Story & Social: Communicating Experience

and Authenticity in the Digital World

Daniel Noll & Audrey Scott, Uncornered Market

UncorneredMarket.com

facebook.com/UncorneredMarket

@umarket

Uncornered_Market

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Close Your Eyes

What Business Are We

In? Travel?

Experience?

Inspiration?

Differentiation?

Consumer Travel Trends

“Authentic + engaging travel experiences”

Deeper connections

Local approach

Transformative journeys, personalized

“Bragging rights" + importance of sharing

Source: SKIFT Reports: Megatrends Defining Travel in 2015 & Rise of Experiential Travel 2014, The Future of Travel in 2020, ITB Travel Trends 2014

Millennial Travel Trends

• Support brands that do something good for

them…and the world

• 3x more likely to demonstrate brand loyalty,

seek authenticity & 2-way conversation

• Always online, especially on mobile.

• Want “cool factor” and unique over other

features

Source: SGB Millenials Report & Boston Consulting Group Traveling with Millennials

Backdrop: Too many messages

Prospect, 6000 messages. Japan photo Too many messages…! Your average prospective customer is enduring more than 6000 advertising messages every day

Storytelling: Why?

Story Action

Retention

Builds Trust /Credibility/ Authenticity

Depth of Impression

Commodity Differentiation

Storytelling: What it is NOT

An itinerary

A list of sites, activites, amenities

A bunch of statistics

A press release

Fiction, making things up

What is Story and Storytelling?

An account, a telling of an experience

Demonstrates via transformation/change

Does NOT need to be long-form

Storytelling Techniques

Show, don’t tell

Involve characters, find one person

Seek emotion

Crux and conflict

Multi-dimensional, multi-sensory

The New Brand Story

Connect what you do to why it matters

Transparency & Authenticity: real and raw

Customers are the heroes, part of the journey

Humanize the brand

Think: brand as values in action

“The most forward-thinking travel

brands are delivering deeper

experiences to travelers by focusing on

three things above all else: inspiration,

personalization & a path toward self-

discovery.”

Source: The Future of Travel in 2020, SKIFT

Go Beyond the Brochure

Transformative journey => return different

Sense of personalization: I create my own story

Consume Participate Create and Impact

Connection with Place…

With People…

And with ourselves…

Digital Media & Storytelling

Source: Euromonitor International, The New Online Travel Consumer, February 2014

Inspire AND Inform

Become an authority

Be human, be helpful

DON’T spam

Develop relationships and trust

Demonstrate your values

Social: Communicating Authenticity

Engagement & Relationship > Numbers

Content Creators

Videographers

Social Media Mavens

Digital Storytellers Photographers

Writers

Story

Business

Consultants

Marketers Advocates

Speakers Twitter

Destination Ambassadors

Quality

Personal Voice

Facebook Instagram

YouTube

Adventurers

Bloggers – Influencers - Ambassadors

Personal voice and tone

REAL experiences, REAL people

Authority from independence & trust

Engaged community, follows blogger

Your story part of blogger story

Multi-Platform, versatile

“People don’t trust entities. People trust people.”

- Tim Ferriss, author of The 4-Hour Workweek

Why Can Bloggers-Influencers-

Ambassadors Be Effective Storytellers?

WoM marketing in a social & digital world

Influencer ROI

Source: RhythmOne, 1H 2015 Influencer Marketing Benchmarks Report, August 2015

• Invest LOTS of time in finding the right match -

product, values and content style/engagement.

• Let go of control. Allow the influencer to

explore/discover and be creative. (Hint: this is why

people are following him.)

• Invest in long-term relationships.

Working with Influencers:

Best Practices

EXPERIMENT!

Upshot & Take-aways

New travel currency = experience and connection

Story = differentiator

Social Media = storytelling tool

Digital = human exercise

Thank You!

Let’s continue the conversation. Connect with us on:

UncorneredMarket.com

Email: dan@uncorneredmarket.com

Instagram: Uncornered_Market

Twitter: @UMarket

Facebook: /UncorneredMarket