Storytelling is the new marketing tool
Once upon a time, catchy slogans and witty one-liners were popular strategies for selling products and services.
Today, just when things are moving at almost warp speed, marketing people are telling stories. They may be as short as 15 seconds, but they are crafted to promote products and services in a narrative way.
Jacob Gayanelo, managing partner and head of accounts at Arsenal Content Marketing, explains that the rise of e-commerce as a result of the pandemic caused a shift in marketing strategies.
Social media platforms, particularly among digitally savvy young people, have become alternative sources of information, advice, suggestions and other stuff.
They require a different way of delivering their message, hence the ascendance of “content creators,” people who make digital content like videos, blog posts and podcasts that are publicly shared on the internet. They have made storytelling no longer old-fashioned but popular and effective.
Arsenal rides the wave of this reshaped marketing landscape.
Gayanelo says the company’s young team consists of “inspired individuals who come together to tell beautiful stories.”
Arsenal describes its people as “seasoned storytellers”. They craft “vivid and compelling narratives that reveal the heart of your (client) story—creating authentic and human connections with your audience.”
Pandemic boost
Although Arsenal was established in 2018, like many businesses, it got a boost from the COVID-19 pandemic that practically kept the global population confined to their homes in 2020.
E-commerce boomed and many turned to social media and digital marketing to promote their products and services.
Gayanelo says brands turned to Arsenal to keep themselves relevant and visible.
“All of our clients started shifting their focus from billboards and TV commercials,” he says.
COVID-19 allowed Arsenal to truly shine, he adds, and tell stories through the internet.
Not that Arsenal totally shuns traditional media—print, broadcast and billboards. Gayanelo says their work is multiplatform. A former account manager in a large advertising and public relations firm says, “we think of marketing as a holistic vision,” so their stories are told across different platforms.
To deliver the “goods”, Arsenal is more interested in storytellers, with or without experience. “We try to find people who want to connect with other people,” Gayanelo says.
The company allows everyone—no matter how young or how new—to participate in drawing up marketing strategies for clients. As they are working in a new marketing landscape, Arsenal is inclined to hire young people because of their fresh ideas.
“Why hire the most experienced people when we can train and build a new foundation? Fresh minds are actually the ones working on the biggest brands that we have,” according to Gayanelo.
Learn from clients
While only a few years old, Arsenal already has several clients that have stayed with it from the beginning. Gayanelo says they make a big point of knowing their clients, to understand their products. The clients know the products best. “We’re here to learn from them,” he adds.
The company gathers data and incorporates it into strategic plans.
“We are not simply people they hire (to help sell their brands)” but “we make them feel that we are an extension of who they are”, the Arsenal executive explains.
Every client is a priority. Gayanelo says the company makes a client feel special, like theirs is the only product or service the marketing firm has to promote.
In digital marketing, Gayanelo points out, feedback and reach, among other things, are more quickly measured and in very specific terms.
As a young company with a young team, Arsenal is naturally open to new technologies, including artificial intelligence (AI).
“While many worry that AI will cause major disruptions,” Gayanelo says, “AI can only be a tool to help you be more authentic, but it cannot replace authenticity. (The) name itself (already says so)—artificial.”
For people who may be considering if Arsenal’s storytelling is the right vehicle for marketing their brand, Gayanelo says, “If you want a company that will work hard to make you meet your goals … work with Arsenal … we never get tired of creating fashionable campaigns…”
Arsenal considers fostering relationships and building long-term ties with clients to be important.
He adds that, while financial success is important—it is still a business, after all—“what’s more important to us is the happiness of our clients.”
