Scenario

You are a creative development producer at Olde School Advertising Agency, which is known for its traditional approach to advertising. Your boss, the founder of the company, has finally decided to retire, but there’s a new leader ready to take over: his son, who has been eager to finally incorporate some modern, innovative, even edgy advertising techniques into the agency’s repertoire. While your (now former) boss’ son is helping his father move into his new downsized home, he puts you in charge of evaluating the effectiveness of various contemporary ad campaigns with an eye toward making recommendations for tactics the company could implement in the near future.

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Directions

You receive an email from your new boss that includes 12 examples of branded content and new media storytelling, sponsored by a variety of brands. Some of these branded content campaigns have been more successful than others, and your goal is to evaluate what worked and what didn’t in order to help your boss make decisions as your company moves forward in this new direction. Choose three examples to evaluate from the 12 choices, making sure you include one of each type (i.e. two documentaries and one narrative or two narratives and one documentary).

In a detailed report, you will need to address each of the following for each example you evaluate:

1. Identify the message that the storyteller is communicating
2. Describe the storytelling elements used to communicate the message
3. Describe how the storyteller’s belief system has impacted their story
4. Identify the strengths and limitations of the storytelling strategies used for each message
5. Provide an analysis of the persuasive strategies used
6. Give your overall assessment of the effectiveness of the storytelling concepts used to communicate the desired message

You can deliver your report to your boss either as a 20-slide PowerPoint presentation with speaker notes or as a 7- to 10-page written report. The final slides of your presentation or last few paragraphs of your report should include recommendations to your boss on which storytelling strategies seemed to work, and why the agency should consider implementing those strategies for future development.

Branded Content Examples for Evaluation

Documentary:

• “Saving Aslan”
  Sponsored by Fixodent, featuring Kevin Richardson, a.k.a. “The Lion Whisperer”
  https://youtu.be/d-3W_yPDvBo
• “Using Technology and Bioscience to Fight Cancer”
  Sponsored by Intel, featuring an Intel employee
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QK9kLCPYWQw
• “I Worked as a Cranberry Farmer for a Day”
  Sponsored by Ocean Spray Cranberry Juice
  Episode of Lucie Fink’s web show for Refinery29, Lucie for Hire
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-B2xBWYSOrM
• “Can We Convince Firefighters to Eat Vegetarian?”
  Sponsored by Panera Bread
  Part of the Food Interrupted video series sponsored by Panera Bread
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SfOpranNFlU
• “Nyle DiMarco: Beyoutiful”
  Sponsored by Convo Relay Service for the Deaf
  Documentary about Deaf actor and model Nyle DiMarco and his upbringing
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7IlU06_bM4I
• “Guinness Rugby: Gareth’s Story”
  Sponsored by Guinness
  https://youtu.be/EFeo2epi-Lw

Narrative:

• “Puppyhood”
  Sponsored by Purina Puppy Chow
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L3MtFGWRXAA
• “Notes: A Life Story, A Love Story” (sponsored by Take Note Store)
  Sponsored by Take Note Store, a pens and stationery store in Toronto, Canada
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=63ytBiQx3EU
• “June: Life is Better When You Share the Ride”
  Sponsored by Lyft
  https://youtu.be/v8nyGzOLsdw?list=PL8y62YSR9KdpQFQkXhGEiy-aQCLM74qri
• “Share the Load”
  Sponsored by Ariel Laundry Soap
  https://youtu.be/vwW0X9f0mME
• “A Love Story”
  Sponsored by Sandy Hook Promise
  https://youtu.be/9qyD7vjVfLI
• “The Game Before the Game”
  Sponsored by Beats by Dre
  https://youtu.be/v_i3Lcjli84?list=PLjKWDUiKDhjt3az_PIcygHIcVDU_T_VA4

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What to Submit

Every project has a deliverable or deliverables, which are the files that must be submitted before your project can be assessed. For this project, you must submit the following:

Storytelling Evaluation Report
Present your report as either a PowerPoint presentation or a written report.

PowerPoint Presentation:

• 20 slides
  • Slides 1-18+: Consider creating one slide for each point of evaluation for each example you’re evaluating.
  • Final two slides: Your last two slides should contain your recommendations for which strategies seemed to work best and your recommendations for future implementation.
• Speaker notes
  • Speaker notes should include additional details to explain the main points expressed on each slide. Remember, it’s best to avoid excessive text on the screen in a PowerPoint presentation. Instead, try to include only a few brief bullet points that summarize the main idea you’re trying to communicate. Use speaker notes that contain about two paragraphs of information to further explain the information presented on the slide.

Written Report:

• 7-10 pages in Word, Times New Roman, size 12 font, double-spaced
  • Consider writing 2-3 paragraphs that fully explain each point of evaluation for each example you’re evaluating.

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