The STORY will always be the only CONSTANT !

A quick rewind to 20 years back ....Remember the cool cassette device and the VCR tape that used to be the icon of entertainment until the early 90’s revolution of the well-known cds? Recall the excitement, around the family time in the living room, defined by the combined watching of a primetime show on Sunday mornings? If you really have no clue what I am talking about then obviously you must be one-third my age and I probably sound like 'gen-Xtinct' to you ! Let’s now flash-forward to our current entertainment icons, powered by the influence of the man who tamed technology, Steve Jobs. Today, in the midst of the Apple vs. Android battle, we as consumers have a plethora of devices that swallow our wallets but never our hunger for more. Even our television, apparently the 'idiot-box', links up now to our smartphones; not just with a cord, but with a super cool technology that enables content display and sharing with just a gentle screen swipe. We really belong to a highly complex multi-screen world where consumption behavior is way too difficult to predict with a linear logic. Content being the king as always, is funneled down our consumption network now in innovative ways like never before. However often overlooked and underestimated, what is most important for us to remember is that from the passive experiences of entertainment consumption in the past, to the currently active, interactive and immersive capabilities, the one thing that continues to stay constant, unbeatable in importance and at the heart of the complex layered consumption ecosystem- is the - story, story and Story.

Story has always been and will always have to be the heart of the consumption eco-system. But if story is the constant, then let’s understand what has really changed. Spotting the easier first, no doubt that the medium and devices of course have changed and so has the method. With them evolving, even distribution innovation has had to follow fast. All this has boosted a dynamic consumption environment. But the one ultimate element worth noticing and accepting, is the evolution in the storytelling style and format. This has happened for two reasons; one being the consumer’s quick and frequent adoption of technologically advanced devices and second being his constantly evolving preferences, dominated by his extremely competitive lifestyle. To express this better, let’s compare our yesterday's media ecosystem with today’s. What stands out the most is the dramatic movement of consumption from 20 channels on television with a remote in a fixed living room, to 500 channels anytime and anywhere across television and the mobile, laptop, tablet or now called ‘the second screen’. 

However while the ecosystem has  branched, the fundamental seed that ensures it is healthy and relevant, is afterall the 'story', which forms both the need and desire for consumption. Therefore what now is interesting to observe is how all this branching out of the consumption ecosystem has boosted 'the art of storytelling'.

If we were to analyse storytelling evolution, one might wonder what was the real trigger for such innovation. Many may say it was the advancement of Technology, marketers would boldly claim it was the need for differentiated brand communication and some technology businesses would share their insight being the demand of the consumer. I, on the other hand, have a different theory. I strongly believe it was the stagnancy in content consumption due to the rise of the highly mobile or transit lifestyle that drove businesses across the consumption value chain to push their limits and this positively triggered the spark in storytelling evolution. It was the consumption stagnancy that pushed technology businesses to work on smarter content consumption solutions which was complimentary to the lifestyle of consumers. This, in return, influenced content producers and marketers to revolutionize their storytelling format. Thus was the beginning of the constantly evolving up-gradation from not just a liner passive format but the story as well.

Technology cannot lose focus that it is always going to be differentiated on the ‘how’ value it brings to the experience of consumption. Media channels cannot afford to forget that it is always going to be the network effectiveness that will ensure its value. Finally Brands and their marketers, absolutely need to always question their communication goal in the clutter of all. In a chaotic world where every professional and every business is struggling to win the rat race of consumption, it is extremely important to stay focused on the heart, the 'story', while battling against each other. 

So if you spend your average 12 hours a day running the much admired rat race with your own professional batten, do not forget to ask yourself the fundamental question, time and again... "really what is the story?"