Weekly Alert: Delete the Obligatory Scene

CMWorld post-show video available! [] 54648/ct0_0/1?sid=TV2%3AcLkO3dkRn [] [Forward to a Friend](54648/ct1_0/1?sid=TV2%3AcLkO3dkRn) Weekly News 9.6.19 Connect with CMI 54648/ct2_0/1?sid=TV2%3AcLkO3dkRn 54648/ct3_0/1?sid=TV2%3AcLkO3dkRn 54648/ct4_0/1?sid=TV2%3AcLkO3dkRn 54648/ct5_0/1?sid=TV2%3AcLkO3dkRn [] Latest Winners of Content Marketing Awards Up the Game [] 54648/ct6_0/1?sid=TV2%3AcLkO3dkRn See the innovative, strategic, and creative content coming from our industry. Check out the newly announced winners of the 2019 Content Marketing Awards. Plus, go behind the scenes and see the results for the Project of the Year finalists. [Read more](54648/ct6_1/1?sid=TV2%3AcLkO3dkRn)by Stephanie Stahl [Content Creation] Some more of this week's best stuff: - [Get a Refresh on the What, Why, Where, and How of Content Marketing](54648/ct7_0/1?sid=TV2%3AcLkO3dkRn) by Jodi Harris [High-Level Strategy] - [How to Develop a Content Strategy: Start With These 3 Questions](54648/ct8_0/1?sid=TV2%3AcLkO3dkRn) by Jodi Harris [High-Level Strategy] - [Got a Plan? Content Marketing Success Demands It](54648/ct9_0/1?sid=TV2%3AcLkO3dkRn) by Jodi Harris [Editorial Process and Teams] - [The Weekly Wrap: Don’t Fear the Unsatisfying Ending](54648/ct10_0/1?sid=TV2%3AcLkO3dkRn) by Robert Rose [Trends and Research] - [Email Marketing: Too Much of a Good Thing?](54648/ct11_0/1?sid=TV2%3AcLkO3dkRn) by Amanda Subler [Chief Content Officer Exclusive] [] [] A Note From Robert Rose Delete the Obligatory Scene How does your story end? In storytelling, there is a concept called the “obligatory scene” – or scène à faire in French – that audiences expect as they experience a story. The most notable is the climactic scene that brings a story to a satisfying ending. When you watch a legal drama, you know there will be a scene in the courtroom where everything is on the line. In an action movie, you expect a scene where the villain has our hero under their thumb, requiring some amazing power or clever move to escape. One of the most uncomfortable things you can do to an audience is to end a story without the obligatory scene. I don’t mean a cliffhanger – where the story is generally concluded, but you introduce something that will leave the audience hanging until the sequel or next episode. I mean you simply end the story without a satisfying conclusion because there isn’t one – or you’ve decided the ending should be inconclusive. Think of the end of The Sopranos. Without spoiling it, let’s just say that the series finale left a large percentage of the audience frustrated. The people who loved it felt (as they might say) “there could be no other ending.” Stories with unsatisfying endings work best when they’re designed to be told that way. Think of the movie The Graduate. Ben and Elaine get on the bus heading away from the church, and their facial expressions betray the love and confidence they felt when escaping the people at Elaine’s wedding. They sit there, eyes forward, and the smiles disappear as the seriousness of their new couplehood sinks in. This odd moment right before the credits roll seems to reopen the whole story. But it works, because it feels right given everything else in the story. Instead of feeling cheated or angry the audience feels ready to discuss Ben and Elaine. Will they last? Will they end up estranged like their families? Are they just nervous? It’s a great story because it was designed for an open ending. In business and marketing, we fear open endings to our stories. We are taught to leave no questions unanswered, to address every objection, and to tidily wrap things up. But as brands increasingly integrate things like social causes and greater purpose into their storytelling, easy obligatory scenes evaporate. Many of the issues that your brand might choose to tackle lack easy, satisfying answers. Pepsi [learned this the hard way](54648/ct12_0/1?sid=TV2%3AcLkO3dkRn) two years ago. It tried to tackle the serious issue of the Black Lives Matter movement, creating an ad that ended with Kendall Jenner handing a police officer a can of Pepsi. Someone felt so strongly that they needed to tie things up with an obligatory scene, they forgot that this an ongoing and contentious story that can’t be solved with a simple (commercial) gesture. As storytellers, we have plenty of opportunities to tell meaningful, satisfying stories. If and when our brand decides to adopt a purpose-driven or social change-driven strategy, think about how to structure these new stories. You may need to design for open-ended and even unsatisfying endings. Done well, these endings make stories stronger, in part because they create the opportunity for the audience to discuss or imagine what the ending should be – and that’s what we ultimately want. One of my storytelling teachers once told me that every story begins at another’s end. I love this thought for stories that have no end in sight. We don’t have to neatly wrap up every story we tell. We just have to find a place to stop for now. Because then we can begin again. It’s your story. Tell it well. Robert Rose Chief Strategy Advisor Content Marketing Institute This article from Robert is available only in this newsletter for you, the newsletter subscriber. If you have friends that would see value in Robert's weekly updates, please have them [subscribe](54648/ct13_0/1?sid=TV2%3AcLkO3dkRn). 54648/ct14_0/1?sid=TV2%3AcLkO3dkRnTune in to the Weekly Wrap This week, Robert explains why you don’t have to neatly wrap up every story you tell. Plus, he offers his take on [Adweek commentary](54648/ct15_0/1?sid=TV2%3AcLkO3dkRn) about how to shake up traditional approaches to marketing; interviews an author about how to market to millennials and Gen-Z; and points to an article that offers [purpose-driven marketing lessons](54648/ct16_0/1?sid=TV2%3AcLkO3dkRn) from innovative brands. Get all this inspiration [right here](54648/ct14_1/1?sid=TV2%3AcLkO3dkRn) or subscribe below: [Subscribe on Apple Podcasts](54648/ct17_0/1?sid=TV2%3AcLkO3dkRn) or [Subscribe on Stitcher](54648/ct18_0/1?sid=TV2%3AcLkO3dkRn) [] [] A Word From One of Our Content VIPs Your B2B targeting sucks. That's why it's so hard to prove ROI, scale demand generation, and reach the right people. Nobody has been able to make it better for ages, but our Artificial Intelligence has finally cracked the egg. Click here to learn how to reach ONLY prospects that look like your best customers. All hail lookalike marketing for B2B! [Download now](54648/ct19_0/1?sid=TV2%3AcLkO3dkRn) 54648/ct19_1/1?sid=TV2%3AcLkO3dkRn [] [] More From CMI 54648/ct20_0/1?sid=TV2%3AcLkO3dkRn Did you miss Content Marketing World 2019? Were there concurrent sessions you wanted to see? Are you trying to explain a session to a colleague but just aren't doing it justice? Consider our CMWorld 2019 post-show video package. [Available next week, you'll receive breakout session video and slides.](54648/ct20_1/1?sid=TV2%3AcLkO3dkRn) [] CMI Video 54648/ct21_0/1?sid=TV2%3AcLkO3dkRn Optimizing online content for search is nothing new, but most sites are ill-equipped to rank in one of Google's newest search engine results page feature- the answer the box. In this clip from Content Marketing World 2018, Courtney Cox, Manager, Digital Marketing, Children's Health, shares tips on optimizing your content to rank in Google's answer boxes. 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