The Story of the Sweeter Strawberry

You might have seen the ad that Waitrose ran in the national press towards the back end of July.

It’s a consummate lesson in the power of storytelling in your marketing – even when the story is so short and simple that it’s told in exactly 40 words.

Let’s look at the headline first. They could have easily led with the half price offer on their strawberries.

Similarly, they could have used the line that explained that the strawberries they sell are sweeter than those in other supermarkets but instead they went with a story…

You see, I reckon the marketing team at Waitrose know that when you use price as the main attraction to sell strawberries, then the natural conclusion of the reader is to assume that the cheap fruit probably amounts to little more than tasteless triangles of red water.

They could have crafted the ad telling me that their strawberries are sweeter, but that would miss the mark as well because people won’t believe it on the grounds that the benchmark for sweetness in supermarket strawberries is typically so low that being sweeter than tasteless is not sufficient to get people rushing to their stores.

In this ad they explain very simply how you get a sweeter strawberry, and in using their ad to explain that, you’re led to believe that the strawberries Waitrose sell probably are sweeter than those you can get elsewhere.

By the way, the reality doesn’t matter here – it’s the perception that’s being created. It’s also okay if every other supermarket harvests their strawberries in the way they describe here – it doesn’t stop Waitrose claming that space and using it as a competitive differentiator. In fact, it’s very smart.

Of course, we are more inclined to believe the Waitrose message because of all the work that has gone on before – over many years – building trust with its customers and suppliers. Its positioning is ideal to support this kind of message and that congruency is also important here.

But the power of story, however simple that story is, should not be underestimated when you’re crafting your marketing, your offers, promoting your services or your ideas. Stories provide a mental framework that enables all of us to learn and remember information in a natural way. It’s the oldest form of communication. It’s hardwired into our brains and you ignore or skip it at your peril.

At a very basic level, a story has a beginning, a middle and an end. In this advert Waitrose begins with the story of a sweeter strawberry, how harvesting each variety in turn makes them sweeter and it closes with a half price offer to try them. Ladies and gentlemen, this advert is an item of considerable marketing beauty and I commend it to the house…