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Story Trance Me Into Never Neverland
The US is a consumer culture and the stuff we consume at a rate compared only to food and drugs are stories. What is TV if not a storytelling device? Right now the national average for TV watching is five hours per day. So we are always starved for content. Now trending is the binge watcher who will consume three seasons in as many days. I binged watched Netflix’s House of Cards season one in a weekend.
We have an insatiable appetite for stories, I think, because of the euphoric alpha state they induce. Let’s call it the Story Trance. When I am captivated by the characters’ conflicts and how these are resolved, when I am absorbed into the worlds of my favorite shows, I am in the Story Trance. For me right now it’s HBO’s Game of Thrones.
When we enter the Story Trance we are more receptive to suggestion. We are motived by moving away from the rational mind, to open emotionally, to experience a story. This is powerful, Never Neverland story magic shit because it works, and often when it works the results are staggering. Story Trance your audience and you’ll blow away all competition. Watch things like open rates skyrocket from .05% to 35%. Leverage a story year round, with ongoing story-world development, like new characters and situations.
We have been using story mechanics for years to more easily examine classic brand drivers. It works because story in US culture means conflict with resolution. Brand uses the identical process, driving away from fear to discover an improved version of ourselves by virtue of the brand. The entire process is to uncover the core narrative around this sense of hope. The process works on so many of us because we are programmed by evolutionally psychology. I believe the right story at the right time can unlock anybody, like magic words.
Image Notes: My daughter sharing her thoughts about Story Trance, with her pals and the stars after the Peter Pan holiday play.