Can fictional storytelling revolutionise Aussie Ag comms?
A couple of years ago I applied for a Nuffield Scholarship, tbf not getting it stung a bit - I wasn't right for it and it probably wasn't right for me at the time.
My topic was to learn from the best storytellers globally to revolutionise agriculture communications - in my view it will take a radical shift to reconnect with everyday consumers, and to showcase and promote our sector to people who may have never ever thought of considering a career in it.
Some of THE BEST globally are Disney and Pixar.
How do they create animated stories that have real life messages and impact?
and the same movie - speaks to different audiences (parents and kids) who walk away with starkly different takeaways?
Lets take the children's movie I watched recently, Inside Out 2, a masterclass in emotive storytelling... The series follows Riley, in the OG she was just a kid and the movie has the central characters that are real emotions (joy, anger, sadness etc..) but in the sequel, this time Riley hits adolescence and with that anxiety, envy and embarrassment join the party.
For kids watching, they see the bright and funny characters that entertain them and are introduced to a range of emotions that are normal, and even the uncomfy emotions have a role - eek!
Teenagers watch and the messiness of the fear of failing, the pressures of fitting in make them feel seen and heard.
For parents, it sparks nostalgic memories of being a kid & teenager, and the role they now have as mentors and support networks to still let the kids stumble and fumble.
Wait... but it's all made up and this is a kids movie?
That's the power and art of storytelling - it connects, informs and can shift and sway perspectives and even leave us feeling inspired to take action. And the same piece of content can hit different audiences with different takeaways - incredible!
Next week I'm chairing a chat at the National Farmers Federation conference on Storytelling and I hope we can move beyond the rhetoric of 'we need to share our story better'...
I think we have an incredible opportunity to share stories in different and better ways, for us - we are tying storytelling to Building the Next Gen of Talent for Aussie Ag and using it to empower, attract, and retain people.
Who knows, better storytelling could even open up a whole new revenue stream for Aussie Ag - if you're a numbers person, Inside Out 2 made over $1.7 billion USD at the box office... and it cost them $200m to make!
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