When groupon launched it did something interesting in marketing

It hired comedy writers from second city in chicago to write fictional funny stories about every groupon.

Because of this it was more likely you'd open the email.

even though people knew these wee funny comedic fake stories people would

The stories were so good that you'd also email them to your friends.

So it helps on almost every level of them marketing funnel.

People who read the email have a higher likelihood of converting because they build a relationship via the story.

But they also share it with friends because its cool and funny. This made a lot of stories naturally viral.

It's why companies like Harry's also went viral, it was the story vs the product itself that attracted people to it.

Apparently people also will buy from a brand with a story at a much higher price compared with a simple sales pitch. Emotions eh !

It also helps with retention because it makes people remember your brand.

For example, I know one of my favourite brands in gin is pomourri and they have a super cool booklet with the story of how the gin made. I'm not sure if that's why its my favourite, but I do know I love it.

But this is true for so many companies that I have stronger brand recall for. From Birkenstock to Google. Stories may be what drives brand recall more than anything else.

I know so many more examples around me where I like the products because of the story vs actually cost/quality. Obviously those do play a role but I think its the story that makes a bigger difference.