Neworld, Great relationships build great brands

Have you considered using comics or comic-like visual content in your brand storytelling efforts? If not, then let’s talk about it today- once in a while your brand should show that it’s not afraid to get creative.

Why ‘Comics’?

Comics are an entirely different beast from written words. Comics are heavily geared toward visual storytelling over text. Some audiences have no problem with plain text, but for the most part audiences understand visuals much better and much faster. It’s also fun for your creative team to convey ideas which are boring, complex or plain through cartoons.  Ikea uses comic strips to guide consumers through assembly instructions.

Comics are a medium independent of a genre. They can communicate via wide range of forms – from deep social commentary to silly 3 panel jokes. A lot of young companies bet on humour to break the media clutter. Also, humour tends to increase shareability on social media. However, using comic strips to address a serious message is equally effective and eases the discomfort for the audiences to face/accept the issues. For instance, Takeda Pharmaceuticals team up with Marvel Comics to empower those who face daily challenges of inflammatory bowel disease.

But, the most productive partnership of comic strips, for a brand, would be with its content marketing. Comics may be a good fit for your web content strategy if your brand’s goals include appearing more approachable and, well, a bit more human. The best example to back this point would be KFC. The website chronicles the journey of Colonel Sanders, to becoming the owner of a fried chicken magnate, in a comical strip.

The idea of using comic medium to tell interesting brand stories is one of the oldest mediums, yet quite powerful. However, it is also the most overlooked one. Brands should embrace the ease and speed of comprehension of comic strips as a strength. The content marketers should not overlook experimenting with them on social media. If not for anything, it can’t hurt to break away from ‘business matters’ once in a while.

Rashima Sharma, Business Developer Intern 

Rashima Sharma moved to Dublin from Hyderabad, India in July 2018. She interns as a Business Developer at Neworld. She did her MBA in Marketing & Sales and has extensive experience in sales, banking and marketing. At Neworld, she has developed an appreciation for branding and its relationship with design effectiveness. She admires the creativity and enthusiasm of her colleagues and is happy to be a part of the show by bringing in more interesting opportunities.