The perception of storytelling as a marketing tool among millennials

Nike

Nike is an American multinational company specializing in sportswear and shoes. Nike's marketing approach has changed a bit to this day. At the very beginning, Nike focused on product release with a focus on design and manufacturing. However, already in the nineties, Nike changed its approach, reorienting it towards customers and marketing.

The first thing that directly relates to storytelling is emotional branding. Such a marketing strategy in which a brand appeals to the needs of a potential buyer, his desires or emotional state in order to build his reputation. The company relies on the image of a hero. For example, a selected Nike ad has several catchy and motivating characters, ranging from a girl who sings to champions.

Second, this is the principle already mentioned above, marketing -- first of all. Over time, the founder of the company came to the conclusion that in matters of brand activity should come from the consumer, therefore, focus on marketing rather than production. A product is just a tool of marketing policy. The object of advertising should not be products, but the people who use it.

Third, Nike is not averse to using the scandal to their advantage. In 1984, Nike signed a contract with basketball player Michael Jordan, unknown at that time. Exclusive Air Jordan sneakers were created for Jordan, which made it possible to reduce foot load when landing. In a bright red and black color, which the NBA leadership did not like, which forbade them to enter the site. However, despite this, for four years, Jordan appeared in new sneakers every year at the All Stars game, and later these sneakers were promoted through videos from a pair of heroes. It was these advertisements that helped shape the image of Air Jordan as a separate brand. (AIR JORDAN I. ORIGIN STORY, 2018)

Fourth, the religion of “Just Do It.” “Just do it” is a legendary slogan that has become the center of a large-scale advertising campaign. The official slogan of Nike from 1988 to the present. A concise and at the same time simple phrase exactly reflects the ideology of the company. The phrase is a call to play sports. The phrase that was able to convince the consumer that Nike is quality shoes. The phrase has become synonymous with sports. The promotion of the new slogan was supported by financial resources, but the involvement of celebrities also played a significant role. (Thornhill, 2015)

Last, but not least, is the involvement of famous titled athletes. Which is a fairly common practice in the sports industry. For example, several advertising videos of the company can be cited, the feminist video “What are our girls made of?” Selected for interviews. Adelina Sotnikova, Olympic champion in women's figure skating, athlete Kristina Sivkova, ballerina Olga Kuraeva and others starred in the campaign, or the 2010 Nike Football ad “Write the Future”. A video that vividly conveyed the emotions of players and fans in short commercials. The greatest athletes of the millennium took part in the filming: Cristiano Ronaldo, Didier Drogba, Fabio Cannavaro and others. (World Cup 2010: A word on our sponsors - Nike write the future, n.d.)



Adidas

It is a German industrial concern specializing in the production and sale of sports shoes, clothing and equipment. The history of the company began in 1920, when the young Adolf Dassler sewed his first pair of sports shoes. He wanted every athlete to have equipment that would help him or her achieve the best results. The idea was so viable that the company began to expand and continues to grow to this day. In 2019, the company produced over 1.1 billion products for various sports purposes including maintaining a sporting lifestyle with independent manufacturing partners around the world. In terms of sales, it amounted to 23.640 billion euros.

As for the brand as an advertiser, Adidas is one of those companies that focus on advertising with the participation of such world stars as Alessandro Del Piero, Lionel Messi, Stephen Gerrard, David Beckham, and many others. Adidas is also widely known for its large sponsorship contracts with famous athletes and sports teams, especially in the field of football. Adidas has signed sponsorship contracts with such famous football clubs as Real Madrid, FC Chelsea, FC Dynamo (Kiev), PFC CSKA, FC Dynamo (Moscow), F.C. Manchester United et al., As well as with various national football teams. (Adidas Profile, n.d.)

Moreover, in 2017, in an interview for the SNBS, the company's CEO announced that it is planned to increase e-commerce revenue from ˆ 1 billion in 2016 to ˆ 4 billion by 2020. Adidas also wants to use digital platforms to win a youth audience that prefers digital and mobile channels. All this indicates a reduction in the share of television advertising and a shift in focus towards digital. (Adidas steps away from TV advertising as it targets $4 billion growth, 2017)

In general, Adidas adheres to the philosophy of changing people's lives for the better through the presentation of sports, or rather, uniforms, sports equipment and other things. The same idea is brought by brand marketers in the advertisements. (Adidas Profile, n.d.)



Amstel

It is a Dutch brewing company. It was founded on June 11, 1870 in Amsterdam, named after the Amstel River, on the banks of which the plant was founded.

Currently, the Amstel brand is the second most important corporate brand in the Heineken N.V. concern. Heineken offers more than 10 beers under the Amstel brand. About 36 million liters of beer sold under this brand are sold annually. For 10 years -- from the mid-1990s to May 2005 -- Amstel beer was the title sponsor of the UEFA Champions League.

The brand supports the valuable idea of of sharing moments of communication between people. The main two aspects on which Amstel focuses are friendship and innovation. The first is most clearly reflected in the selected ads for viewing during the in-depth interview. (Amstel, n.d.)

