There’s a word that continues to arise in discussions regarding advertising and marketing—storytelling.

We live in an age where traditional advertising is losing its power and the focus on sharing and consuming personal stories grows. Brands and companies have taken note. Brand stories, narratives, purpose films, manifests, branded content, branded entertainment, viral marketing—all stem from the fundamental art of storytelling.

Discovering your brand’s story

When our client Yakult, a leader in probiotic beverages, asked us to help share their story, they weren’t sure where to start. While they had an interesting origin story—a health-centered, cost-effective beverage created in Japan in 1935—it wasn’t enough. We needed to dig deeper and determine the meaning and purpose at the core of their brand.

After diving into the history of the product, an interesting story arose. Yakult is distributed by “The Yakult Ladies,” who travel by bike to deliver the product directly to the homes of their customers. And after examining how relationships and bonds formed during the Yakult Ladies’ recurring visits, it was apparent that tremendous, unforeseen value was created for the Japanese people who bought it, beyond the health benefits of the product.

The brand purpose emerged—human connection. We ultimately created a four-minute film based on the story of Yukie, a Yakult lady who forms a special bond with one of her oldest clients and in the process discovers herself.

Bringing your story to life

Increasingly, companies are retaining a single production company to take on all their production work, regardless of whether the ideas were generated by an agency or by an internal creative team. We worked with the Yakult brand in this way, and typically do so with many of our clients. It allows our clients to get creative with their content, see costs up front, increase the speed at which production can be completed, and much more.

As a director-neutral company, there are no limits to MikeTeevee's roster of directors. We have a reputation for discovering new, up-and-coming talent, as well as attract the most distinguished names in the industry.

We handle all aspects of production, TVC’s, online content, stills campaigns, but also set up large-scale experiential events. As a production partner, we advise our clients on the most cost-effective ways to produce any campaign, while always maintaining the highest quality of work.

Mike Teevee specializes in working directly with brands and their in-house agencies. For our portfolio of work, please visit www.miketeevee.com.