A new platform for the oldest form of communicating.

I was excited today to help co-host Ford Motor's Marketing Innovation Day because it focused on one of my favorite marketing topics – storytelling.

I've long believed in the power of storytelling.  Stories convey meaning.  And meaning trumps information.  Maya Angelou captured this so well when she said that "people will forget what you said, forget what you did, but they will never forget how you made them feel."

And that's what is at the heart of storytelling.  Storytelling helps us to digest information because it connects information to emotions, and to connect us to each other.

What's old is new again, thanks to "Stories" on Facebook and Instagram.  Our most ancient form of communicating has found a new form of expression.  Traditional IF and FB posts tend to only show the highlights of our day.  Stories, by contrast, are spontaneous:  a more authentic snapshot of a story as it is happening, unedited and not curated.

According to TechCrunch, there were 100 million active users of IG stories within two months of its release.

This is a great opportunity for marketers to engage through deeper and more immersive stories - e.g., placing the brand out in the real world without the slick hand of Madison Avenue; bringing customers "behind the scenes" for an upcoming product launch; even showcasing origin stories and sources of inspiration from the company's designers or engineers.

Here's a link to some more perspectives on the power of storytelling.