Budweiser

It is the world brand owned by Anheuser-Busch InBev, the world's largest beer producer.

The history of the American Budweiser began in 1876, when one of the co-owners of the Anheuser-Busch family brewery located in St. Louis, Missouri, Adolfus Bush visited Bohemia and, returning to America, decided to start production of the Bohemian type beer. Since the recipes of the masters from the town of Ceske Budejovice were taken as the basis for a new beer, it was named in accordance with the Budweiser tradition.

The Budweiser beer symbol that appears in the ad selected for the compilation is Clydesdales. They ushered in a new era of prosperity for Anhuiser-Bush and the return of a weary and tired nation to optimism and light, which the company embodies in its philosophy and global idea. From their first appearance in 1933 until their continued presence on the American landscape, they are not only a symbol of the brand, but also the embodiment of America's powerful industrial spirit. (Budweiser, n.d.)

Reasons for choosing videos

The video format that was chosen as the ones proposed for evaluating advertisements, since nowadays it is considered to be the most effective for perception from the point of view of the consumer. An article from Plus Media Solutions dated 2019 confirms this fact explaining the high effectiveness of video marketing on the example of the YouTube platform because it is “the most reliable and trusted site with quality services”. Moreover, the author talks about the importance of the content and quality of the video clip in attracting and subsequently retaining the audience. However, it is not only about a specific platform, but also usefulness in terms of promotion cause “linking videos to your social channels and blogs can trigger your followers”. (Solutions, 2019)

The selection of videos was based on two concepts. First, these are videos of one company, but of a different type, for comparative analysis and identification of priority choices. The first concept used several videos from companies such as Apple, H&M, IKEA, Zara. Two videos were selected for each company: advertising using storytelling and a video showing the benefits of the product.

The second is videos from one industry, in our case sportswear and beer, using storytelling techniques. In the second concept, two videos were selected using storytelling, but with a different mood, message and characters from companies such as Adidas, Nike, Budweiser and Amstel.

The selection principle was not only the type of advertising, but also the response of the audience, that is, views, likes and comments on YouTube, about 60 clips were initially selected by their number. However, it was necessary to reduce this number to 10-12 clips, for the convenience of respondents. Further, the selection process included an analysis of each video clip and its components. Selected videos with different characters and stories, for example, characters acted as a hero with disabilities, the elderly, children or animals. Also, videos aimed at different target audiences were selected, therefore, interest varied by age group and gender. Thus, several possible types were covered. The message and the disclosing topics and problems in the commercials also varied, starting with the topic of growing up children and their transition to an independent life, ending with a message about female power, that girls are "not made of sweets", but have an iron core. As for the selection of product advertising, they were also selected according to the principle of maximum difference, but already in processing, colors, design, music and camera work. It is also impossible to deny the presence of subjectivity in the choice of videos, since it is almost impossible to make an objective choice in someone's favor. As a result, 12 videos were selected 4 pairs of product advertising and storytelling, and 2 pairs of storytelling of different companies in the same industry.

Description of the advertisements

Apple

The first ad added in an in-depth interview tells the consumer about an Apple product. The product marketing department is responsible for the development of the iPhone 11 ad. Advertising begins with the ringing of the alarm clock and the frame of the hand turning off this sound, then there are light bulb incandescence frames. The phone is taken away from the nightstand, and there is a series of frames when the phone is put in your pocket, thereby discreetly showing the entire color line. The next frame, in addition to showing how the phone figuratively flies around the car, falls and knocks, the video carries the message of stability and reliability of the device, “Ready for action”. The frame changes to the picture of the room where the iPhone is on the table, and the cat subsequently stepping on it, drops it. The frame changes to drop the device into the bag, the lock fastens, and viewers are given a view of how all the objects are shaking in the bag, thereby showing that the iPhone can easily withstand such a crack and will not break from collision with other objects. After shots in a supermarket are shown, where a new iPhone camera is shown, when shooting a photo of a girl. Further, for the transition, several frames are used with swipes on the screen, and there are frames in the bathroom, where water gets on the phone, and in the next frame a glass with soda falls on the device, which illustrates water resistant. Next, the child takes a video of the grasshopper, and later demonstrates the new functionality of the smartphone, such as “Slofies”, by showing slow-motion videos of people themselves shot. They remind of a faster Face ID using a series of frames with unlocking the phone using this function by different people, and then by the child (which indicates that children will not be able to accidentally unlock, and as an option to delete something important). After that there are several dynamic shots with a game of racing and bright shots with a match, which leads to the demonstration of the next feature -- “Night mode”, showing how they take photos in a dark room. Again, dynamic change of frame with print hands. Behind the scenes with watching videos and eating popcorn are close-ups of the face when a person speaks on the phone. The final part is how the phone is put to charge before bedtime, but the battery is not fully charged, which leads the audience to think that after so many active actions, the phone will not charge, which is supported by the phrase “All-day battery life”. And the alarm rings again. Advertising shows all the advantages of the device, talks about its functionality, which leads viewers to buy an iPhone, which will later be demonstrated by respondents using a qualitative analysis.

