Thanks to Nico Brooks for pointing me to –  in his comments to my blog post Field Notes: Are Digital Agencies Bearing the Torch or Jumping the Shark? - the NPR story on the  Significant Objects project.

The Significant Objects project was an experiment to create compelling stories about unique yet low-value items in an effort to increase their worth, the quantification of which would be measured in an eBay auction. Result: the “junk” objects acquired significant incremental value as a result of storytelling. 

Telling stories about regular objects to make folks want them.  An interesting social experiment to be sure – but also a compelling proof point of the power of storytelling in marketing.

In one example, the Hussar doll below sold on eBay for $193 to the highest bidder, to whom the diminutive and hirsute figurine signified an historical act of heroism in the story provided.

The auction for this Significant Object, with story by Doug Dorst, has ended. Original price: $3. Final price: $193.50.

eBay was a great – probably the best – medium in which to test the Significant Objects theory.  But no one would say that eBay sold the doll – the story sold the doll for almost two hundred bucks. 

If we accept the belief that creative storytelling sells products, how can we rationalize the time and energy spent by digital marketers on the last click that preceded a purchase (here, perhaps the eBay listing or the product listing on a search engine).  In a world where 35% (and growing) of media is consumed online, the internet is no longer a just that place to check email or conduct a search.  It’s where we go for a variety of complex needs that had been served by radio, network TV, cable, video store, magazines, newspapers, the phone, the coffee shop. While we as an industry could be embracing our newfound opportunity to leverage digital assets to tell stories on the web, our industry still seems stuck in treating the internet like a  vast field one click wonders.

 As a consumer and as a marketer, I am invested in seeing this change.

Things will only change when those of us who want it to become leaders in our own marketing departments, within our agencies, and with our clients, vendors, peers, employees, and managers to advocate for this change.  It’s not easy – many leaders in online today (including me)  became successful by touting the accountability of the medium ten years ago – usually by using “ last click before purchase” as the signifier of marketing success. It’s hard to turn away from what has worked well (ask the print guys), especially when we don’t yet have a complete set of analytical tools or the industry acceptance to help overcome the challenge.

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