di P. Magli e M. P. Pozzato, Milano, Bompiani,1984).

Kaplan, Andreas M., Haenlein, Michael (2010), «Users of the world unite! The challenges and opportunities of social media», in Business Horizons, n. 53(1), pp. 59-68.

Kerpen, Dave (2011), Likeable social media: how to delight your customers, create an irrestible brand, and be generally amazing on Facebook (and other social neoworks), New York, McGraw Hill.

Kristensen, Tore, Gabrielsen, Gorm, Zaichkowski, Judith Lynne (2012), «How valuable is a well-crafted design and name brand? Recognition and willingness to pay», in Journal of consumer behaviour, an internation research review, n. 11 (1), pp. 44-55.

Lim, Heejin, Childs Michelle L. (2016), «Brand Storytelling on Instagram: How do pictures travel to Millennial consumer minds?», in International textile and apparel association (ITAA) Annual Conference Proceedings, vol. 73, 1.

Lo Piparo, Franco (2018), Sulla nozione di immagine. Con l’aiuto di Wittgenstein, Freud, Aristotele e il nodo borromeo, in Montani, Pietro Cecchi, Dario Feyles, Martino, a cura di, Ambienti mediali, Milano, Meltemi, pp. 19-38.

Lund, Niels Frederik, Scott, A. Cohen, Scarles, Caroline (2018), «The power of social media storytelling in destination branding», in Journal of destination marketing and management, n. 8, pp. 271-280.

Martinus, Handy, Chaniago Fachmi (2017), «Analysis of branding strategy through Instagram with storytelling in creating brand image and proud project», in Humaiora, n. 8(3), pp. 201-210.

Mayer, Giuseppe (2015), Dallo spot al post. La pubblicità dopo i social media, Milano, Edizioni LSWR.

Marchese, Angelo (1983), L’officina del racconto, Milano, Mondadori.

Marrone, Gianfranco (2007), Il discorso di marca. Modelli semiotici per il branding, Bari, Laterza.

Marrone, Gianfranco (2010), L’invenzione del testo, Bari, Laterza.

Mazzoni, Guido (2011), Teoria del romanzo, Bologna, Il Mulino.

Morales, Paolo (2004), Narrare con le immagini, Roma, Dino Audino.

Orzati, Daniele (2019), Visual Storytelling. Quando il racconto si fa immagine, Milano, Hoepli.

Pallas, Josef Strannegard, Lars, Jonsson, Stefan (2014), Organizations and the media: Organizing in a mediatized world, New York, Routledge.

Pezzini, Isabella (2008), Immagini quotidiane. Sociosemiotica visuale, Bari, Laterza.

Peverini, Paolo (2017), Social Guerrilla. Semiotica della comunicazione non convenzionale, Roma, LUISS University Press.

Polidoro, Piero (2008), Che cos’è la semiotica visiva, Roma, Carocci.

Pozzato, Maria Pia (2001), Semiotica del testo, Roma, Carocci.

Sassoon, Joseph (2012), Web Storytelling. Costruire storie di marca nei social media, Milano, Franco Angeli.

Schmitt, Bernd (2011), «Experience marketing: Concepts, frameworks and consumer insights in Foundations and trends», in Marketing, n. 5.2, pp. 55-112.

Storr Will (2019), The Science of Storytelling (La scienza dello storytelling. Come le storie incantano il cervello, trad. di D. Restani, Torino, Codice edizioni, 2020).

Published
2022-09-17
How to Cite
Scianna, C. (2022) “Brand storytelling: how brands tell about themselves on social media”, Rivista Italiana di Filosofia del Linguaggio. doi: 10.4396/SFL2021A16.