There is minimal text in the ad, mostly short phrases or words, such as “Introducing” or “New dual camera”. A harmonious color scheme is chosen, the colors overlap with each other, this is present even in small things, for example, the lilac color of the iPhone, and lilac varnish on the nails of the hand that holds this iPhone. Despite the fact that such trifles are not noticed at the first views, the picture seems more complete, and such advertising is remembered more, as the practice of in-depth interview has shown. Despite the principles of simplicity of the concept, the advertisement is filled with a dynamic change of frame, different angles and effects of shooting, as slow motion can be seen. Also, several emotional triggers were involved, which cause both emotion (the presence of a cat or children), and sharp emotions with the sound of an alarm clock. Also, Apple uses people of different ages, races and sex.

The second advertisement tells the viewer about the possibility of such technology as Voice Control. The storytelling tool has already been used in this video. The capabilities of the technology are shown by the example of using it by a movie hero, a person with disabilities. The marketing communications department is involved in the development of advertising. Apple remains true to its principles, such as simplicity and conciseness, despite the presence of history and character, the text and colors also look minimalistic. In the video, it can be noticed the similarities with the previous advertising, it also highlights all the functionality and capabilities of the technology. The shots are not as dynamic as in the previous one, but calmer and smoother, suitable for the atmosphere of the video. From the first seconds of the video, a voiceover is heard that dictates the text using this technology, places punctuation marks, uses emoji (correcting the word “love” on red heart emoji). Despite the seemingly lack of ability to control a computer, the hero easily opens programs and manages them: “Open Photos”, “Scroll up”. To select a function in the photo section, the hero says, “Show numbers” and “Thirteen”, which allows him to select a specific photo. He shares his voice with a photo from a message with Tim. He writes a message and sends him not only it, but also a mark on the map. In the final shots they meet, the protagonist drives up to the appointed place and says, “Open Music” and “Turn up the volume”. The music is getting louder.

H&M

In advertising the 2016 fall collection, the brand continued to maintain the image of a company that violates fashion rules. In the video, H&M showed that girls remain feminine no matter what they do and how they look. The video shows us girls of different shapes, races and ages. The heroines of the advertisement are very different, they pick with a fork in their teeth, are the head of the company, dye their hair unnatural, wear a short haircut, put on men's style clothes, examine the muscles in the elevator mirror, sit on the subway with their legs spread and do other things that are not usually typical to women. The soundtrack of advertising -- the composition “She's a lady” only confirms that all the characters of the advertisement do not cease to be feminine, despite the non-compliance with the norms.

The Conscious Exclusive 2020 video is an ad for the Conscious line that has already been mentioned before. The video contains a lot of beautiful frames that are made in one color scheme (sepia and vintage filter). The video was shot in the sea, which adds an aesthetic component. The advertisement presents girls of different races. There is also a nice soundtrack.

IKEA

Advertising begins with frames where a mother with a young son, about 8 years old, comes to the IKEA store. They look at the IKEA collection, the son notes the kitchen, says “I like the material”. They look at kitchen cabinets, colors and textures, a boy measures the height of the cabinet. They approach the girl who works as a planner at IKEA, the boy sits at her table, she asks his name, he answers and asks her the same question, and says “That's pretty” to her answer. They walk past the warehouse department; the boy carries a cart filled with boxes. At the checkout counter, the son says “It's okay Mum” to his mother and pays with his card. The next frame, they are near his car, and the boy puts all the purchased goods and boxes in the trunk and sits behind the wheel of the car. A frame with his mother is shown, who smiles and back, already at the young guy, whom he has been all this time. He says “Mum, I'm only moving round the corner”, to which she replies “I know”. Advertising carries a very strong message of family values and demonstrates from the side of parents that they always see their children as small, even when they grow up and move out of their parental home. The title of the video fully reflects the mood and parental sadness: “If Only We Could Keep Some Things Small Forever.” The final frame is the phrase “At IKEA, prices remain small all year”, which not only creates a strong connection with the video, but also is a trigger for buying or at least interest in viewing products.

“Say Hej to IKEA Place” is the name of the next IKEA advertisement, which presents a new application using augmented reality technology. “IKEA Place is our new app that lets virtually “place” IKEA products in your space. It's a new way to experience IKEA” -- this is what IKEA writes about its new product. The advertisement shows frames where 3D chairs are placed in a nice and spacious room on a round carpet through the PLACE application. A premise is a demonstration of functionality and ease of use. The advertising also tells about the stages: “Scan”, “Browse”, “Select”, “Move and Place”. The following frames show the unfortunate situation when the sofa did not fit and show how the seed measures the space. Behind the scenes is the voice of “Less of this, and less of this”, which tells the audience that with this proposal these difficulties and problems are no longer afraid of them. After the voiceover says, “And probably more of this”, and a series of frames follows, where the couple enjoys their new sofa (which they climbed in), where they use the application, and do not suffer by measuring manually. Then comes a series of shots, with completely different houses in different places of the world. And the final shots are filled with dynamic slicing, using this application. And it all ends by placing in reality a bright yellow chair, in the room from the first frame. “Try PLACE in your place.”

