Brand Marketing and Comunication, in its simplest form, is all about storytelling. When we are engaging an audience to watch a 30 second commercial, we are rewarding him by entertaining him for 30 seconds. When we are asking him to go through a print communication, we are telling him an intriguing story.

The line between advertisement and other forms of entertainment is slowly blurring. At what point does it stop being an advertisment and starts being a drama or a short film? At such an interesting juncture, its sad to see one element of the marketing mix is not getting the due attention that is should. I am referring towards packaging.

Simply stated, packaging is used as a medium which is often the last frontier for the astute marketer. Thereby, the sole purpose of packaging, till date, is occupying shelf space, grab attention and make the sale in the point of truth by providing information. But just like TV and print, packaging should also tell a story. Just like all other medium that’s transforming into a storytelling, entertaining medium, packaging should also make that transition. It should not be just a straightforward information-dominant, one dimentional medium.

Only then packaging can play a role not only in making a sell, but also as a brand building tool. The most effective player who made this kind of transitions are the breakfast cereal makers. Check them out to see brand building / storytelling at work.