Simon Veksner: Will the next person to use the word ‘Storytelling’ please report for their slap

By Simon Veksner

Head of Ideas at

Naked Communications

What we do is increasingly being called ‘storytelling’ but actually I think that definition is completely wrong, and it’s really starting to annoy me.

Yes, ads do often have a narrative. This brilliant spot that came out last week, for Devondale Dairy Soft butter, uses many common narrative techniques – it has an ‘inciting incident’, comedic misunderstanding, and even a twist. Not bad for a film that’s only 30 seconds long and also sells a product. But it’s still not a story. READ ON….