ZARA

In 2018 Zara introduced an extensive line of commercials describing the process of what usually remains outside the consumer's eyes of the brand's products. The videos show small episodes of residents of different large cities: Tokyo, Madrid, Shanghai, New York, London, Mumbai and, most importantly, the process of choosing a product by a customer using different methods such as purchase in a physical store and order online on the website or through the application. What is more, the buying process is demonstrated, which includes hard work of many people and great amount of stages: purchase materials, selection of appropriate fabric, design development of clothes, the shooting process of the finished clothing item on a model with the participation of a photographer, makeup artists, designers, hairdressers and, finally, delivery to the end user.

In the selected video, a girl living in Madrid was presented. In the morning she receives a message from her friends with an invitation to meet. On this occasion she decides to order new shoes on the Zara website. Further, the advertisement describes the process of creating sandals and receiving them as the main character used courier delivery. In the end of the video, the girl looks happy with a smile on her face, meeting the friends. Thus, Zara showed a situation in life that many people might find close and familiar. In this way Zara brand marketers and video creators in particular demonstrated not only an episode from the life of the main character, but also the story of the company, or rather the story of clothes that go a long way before being in the hands of the consumer. Precisely because of the existence of such a storytelling technique there, the advertisement was included in the list for viewing by in-depth interviews' participants.

A video with the presentation of the spring-summer 2017 women's collection was chosen as an advertisement with a product demonstration without any story. The video clip lasts one minute and during all this time the models show clothes standing on a rotating platform, actively changing their poses and showing outfits from different angles. The commercial is accompanied by dramatic music, color grading is done in black and white. Furthermore, the video shows a fairly quick change of frames and angles. In addition, there is an abundance of visual lighting effects in the form of flashes and rays directed towards models and clothes. From time to time, the commercial contains letters from the logo of the Zara brand, which allows the viewer not to forget about the manufacturer of the video and garments.

Nike

Nike advertising was presented in 2017 and was created by the Russian community of specialists. The video lasts 2 minutes. The main character is a little girl performing on stage in front of a large audience and singing the well-known children's song “What are our girls made of?”, which the audience rejoices at. This is evidenced by the camera translated by the operator: the focus of attention for a few seconds was shifted to an elderly couple who smiled and shook their heads fervently from pleasure and gain. However, Adeline Sotnikova, the Olympic champion in figure skating, bursts into the hall, which makes the girl think and change the lyrics and the meaning of the whole song. She begins to sing that girls are “made of iron and out of striving, of self-dedication and of battles”. This confuses the audience a bit, and meanwhile more and more familiar faces appear in the hall: Anastasia Yankova -- Russian champion in Thai boxing, MMA fighter, Olga Kuraeva -- ballerina, Irina Gorbacheva -- Russian actress, Katya Shengelia -- a skateboarder, a participant in the prestigious competitions in extreme sports X-Games, Kristina Sivkova -- Russian record holder in 60 and 100 meters, Anastasia Kotelnikova -- trainer of Nike + Training Club, Ksenia Lazareva -- the defender of FC Chertanovo. Each heroine demonstrates branded clothing of Nike. The camera focuses on the brand logo, but this happens only for a second, which creates an extremely unobtrusive impression. Further, a choir of girls approximately of the same age joins the solo performance of the main character. Suddenly the light goes out and Ksenia Lazareva passes the chief hero of the video a soccer ball from the ritual hall to the stage. After that, the viewer can see how the girl with an extremely concentrated expression on her face is preparing to make a penalty on the football field. In the ending of the video phrase written in white on a black background can be seen: “you are made of what you do, believe in more”.

Adidas

Adidas's video was shot in 2016 and tells the story of an elderly man's life in a nursing home. The commercial is accompanied by sad music. Color grading is done in cold tones and pastel shades. The viewer of the advertisement can see the hero's daily routine: he looks at the window at a young runner jogging, takes food in the dining room, celebrates his birthday and periodically looks at his running shoes. Once he decides to put them on and runs down the corridor, which is surprising for the residents of the institution and the medical workers. The latter immediately stop him, grabbing his hands. This happens more than once, as the hero makes several attempts to break out and make a run. He also does some exercises in his room, having built himself a barbell and weights from improvised means in the form of a pin and packages with cargo. Such attempts force one of the medical workers to confiscate sports shoes from the hero, closing them in a locker. The hero is truly oppressed by this fact and in frustrated feelings is sitting on his bed, when suddenly three of his friends come into his room -- the elderly people who managed to get his sneakers back. The operator's selected angles also allow the video watcher to see old photographs within the frameworks hanging on the wall in hero's room. One can only guess that these pictures depict the youth of the main character: in good athletic form, running the relay race in the stadium and raising his hands while running as a sign of victory. Later, the viewer may see the protagonist again in the same sports uniform standing in the corridor waiting for the race, meanwhile all the residents of the boarding house loudly applaud him in support. When he starts his race, doctors run after him to stop this triumph. However, the friends of the hero and others help to restrain workers and do not allow anyone to stop the main character from enjoying the moment. Throughout the last seconds of the video on the face of the protagonist there is an enthusiastic expression, full of happiness and inspiration. In the end of the video, he finally breaks out into the street and against the background of nature and his silhouette appears the brand slogan “Break Free” and the logo of the company.

