10 things every ‘storyteller’ can learn from Amish Tripathi

Acclaimed as the ‘Paulo Coelho of the East’ by Businessworld, the best selling Indian author by NDTV and amongst the 100 most influential Indians three times in a row by Forbes, Amish Tripathi’s upswing as a writer was neither planned nor speculated. The author of The Shiva Trilogy launched his writing career with The Immorals of Meluha, a book that broke into the top seller charts within its first week owing largely to its creative marketing strategies.

At the exchange4media CMO League Conclave held at hotel Leela Gurgaon on 4 November, the IIM Kolkata graduate delivered an address on ‘The art of marketing and the science of story telling’.

Here are 10thoughts that every event marketer can pick up on to tell his story even more persuasively.

1-The most irritating thing to hear is “how can we try this, this has never been done before”. Ignore this. Never succumb to this.

2-Best ideas will come from people outside the industry. These people don’t have blinders on and are free from set notions.

3-Based on the trial pack strategy often used by FMCG brands for products such as shampoos, I compressed the first chapter of my debut book into a small free booklet that I placed at bookstore cash counters. It was a cost effective idea that worked wonders. It worked simply because it was unique.

4-Bollywood portrays the essence of ‘real’ India therefore readily evokes emotions. Marketers should capitalize on this; it’s a sure shot winner.

5-The universe is not made of atoms, it is made up of stories. Do not try to understand these stories. Surrender to the universe and let the stories flow through you.

6-Great marketing means striking a balance between rationale, science and pure emotions.

7-After the launch of my first book I knew I had to steer people towards my book in order for them to experience it. So we played its trailers in movie cinemas to drive the traffic into bookstores. You may have a good story, but you need an audience to hear it.

8-Remain detached from failure and also success. Let neither affect you. This is the only way to produce the best output.

9-When I write a story I do not create the characters, according to me the characters already exist in a parallel universe and I’m simply reporting their lives. Consumers should also be approached in the same manner.

10-People will often not remember what you said or did but they will always remember how you made them feel, said Maya Angelou. This is exactly what every brand communication should be based on. Remember- every purchase decision is based on emotion.