I am in my final week of lap swimming in this Storytelling and Digital Media pool and as I prepare to submit my series of blogs and our final assessment, I have looked back deeply into the water that I am about to step from and my return to study experience.
I can still taste the fear from when I took the plunge 12 weeks ago, it was palpable. The vulnerability I felt submitting my first task ‘about me’ and my first blog was paralysing. I hadn’t even heard the term ‘infographic’ before – how embarrassing! There have been so many moments like this where I have felt a tidal wave of emotions; fear then exhilaration, nerves then courage, embarrassment then relief, whelm and then more whelm 😉.
So, to say that it has been an incredible ride is an understatement!
Apart from learning a whole lot about myself through this experience, I have learned a mountain of skills that whatever my future holds, will have me swimming the laps of the marketing pool like I’ve got flippers on.
It’s difficult to summarise what learnings were the most profound for me through this unit, there were so many. I had moments that were eye-opening and heart-swelling. The Burberry storytelling example from week one really opened my eyes to the importance of brand narrative and then the power of emotion in Western Sydney University’s story about Deng Adut, child soldier to refugee lawyer took storytelling to a whole other level.
(Source: YouTube)
For me authentic, meaningful, relatable, shareable, and engaging are my go-to ingredients for crafting a successful story. And then of course knowing when and where to reach your audience through the variety of digital technologies and platforms. Planning with sequence and structure, measuring and monitoring, and staying true to your brand’s (consumer’s) values form the foundation for great outcomes to be achieved.
We learned about convergence culture and the importance of participatory culture where there is “some degree of social connection with one another” (Jenkins) – both terms I had not discovered until this unit. You can learn more about Jenkins’ viewpoint on participatory culture here:
Source: YouTube
There is a real art to successful storytelling. Through this 12-week period, we were equipped with learnings about the key elements, story structure, the power of visual and audio, and the science and technologies behind it all, to become powerful narrators of our own.
I have learned and discovered so much throughout this unit and not just course content, about me personally. I look into that icy water that was so intimidating to me on my first week and I see my reflection smiling back up at me – you did it, you made it!
Tell me about your return to study journey in the comments below. I’d love to hear all about it.
Oh Deng, I want to hug you one million times over. I am sad for you. I am crying for you. I am all swelled up inside for you and I am grieving for your mother, for her loss. I have shown your story to those closest to me and we have all cried together for you. I am proud of you. I am inspired by you. I want my boys to have your courage, determination, perseverance, and resilience. It only took 90 seconds and I have felt a bucket full of raw emotion. I am an emotional, heart-swollen, blubbering, love mess!
Do you want to see me cry? Was this your plan?
This campaign has captured hearts and minds by connecting emotionally – it’s real, it’s authentic, it’s meaningful and it’s hugely successful:
Deng Adut’s true life story of a child soldier who became a refugee lawyer was told in a 90 second advertising campaign, ‘Unlimited’ for Western Sydney University. The award-winning campaign has been viewed almost 3 million times on YouTube, has over 11 thousand likes on Facebook and has led to numerous media interviews BBC Worldwide, Sky News and Channel 7 news and publications in print media.
While Deng’s story is the champion of Western Sydney University’s ‘Unlimited’ campaign, it’s not the only part. Western Sydney University used transmedia storytelling approach to engage its audience, encourage participation and generate fans.
“Transmedia storytelling is the process of conveying messages, themes or story lines to a mass audience through the artful and well-planned use of multiple media platforms.”
Current students drove the PR that generated media interest prior to the campaign launch. Past students told their stories online and at the university’s open day. High profile influencers, who had a connection (story) with Western Sydney University, were engaged to promote the ‘Unlimited’ campaign through their social media platforms using the hashtag #NewWS. And traditional forms of advertising were used to generate first-to-mind brand awareness: TV, radio, out-of-home displays throughout Western Sydney. (Source: https://www.marketingmag.com.au/hubs-c/case-study-western-sydney-university-rebrand/ ).
While the campaign was hugely successful, it would be interesting to see how successful it might have been without the emotional pull of Deng’s story. The emotional buy in generated an incredible response for Western Sydney University, for Deng and the campaign.
A task of capturing hearts and minds.
So, why might you want to see me cry? It seems the task of capturing hearts and minds is an essential key in the art of successful storytelling.
Now tell me honestly, did Deng’s story move you to a blubbering love mess? I’d love to hear your story of connection. Feel free to post below and we can have a good ole tear-jerker session together.
“Your mum has had a baby. It’s a boy”. This was the message from the neighbour down the road, telling us that there was another sibling (I have eight) joining the clan. We didn’t have our own telephone, so important phone calls were made to our neighbour Mary, who would then venture down the road to let us know any important news.
Heck, I sound like I am from the turn of the 18th Century!! I was born in the 70’s, from an age of spin dial telephones and 3 channel options on your ‘tellie’, ABC news on the radio and The Weekly Times newspaper. I come from the analogue age that existed before digital media, before the World Wide Web was invented ( https://www.w3.org/People/Berners-Lee/ ), before mobile phone devices, iPod ‘n pads and all the other technologies that followed.
I come from an old media culture, a spectator culture where stories were controlled by corporate media, through television, newspaper and radio. Where participation meant penning a letter to the editor if you wanted to make comment. From an era where you ‘speak when you’re spoken to’ (one of my mum’s favourite sayings – probably in an unsuccessful attempt for quiet in our crazy bustling household).
“The ever-increasing usage of mobile devices has seen the world of communication and information transition from a ‘spectator’ to a ‘participator’ new media culture.”
Replay my mum having her eighth baby in today’s digital world of participator media culture: There’s a selfie with bub taken within minutes of giving birth posted to Instagram and linked to Facebook, siblings and relatives all tagged, nurses mentioned and celebrated, weight, length, acknowledgments and thanks, etc. Within seconds the first ‘like’ and after a few hours, hundreds of welcome comments, likes and shares. The story has been shared far and wide and has allowed for audience participation. No more phoning neighbour Mary to let the family know or waiting for the classifieds baby announcement ads in the local paper!
“To create and convey our own stories or engage and enhance others’ stories and share it with the world, instantly and across an array of available platforms has become our new storytelling way of life.”
Not only do our friends and family want to hear our stories, organisations, news corporations, journalists, PR and marketing agencies want us to come together, to share our interpretation and experiences. No longer are we expected to ‘speak when you’re spoken to’, rather we are encouraged to be heard, to collaborate, to share knowledge, news and opinions, to participate, to share, to engage and interact…to tell our story for the world to hear.
The world of media sure is different now!
I would love to hear how you’ve seen media culture shift in your lifetime – is digital media something you’ve grown up with, or have you had to transition from the old media world? Tell me your story in the comments below.