Amstel

Amstel's video was shot in 2018, lasts 52 seconds and from the very first shots immerses the viewer in the story: on a picturesque port shore one man asks the other to hold his glass of beer to go away as expected usually just for a minute. T latter agrees and begins to wait for his friend. However, the weaner suddenly finds himself on a ship in the middle of the sea. Meanwhile, his friend continues to wait despite changes in weather conditions from heavy rain to heavy snowfall. Judging by the hero's growing beard, he has been waiting long enough for his friend to return from a sea voyage. Other people actively help the character: they hold a book and turn over the pages so that he can read, feed him, since both hands are occupied with two glasses of drinks and the hero cannot do all this himself. He even watches a football match with several people and actively empathizes with the players and everything that happens on the screen. Finally, his friend returns from his journey and they enjoy the beer they have been waiting for so long. Everyone around them is also happy and enthusiastic about what happened. At the end of advertising, the company demonstrates its branded products and the slogan: “serious about beer and friendship”.

Budweiser

Budweiser Lost Dog Super Bowl Commercial was shot in 2015 and describes the story of the dog and its owner. The action of the video roll begins at the stable. The dog accidentally enters the cargo compartment of a truck, whose door closes instantly and the car leaves. The owner, worried about the dog's loss, begins to search for him: he puts up announcements, distributes them to passers-by in the hope of getting help. Meanwhile, the dog is trying to find its way home, falling in the rain, overcoming long distances on the way to the house. Already approaching its home place, the dog notices an obviously unfriendly wolf. The horses from the barn hear the dogs barking and despite the closed stable, they break out to help their friend. The wolf hides from fright, and the horses, along with the dog, return home to their master. In the finale, the viewer can watch the happy reunion picture and the company logo. As for technical issues, the color correction of the video is made in quiet, muted tones. Moreover, touching dramatic music plays throughout the entire video, which can make an additional impression on the audience in combination with the story and characters.

In-depth interview protocol

Warm-up questions:

What do you pay attention to in advertising?

Do you know what storytelling is?

What are the distinguishing features between advertising with and without storytelling elements?

Social demographic questions:

What gender do you belong to?

How old are you?

How often do you come across advertising?

What spheres you interested in? (IT/Fashion/Sports/etc.)

What social networks do you use?

RQ1: What is the attitude of respondents to online advertising?

What kind of advertising on the Internet do you pay attention to?

Which platforms usually provide you with promo?

What emotions do you have on the Internet? Are there any exceptions?

What kind of advertising will you not skip? Why?

Which ad formats are most enjoyable for you? (Integration / advertising in front of video / banners)

RQ2: What is the attitude of respondents to offline advertising?

Does offline advertising appeal to you? (posters, billboards, etc.)

Which of them do you pay attention to?

What emotions do you get from such an advertisement?

RQ3: What impression respondents get after watching video promotions?

After these blocks, respondents were shown selected videos with advertising campaigns for brands listed below. After each pair of videos watched, a comment was taken from respondents, including their impression and preferences regarding advertising.

Apple, H&M, IKEA, ZARA (Product, Storytelling)

Sportswear: Nike, Adidas. Beer: Amstel, Budweiser (Storytelling)

RQ4: What factors may affect respondents' specific types of emotions and feelings?

Which advertisements do you most remember (2-4)? Why?

What emotions did they evoke in you? (from the top)

How do you like the characters in the ads?

What do you feel about the characters?

What would you like to do after watching?

Has your opinion on brands changed? How?

RQ5: What are the triggers and motivators behind respondents' decisions of buying product after watching an advertising?

How do you like the products presented in advertisements?

Would you buy the products presented in the advertisement? What kind

Why would you buy these products?

Based on the results obtained during the qualitative analysis, as well as the results of the analysis in Excel and SPSS, not only hypotheses were formed, but also the design of the survey presented below was created.

Questionnaire design

The perception of storytelling in advertising

“Hello!

We are graduates of the Higher School of Economics. As part of writing a thesis, we conduct a study of how consumers relate to such an instrument as storytelling (using story in advertising) and what emotions it causes them. The survey is anonymous, your names are not collected, the data will be processed in a generalized form. Filling out the questionnaire will take you about 8 minutes.

Thank you for your help!”

B1: (Block 1) How often do you come across advertising? (single choice question)

Very rarely 1 -- 5 Very often

Very rarely

Rarely

Neither rarely nor often

Often

Very often

What is your attitude towards advertising? (single choice question)

Strongly negative 1 -- 5 Strongly positive

Strongly negative

Negative

Neither positive nor negative

Positive

Strongly positive

What do you pay attention to in advertising? (multiple choice question)

Design/Production/Color spectrum

Quality

Delivery

Music/Sounds

Plot/Content

Philosophy/Idea

Characters

Advertised product or service

Usefulness/Relevance

Creativity/Uniqueness

Difficult to answer

Do you know what storytelling is? (single choice question)

Yes

No

Difficult to answer

Optional block of questions, if respondent answered “Yes” in the previous question.

