Advertising, not public relations, embraces storytelling techniques.
Usually.
I came across an ad for the country of Georgia with the headline:
Georgia, The World’s number 1 in fighting corruption.
While not a fan of Styrofoam-finger advertising, this sounded promising.
Anytime you have good fighting evil, a potential story lurks around the corner.
Unfortunately, the people behind the Georgia ad decided to pummel us with stats, starting with the opener:
According to the 2010 Global Corruption Barometer by Transparency International, 78% of Georgians think that corruption has decreased over the past three years.
You impressed?
I thought so.
The body copy goes on to share that only 3 percent of Georgians who had contact with various public services reported paying a bribe in the past 12 months (no detail on whether this includes the DMV).
And the numbers drumbeat continues.
I have to say, I question a value proposition that plays off Bud Light Commercials:
Less Bribes, More Business
It also strikes me as a platform that would gain greater credibility in PR form.
If you insist on going this route, at least put together a story with drama and the good guy winning.
Because numbers by themselves don’t move people to buy.