Visual storytelling – the fast lane into the minds of your target group

Your messages constantly compete with a host of other information, bombarding your target group daily. As a result, the following rule applies:
The more complicated your content, the more likely it is to end up in the slow lane of the information highway. Complex investigational compounds in particular, or emerging pipeline products with completely new mechanisms of action, need to be explained as simply as possible. And even tried and tested products have to assert themselves in these times of information overload. So, how do you move your key messages into the fast lane?

The answer: Visual Storytelling. Visual Storytelling allows content to be conveyed in an easy-to-understand manner. Combining fascinating visuals with readily comprehensible explanatory stories and rational science with an emotional approach while focusing strictly on the informational needs of the target group – these are the principles that lie at the heart of Visual Storytelling.

In order to get your key messages across and to win the RACE into the minds of your target group, just ask yourself the following questions:

  1. Is your information Relevant for the members of your target group? Do they benefit from it? If the answer is no, then you need to identify what is really relevant and link your message to that. As early as during the development of a first concept, think about how you can bring it in line with the informational needs of your target group – and create real added value for them.
  2. Is your information sufficiently Attractive? Will it appeal to your target group? Is it packaged in an esthetically pleasing and interesting way? Is it entertaining? Does it have a wow-factor.
  3. Is your information Comprehensible? Will it retain your audience’s attention? Is it conveyed as succinctly as possible? Does it strike a balance between making too many demands on the recipients and making too few? Are you successfully guiding your target group along your train of thought, possibly by providing a strategically placed “Eureka” moment? A well-told story can further your target group’s comprehension immeasurably.
  4. Will your information be Enduring? Short-term effects would be worthless, your efforts at communication are aimed at causing long-lasting changes in behavior and/or attitude. Does your information have the potential to stay in the minds of your target group? Messages communicated in an extraordinary, novel way are retained for longer and will be recognized more easily when encountered again at a later point.

Below, some concrete examples:

Gadolinium-based contrast agents

Visuals führen zu einem blitzschnellen AHA-Effekt, selbst in kniffligen Erklärsituationen wie dieser Komplexverbindung.

“Visuals trigger a lightning-fast “Eureka” moment, even when something is tricky to explain, such as this complex compound.”

 

Hemophilia

Source: Lin (2005): Disruption of the coagulation cascade by warfarin.

Source: Lin (2005): Disruption of the coagulation cascade by warfarin. 

“Not every diagram provides clarity. Experiencing the complexity of nature as it unfolds step-by-step in a fascinating animation does.”

 

Accordingly, if your message is to take hold, you need more than just good content or a well-made video. You need a story. A story worth reading, worth listening to and worth watching. A story that touches and inspires your audience, and therefore deserves to be retold and shared. In the end, that is what the art of art of Visual Storytelling is all about.

Relevant, Attractive, Comprehensible and Enduring: These four powerful features of Visual Storytelling enable you to win the RACE into the minds of your target group.

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