B2: How often do you face storytelling? (optional question)

Very rarely 1 -- 5 Very often

Very rarely

Rarely

Neither rarely nor often

Often

Very often

Does storytelling affect you more than another type of ad? (optional question)

Strongly disagree 1 -- 5 Strongly agree

Strongly disagree

Disagree

Neither agree nor disagree

Agree

Strongly agree

Did you encounter a situation of buying a product or service after viewing?

ads with storytelling? (optional question)

Yes

No

Difficult to answer

B3: Reaction to promotional videos

How much did you like the X (Adidas, Budweiser, IKEA) brand?

I didn't like it at all 1 -- 5 I liked it very much

I didn't like it at all

I didn't like it

Neither I didn't like it, nor I liked it

I liked it

I liked it very much

What impressed you when watching this ad? (multiple choice questions)

Story and plot

Philosophy

Characters/The presence of animals

Atmosphere and mood

Visual components

Features of shooting, camera work

Sound accompaniment

Product

Neither

What emotions did you experience while watching this ad? (multiple choice questions)

Causes tears

Sadness

Empathy and compassion

Feeling close to character

Response inside, catches (strong emotions)

Nostalgia

Uplifting and Spiritual Rise

Delight and pleasure

Motivation and inspiration

Interest

Affection

Relaxed and calm

Pride

Indifference

Perplexity

Has your brand opinion changed?

No, not changed

Yes, it has changed for the better

Yes, changed for the worse

Are you interested in the products shown in the video?

No, I remained indifferent

Yes, I would familiarize myself with the catalog of products on the site

Yes, there was a desire to purchase

Difficult to answer

Other

Arrange the videos in order from the most liked (1) to the least (3)

Adidas

Budweiser

IKEA

B4: Social and demographic unit

Indicate your gender (single choice questions)

Male

Female

Indicate your age (open response form)

Indicate the areas that interest you (multiple choice questions)

Fashion

Art

IT

Sport

Humor

Policy

Science

Economy

Beauty sphere

Video games

Cinema

Music

Design

Education

News

Medicine

Business

Indicate your education (single choice questions)

Incomplete secondary education

Secondary education

Secondary special education

Incomplete higher education

Higher education

Two or more higher education

Candidate/Doctoral degree

Indicate the size of the settlement where you live (single choice questions)

More than 1 million

500 thousand - 1 million

100-500 thousand

50-100 thousand

Less than 50 thousand

Difficult to answer

Description of the results

In-depth interview results

Data sample

The total number of 25 interviews, in amount of 87 pages of text, were gathered, analyzed and recorded into the coding matrix by content analysis, which was used to generalize answers of the respondents and to define most common emotions after watching ads and reveal their attitude and perception towards storytelling. Each interview took approximately from 70 to 90 minutes. Transcription of one interview took mainly from 2 to 4 hours.

Socio-demographic situation

In-depth interviews were conducted among 25 people, 8 of whom were female and 17 were males, respectively. The average age is around 25 years. Most common spheres of interest and hobbies are IT (were chosen by 13 respondents); sport (11); humor, fashion and science (all 8); entertainment (movies and video games) music and art (both 7). Top 3 most popular social networks among respondents are Vkontakte (22), Instagram (21) and YouTube (15).

Assumptions

A1: After watching ads millennials more often choose ads with storytelling as more preferable ones than without it. The assumption is confirmed, as the top 5 most memorable ads include promotional with storytelling: Adidas (19 respondents), IKEA (13), Budweiser (12), Nike and Amstel (both 8). Other advertising campaigns, such as both Apple ads, H&M (story), IKEA and Zara (both product) got only 3 respondents voice. While video promotions as Zara (story) and H&M (product) got only 1 voice from respondents. Overall, most memorable ones used storytelling as an instrument in ads.

A2: Ads with storytelling cause more positive emotions than regular ads. Opinion regarding the general perception of advertising has changed after viewing the selection of advertisements offered to respondents. Assumption is confirmed due to the fact that before watching chosen ads 22 respondents answered that the feel negative emotions about online advertising. After watching video promotions 25 respondents mentioned that they experience positive emotions.

A3: Ads with characters like animals, children or elder people make respondents remember specifically the video with their participation. Assumption is partly confirmed, respondents usually noted the presence of cute animals (18) in Budweiser promo, characters in Adidas (12), Nike (11). Still, there are two cases that have such character, but they were left unnoticed. First, a little boy in IKEA promo did not impressed respondents that much (only 6 mentioned “characters”). Second, a person with disabilities did not cause special emotions among respondents, and in general, the audience did not remember him (only 4 respondents noted “character” in Apple advertising with a storytelling)

A4: Respondents change their opinion about brand after watching video promotion. Assumption is not confirmed. Most number of respondents did not change their opinion about the brand, only 8 respondents did change it.

