The Science of Storytelling

Catherine Mack | February 24, 2021

When we think back to our travels in Peru, the images of Machu Picchu and Lake Titicaca will be forever imprinted in our brains. But it was our trekking guide, Dalmiro Portillo’s stories that will keep all our sense memories alive for years to come. Guiding us along the lesser known Salkantay route up to the ancient citadel, it was his gentle touch as he helped us up a tricky slope, the smell of the coca leaves he handed out when altitude sickness kicked in, and the sound of the mountains when he got us all to just stop and listen, that we hold in our hearts.

The Patagonian landscapes now framed on our walls and stretched across our laptop screens will always make us pine. But it’s the story of Don Germán, a pioneer of wilderness tourism in his beloved Tierra del Fuego, and whom we had the honor of meeting, that brings back so many warm memories. We believe that his words inspire wanderlust in our film The Man at the End of the World, and will continue to do so for generations to come. You don’t have to take our word for it, however. It turns out that science has proven what we’ve always known in our hearts: storytelling sells.

Storytelling in content marketing

Dalmiro and Don Germán’s stories are fine examples of why we believe that stunning visuals and traditional advertisements are no longer enough in tourism marketing. Storytelling in content marketing is not only vital, it’s been a motivator for travelers for generations.

Carefully crafted films with characters and stories take your target audience into the heart of a place, where they are moved by the stories, feel the ancient paths underfoot, smell the snowy air and smile at the warmth of an act of kindness from your host. It’s the kindness of strangers that proffers the wonderful aftertaste of a good holiday after all. Good storytelling content captures these senses in advance of travel, giving audiences a reason to care and brands a vehicle to be real.

Everyone wants unique content now and yet so many tourism organizations simply trip over the tales that can make it unique - their eye only on the latest five star resort, walking trail or theme park. And yet these local stories are always unique because it’s the people, cultures and heritage tales that differentiate your destination and, when well done well, create delight and a desire to go there.

“Being here you don’t need words, the feeling is overwhelming...You can smell it, feel it, see it, but to describe it in its magnitude is difficult. I want the enjoyment to be collective, to share the emotion with the travellers.” - Dalmiro Portillo, trekking guide at Mountain Lodges of Peru.

The science of storytellinG

Science backs up this theory that storytelling engages the senses. Research has shown that viewers’, listeners’ and readers’ brains respond to sensual descriptions, even if they don’t realizse it. If someone tells us about how delicious certain foods are, our sensory cortex pings. If they create a narrative about an activity, our motor cortex starts to rev up. And if they tell an emotional story, no surprise, the brain also engages.

Raymond Mar, a psychologist at York University in Canada, published an article in 2011, entitled ‘The Neural Bases of Social Cognition and Story Comprehension’. This work explores the theory that when people tell stories and create narratives, our brains start to find ways to understand the characters’ feelings, motives and needs. Many other scientists followed suit, exploring the effect of storytelling on our brains and proving that certain words make the brain tick more than others.

Storytelling sells

The business world started to run with this concept of storytelling as a sales tool around the same time, with writers such as Peter Guber, in his best-selling Tell to Win, a book that discusses the power of stories to alert the consumer’s brain emotionally, which then converts to a purchase. A couple of fine examples include Lifebuoy soap and the UK’s celebrated John Lewis Christmas ads which, when shared annually on social media, signifies the beginning of Christmas for many. There is no doubt about it, creating films with people’s stories that are brimming with empathy and emotion converts to sales.

Destinations have their own storytelling stars

In tourism, this has been known for a long time. Travel writers have been selling books full of travel tales for years and then, as a result of these stories, the places book up. Movies that focus on a specific place, where the characters engage with the landscape and culture, have a huge influence on tourism, although not always a good one it has to be said, if the crowds pour in en masse. But the fact is, destinations don’t need to wait for the film stars to come into town. They have plenty of star storytellers on their doorstep, just waiting to caress those cortices. In addition, by telling and sharing their own real, not fictional stories, they can control the crowds they want to invite into their homes.

“When I started here, there was no road yet. There was no one. In a year, sometimes we saw two people... I never expected that I might work in tourism one day. At first I hated tourism. But my wife said that tourists are just happy people who just walk around. And once I understood that, I started to like it…. I met interesting people and talked about different topics. So I started to like it because of these acquaintances....it has been really enjoyable.” - Don Germán, aka ‘The Man at the End of the World,” in Tierra del Fuego, Chile.

It’s a no-brainer that storytelling in travel content works a treat. For example when Supan Inthachai, founder of Baan Rai Kong homestay community in Thailand’s Chiang Mai region, talks about food in our film Thai Wisdom and Wellness, people engage. The sensory cortex must definitely light up when she says, “We use food as medicine. Picked fresh, the medicinal properties are still there….When your heart is full you’re not stressed.” Because, according to science, when we see and hear her story about food, our brain is almost smelling the food already. Even if we don’t realize it, we are there - fired up and ready to feast.

Stories that evoke emotions are also key to content marketing strategies because it has been proven, using functional MRI examinations, that consumers use emotions rather than facts to make a purchase decision. You can choose to trust the science on all of this of course , or you can just watch one of our films and see if they make your feet itch to travel. The proof is in the pudding. And the booking.

People

Choose the right people to communicate your story. At GLP, we know that character-led films work well to get an authentic message out there. You can have a cast of several people, of course, to make the story even more diverse. Whoever you choose, we have plenty of expertise in guiding which stories are strong and which characters can narrate them perfectly.

Locations

What will be the location for your story? Tourism films so often try to cover too many places, but with character-led storytelling we find that it works best to zoom in on a very specific region. This has worked really well, for example, in our films about Raja Ampat, a 1500-island archipelago in the heart of Indonesia’s Coral Triangle. Or Salkantay Inca Trail, one of the lesser-known trekking routes to Machu Picchu. Travelers want to go beyond the norm, and it’s time to show them these special places, if you want them to know about them that is. Sometimes, they are also best kept secret.

Get in touch to learn more about how GLP can help with your storytelling and COVID-19 recovery plans.