Investigating Marketing Effects of Ancient Storytelling Techniques: Could Ancient Storytelling Techniques in Marketing Communications Be the Holy Grail of Marketing Needed in These Times of Failure?

Sammanfattning: The landscape of marketing is growing in competitiveness (Digital ad spend worldwide 2026. 2022), and marketers are consequently compelled to explore new ways to stand out and make their voices heard. Perhaps, the most efficient marketing communications are those that revisit the ancient roots of narrative theory and utilize traditional storytelling techniques not typically found in marketing. Stories are formatted in such a way that makes them easy to understand, and they tend to emotionally impact lives (Cutting, 2016), and marketing shares these common purposes. The logic of a theory of using storytelling in marketing, presented by Donald Miller in the book "Building a StoryBrand" (2017), will be examined by reviewing relevant literature associated with this conceptual framework. Furthermore, this study will critically review the narrative elements presented by Miller (2017) by comparing them against the more traditional elements presented in the same theory. Respondents were surveyed to assess whether the unconventional narrative elements of Miller's (2017) elements independently could lead to higher purchase intention, ad interest, ad memorability, brand distinctiveness, and lower levels of cognitive resource demands when used in a toothpaste advertisement. The results showed that storytelling did not affect the measures in the expected ways. However, some logic behind the failed results may have been found - low-involvement and functional products might not benefit from using storytelling techniques, while a general conclusion across industries cannot be made without future research.