A5: Respondents have intention to buy products after watching ads. Assumption is partly confirmed. Almost half of interviewees (11) had a desire to buy products presented in advertising.

Assumptions from 1 to 5 were tested and analyzed via Excel.

Additional assumptions

After checking the basic assumptions, additional ones were identified and developed in connection with obtaining and processing data using content analysis.

Assumptions from 5 to 7 were tested and analyzed via Excel.

A5: Zara as a product in the advertisement called Zara Woman Campaign | Spring Summer 2017 makes a greater impression than the product of H&M in the commercial entitled Conscious Exclusive 2020 | H&M. -- Confirmed due to the results of content analysis 12 respondents liked Zara Woman Campaign and only 7 liked H&M Conscious Exclusive. Moreover, Zara promotion was titled as the most memorable one among 3 respondents, while H&M Conscious Exclusive was noted as one by only one respondent.

A6: Among brands Budweiser advertisement get more response than Amstel's commercial due to the story and its features such as presence of animals. -- Partly confirmed because of slight difference. Amstel promo were liked by 16 respondents, mainly because of humor (16), while Budweiser ad were liked by 19 interviewees because they were impressed with cute animals (18). Moreover, Budweiser promo were noted as one of the most memorable ones among 12 respondents (10 remembered the presence of animals) and 8 mentioned Amstel as one of the best.

A7: Advertising does not affect people because of their opinions on the brand and products. -- Refuted. 8 respondents changed their opinion about the brand.

Assumptions from 8 to 25 were tested and analyzed via SPSS.

A8: Women are more sensitive to the image of animals in advertising. -- Rejected. There is no correlation between the presence of cute animals and gender.



Table 2

A9: Women are more susceptible to the influence of advertising, which means that they are ready to make a purchase after watching the commercial under the influence of advertising. -- Refuted. There is no correlation between the desire to buy a product after viewing and gender.

Table 3

Table 4

A10: Men often pay attention to usefulness and functionality in advertising, whereas women -- to the delivery. -- Rejected. There is no correlation between gender and delivery. There is no correlation between gender and product functionality displayed in ads.

Table 5

A11: The younger people are the more they know what storytelling is. -- Refuted. There is no relationship between age and knowledge of what storytelling is.

Table 6

A12: Men are more negative about advertising in general than women. -- Partly confirmed. There is no correlation between gender and negative attitudes towards advertising. There is a correlation between gender and positive emotions.



Table 7

Table 8

A13: Touching commercials often cause tears in female than in male. -- Partly confirmed. There is a relationship between gender and breaking into tears using Ikea ad as an example. Men are more constrained in the manifestation of feelings. There is also a dependency in Adidas ad, there is no correlation in Budweiser commercial.

IKEA



Table 9

Adidas

Table 10

Budweiser

Table 11

A14: Promotion involving older people induces more emotions in women than men. -- Refuted. There is no correlation between the characters in Adidas commercial and gender. Respondents mention animals, but not elderly people, children, women, and generally categories of people's characters.

Table 12

A15: Female feel catchy towards H&M advertising with story (H&M Autumn Season 2016: She's a Lady) because they believe that the message is for them. -- Approved. There is a correlation between gender and strong emotions after watching the commercial.

Table 13

A16: There is a correlation between the attractiveness for advertising introducing iPhone 11 and the desire to buy this device. -- Approved. There is a correlation between those who liked Apple ad with iPhone 11 presentation without storytelling and the desire to buy an iPhone. People preferred this product to buy among others.

Table 14

A17: For women clothing from advertisements causes a desire to buy it more often than for men. -- Approved. Women are more likely to buy clothes after watching ads than men.

Table 15

A18: Sportswear arouses the desire to buy it more often in male than in female. -- Refuted. There is no dependence on the fact that men pay more attention to sports brands (ready to buy, liked) after watching ads.



Table 16

A19: Women tend to make spontaneous purchases after watching ads. -- Approved. There is a correlation between the conscious choice in the purchase after viewing and gender.

Table 17

A20: In view of the fact that men more often master technical specialties, it was suggested that women are better aware of what storytelling is, as this is part of marketing knowledge -- Rejected. There is no correlation between gender and knowledge of what storytelling is.



Table 18

A21: When viewing the most liked advertisements, women more often had strong emotions than men. -- Refuted. There is no relationship between the occurrence of strong emotions and gender.

Table 19

A22: Children as characters evoke more emotions in the female. -- Rejected. There is no correlation between Nike characters and gender. There is no correlation between the characters in Ikea ad and gender.



Table 20

A23: Ikea advertising with storytelling encourages people to buy company products. --

Rejected. There is no correlation between those who liked IKEA ads with storytelling and desire to buy furniture. However, people preferred these products to buy among others.

Table 21

A24: Older people tend to pay more attention to the philosophy and idea of the video. -- Refuted. There is no correlation between age and choosing philosophy and ideology as liked factor.



Table 22

Main conclusions

As a result of the responses' analysis, the following factors were identified:

During watching advertisements respondents most of all pay attention to presentation, design, color gamut, correction, rendering and production. Such a choice was most often mentioned among 14 millennials which means more than half of the interviewees.

