Mastering Storytelling Techniques in Commercials: How to Captivate Your Audience in 2025
Storytelling is the backbone of every successful commercial. It’s about creating a narrative that engages viewers emotionally, making your message resonate. In this article, we’ll dive deep into storytelling techniques and real-world examples of commercials that utilised them to find success.
There is a big reason why the word story is part of our name at Storyflow.
Why Storytelling is Crucial in Commercials
Storytelling in commercials is vital for more than just creating memorable ads. It builds an emotional connection with viewers, reinforces brand identity, and drives action. Let’s be honest, people hate watching ads. Especially nowadays, since people will come across, despite their will, around four thousand to five thousand ads per day.
Naturally, they tend to dislike ads, as they feel someone invades their space, and demands the two most precious things they believe to have:
Their time to watch the ad.
Their money to buy what the ad offers.
That’s why effective storytelling is important. It makes your commercial not just an advertisement, but an experience. It helps with:
Emotional Engagement: Commercials with a strong emotional core connect better with audiences, driving higher recall and loyalty.
Building Brand Identity: A consistent story helps brands build their personality and values, creating long-lasting relationships with their audience.
Memorable Campaigns: A well-crafted narrative increases the chances of your commercial being shared, discussed, and remembered.
Key Storytelling Techniques Used in Commercials
The Hero’s Journey
The Hero’s Journey is one of the most powerful storytelling frameworks, where the protagonist faces challenges and ultimately transforms. It’s used heavily across some of your favourite films. For example in Star Wars: A New Hope, Luke Skywalker embarks on a journey from a farm boy to a galactic hero, while in The Lion King, Simba's journey from exile to reclaiming his rightful place as king.
In commercials, this technique emphasises a journey of overcoming obstacles with the product or service acting as the guiding force.
John Lewis "The Bear and the Hare" Christmas ad (2013): Probably my favourite John Lewis ad. Christmas campaigns are usually a great opportunity to use the Hero’s Journey technique, as you can focus more on the characters and less on the product since people are emotionally very close to Christmas as a period and for that reason brands are careful with not coming across “salesly” and ruining the feeling.
Read more about the Hero’s Journey technique here
Transformation Through Choice
This technique centers on the idea that making the right choice leads to a better life. It’s often used to highlight the benefits of a product by showing its transformative power in everyday life. The most classic example of it is the “before and after” print ads that are still going strong today.
Example: Old Spice’s “The Man Your Man Could Smell Like”
One of the most iconic ads. This campaign follows a fast-paced transformation where the main character, played by Isaiah Mustafa, shows the benefits of using Old Spice. From showering with the product to showcasing the transformation from an ordinary man to an extraordinary one, the ad is a playful take on how the product changes lives. This transformation is exaggerated humorously, making the commercial not only memorable but also entertaining.
The Relatable Underdog
In this storytelling technique, the brand portrays a character or entity as the underdog who rises against the odds. It's about showing how anyone, regardless of their starting point, can succeed with the right tools.
Example: Apple 1984 Super Bowl Ad
Definitely the most iconic Super Bowl Ad. Before Apple becomes the number 1 company it is today, it used to be an underdog, a challenger brand trying to take the IBM out of the throne. Ridley Scott leveraged that to create probably the most mentioned ad nowadays along with the “Surfer” from Guinness.
Subverting Expectations (Surprise Element)
This technique involves setting up a predictable narrative, then flipping it with a surprising twist. It keeps the audience on their toes, and the unexpected nature of the twist leaves a strong impact. The best example was Waitrose’s Christmas Campaign in 2024. A series of assets keeping people in high tension until the truth was revealed on the final campaign:
How to Craft a Compelling Story for Your Commercial
Know Your Audience
Before you start developing your story, understand who your audience is. What are their values, concerns, and interests? Create a character they can relate to and a narrative that speaks to their needs and desires.
For example, on the Old Spice commercial, pay attention how the ad is addressed to women despite being a product used by men. That’s because many times our loved ones would like to see some transformations in us that we don’t really care about ourselves. So, despite women not being the users, they can still be the buyers.
Define Your Brand Message
Your story should always reinforce your brand’s core message. Whether it’s about empowerment, quality, or fun, your narrative should be aligned with what your brand stands for. Use the past campaigns the brand has produced, read to their history, understand who they are, where they are coming from and why people has supported them and their products till now.
Sometimes internal marketing teams might want to spice things up and try something new. But dropping everything the brand has build up to that point is usually the quickest way to their funeral.
Keep It Simple and Focused
Don’t overload your commercial with too many ideas or characters. A strong, simple narrative can communicate more effectively than a cluttered one.
Remember, it’s not a film, you’ve less time so use it in your advantage to allow viewers to resonate with your characters.
Use the Right Tone and Style
Match your commercial’s tone with your audience’s preferences. If you’re targeting young adults, a playful and humorous tone may work best. For a more mature audience, a serious and emotional tone could resonate more deeply.
It’s the reason nowadays we use such a strong desire for “social first” ads and UGC. Gen Z and eventually Gen Alpha are gaining market share on the potential customers, and every brand tries to appeal by adjusting their ads to the content style they’re used at. Make an ad that doesn’t feel like an ad.
End with a Clear Call to Action
A great story should always lead to action. Ensure that your audience knows exactly what to do after watching, whether it’s buying your product, signing up for your service, or engaging with your content.
Don’t include many call to actions as that will lead them to taking zero steps at all. Remember, you should always do the work for them and make it as easy as possible to know what to do next.
The Role of Emotion in Commercial Storytelling
Emotions are central to storytelling. Emotionally charged ads are more likely to be remembered and shared, which increases their effectiveness. Here's how emotions play a pivotal role in storytelling:
Why Emotional Ads Perform Better
Emotional ads trigger a response that goes beyond the intellectual; they connect on a deeper, more personal level. Ads that evoke emotions like joy, fear, or nostalgia can create stronger brand connections.
Example: Google’s “Parisian Love”
This commercial uses emotion to show a love story told through Google searches. As the character navigates through major life events, from meeting someone to getting married and having children, the search engine becomes the backdrop of his journey. This deeply emotional commercial is both personal and powerful, making it one of Google’s most impactful ads. Just read the comments and you’ll see how people connect to it even years later on.
Creating Emotional Connections
To create an emotional connection, make sure your commercial resonates with the values or experiences that your target audience holds dear. Whether it’s a message of self-improvement, nostalgia, or joy, make it feel authentic.
Example: Always “Like a Girl”
In this ad, Always addresses the negative connotations of the phrase “like a girl” by re-framing it as a statement of strength. The emotional narrative empowers young girls and challenges gender stereotypes, creating a lasting emotional connection with viewers.
The Power of Humor
Humor is an effective emotion to use in advertising because it breaks barriers, grabs attention, and is highly shareable.
Example: “Our Blades Are F*cking Great” by DollarShaveClub
Again, an ad that transformed the industry due to its low level production that ended up placing DollarShaveClub as the number 1 challenger brand fighting against the empire of Gillette (who ended up acquiring them for one billion dollars in cash.
Conclusion
Storytelling in commercials is far from generic. It’s about crafting a narrative that captivates your audience, evokes emotion, and drives action. Whether it’s using the Hero’s Journey, playing with surprising twists, or tapping into deep emotions like nostalgia and humor, the key to great commercials lies in how well the story is told. Ready to craft a commercial that stands out and leaves a lasting impact? Start by defining your story, aligning it with your brand, and creating a connection that your audience won’t forget.
P.S. Storyflow is a video production company based in London. If you’ve a brief for a video project, and you’re looking for a video production team don’t hesitate to get in touch. You can find our contact form here.