It was found out that 14 out of 25 respondents know what storytelling is. Consequently, the majority have knowledge about definition of storytelling term.

Only 3 people said that they do not often encounter advertising due to the use of browser extensions that allow them to block advertising. All the rest, that is, 22 respondents often face commercials in everyday life.

Among the areas of interest, the most popular among interviewees are IT, sports, science, humor, fashion, entertainment, art and music, respectively. Spheres are presented in order of frequency of references.

The most popular social networks that respondents use to follow their preferences and interests are Instagram, VK and YouTube.

The above-mentioned platforms are simultaneously the main sources providing interviewed millennials with advertising.

Turning to commercials on the Internet, 9 in-depth interview participants told about the demonstration of the usefulness, relevance and necessity of the product or service as the most important factors that they pay attention to while watching. Moreover, the most popular objects of attention in advertising after utility to respondents are design or nothing at all.

Among all respondents, 22 people answered that usually commercials in digital space cause negative emotions in them, which mainly includes irritation, anger, resentment, disgust and fear of tracking their requests on the Internet. And only two of the respondents find advertising interesting in general and have a positive attitude towards it.

There are also people whose opinion varies depending on the type of advertisement. It can be negative, neutral or positive.

Despite the prevailing negative attitude towards products' and services' promotion, 18 people say that the exceptions still exist. This happens in such cases when the advertisement seems interesting to them (10 people), it is relevant (9), has an excellent design (8), history (8) or stands out and is unique (8).

The most enjoyable ad format for respondents is integration (10 people) or pre-video ads (9).

As regards offline advertising, 12 respondents are attracted to this type of promotion mainly due to impressive design (8 people).

Speaking about the most attractive types of offline promotion, millennials participating in the interview primarily pay attention to posters (15 respondents) and billboards (13).

The most common emotions caused by offline commercials are indifference (14 millennials), interest (9), enthusiasm (7) and distaste (6).

The video dedicated to the presentation of the iPhone 11 was highly praised by 17 people. The most remembered characteristics for them were production, product functionality and video ad demonstration (16 respondents), dynamism (11) and a beautiful visual component (10).

The history of the video “Introducing Voice Control on Mac and iOS” was praised by 15 people. According to the analysis of this advertisement, it did not make an impression on an emotional level, since such factors as production (9 people), information content and usefulness (8) and pleasant emotions along with indifference (7) were noted as the most memorable aspects. Thus, the hypothesis regarding the influence of characters in the stories was refuted since the disabled people did not impress the mass audience, which will also be supported in the SPSS analysis. Further interpretations of the result will also confirm the idea that the characters do not make a strong impression if the main heroes are not animals.

A video with the demo of an H&M product was highly rated by 7 people. Furthermore, 13 interviewees noted the beauty of the picture and the same number of respondents remained indifferent.

H&M story liked by 11 respondents. Mostly people paid attention to the core idea but not for everyone it was pleasant. Basically, the male audience rejected and did not accept this philosophy of diversity and being body positive not only because the products were irrelevant for them “The target audience is female, for me it is not relevant therefore it is difficult to comment” but also because the message in advertising were not close to them “Fashionable feminist movement. However, I do not like the very intrusive promotion of such a context. Mixed feelings”.

Ikea commercial “Say Hej to IKEA Place” with the presentation of the application made a good impression on the majority of respondents (16 people) mainly because of how the product's functionality was demonstrated (16) and its usefulness for real life (11).

One more video by Ikea “If Only We Could Keep Some Things Small Forever” was considered as the one they really liked by 23 people. The story, plot and idea were highly evaluated (15 interviewees). Respondents also noted pleasant, strong emotions (15 and 14, respectively). In addition, interviewed millennials drew attention to the relevance and atmosphere, the transmission of mood and relevance (11). It is necessary to mention that the commercial caused tears in 3 respondents. One more important factor is the fact that family values ??are close to the respondents and receive the greatest response.

The presentation of Zara clothes in the spring-summer collection of 2017 was liked by 12 people. Mostly respondents noticed the aesthetic component of advertising in the form of visual accompaniment as well as beautiful models (15 millennials). Production seemed to be a little less important for them (12). Moreover, 9 respondents noted not only the color palette and spectrum (9) but also the musical accompaniment (7). However, for 5 millennials the advertisement did not cause any emotions, they remained indifferent and two people noticed an excess of pathos, which caused negative emotions from the viewed promotion.

The history of Zara was enjoyed by 14 people. While watching ads 6 people experienced pleasant emotions. They also noted an interesting culmination, denouement and plot as a whole, as well as information content (6). Moreover, 1 person noticed a very interesting fact that caused mixed feelings despite the good idea and the attractive characters. The idea of ??excessive consumption has left an unpleasant precipitate. Looking at the personnel of the plant and the number of clothes produced, the respondent came to the idea that humanity consumes more things than they need. On the contrary, another respondent admired the opportunity to enjoy the process from the inside and look at how things are made in production and the order is assembled. So, this person noted that watching this video was an interesting experience.