If you look deeper, Allstate has embraced the genre in other marketing communications. Print and direct mail pieces capture accidents at the moment of disaster, and finish with the response Allstate provides. Sadly, the website doesn’t continue the genre conventions, but Allstate is otherwise a great example of a brand that uses genre to guide the storytelling process.

What are the benefits of genre in branding?

First, genre sets audience expectations. When you consistently follow the conventions of the genre in your marketing communications, you seed the audience with the backbone of your story. Moviegoers expect certain things to happen based on the genre of the film they’re watching. If they go to watch a horror movie, they expect that somebody is going to die, probably early in the story and often in its plot. In a western, the audience generally expects an epic adventure against a harsh desert landscape with melodramatic examples of good and evil. The romantic comedy genre sets the expectation of two people falling in and out of love.

For the brand marketer, genre elevates your brand and improves recall and awareness. Consistent application of genre makes it easier for your customers to grasp the essence of your brand and sets their expectations about the values that make your brand unique.

Second, genre forces the marketer to make critical trade-offs that strengthen the brand positioning. If your brand uses the genre of “the daring enterprise”, as is often employed by IBM, the audience expects certain storytelling conventions. They expect to see a visionary leader attempting something that is deemed impossible. They expect to see setbacks that would crush lesser heroes. And they expect to see a creative solution to the setbacks. These are just a few of the conventions. Knowing the full set limits your options, and inspires the creativity that keeps the brand fresh. If you’re following the daring enterprise genre, you will probably rule out a marketing execution that dwells on romantic entanglement. It could be a story element, but it is an unlikely choice given that you have only seconds to convey your brand’s message and exude the brand narrative.

Finally, genres are among the best tools to develop your brand voice. The genre you select will affect the tonality of your communications. Film noir is dark, cynical and mysterious. Romantic comedy is light, witty and sometimes syrupy. Sports epics are often nostalgic, heroic and determined. Once you select a genre, and stick to it, your entire organization can rally around its aura. Because we’re all familiar with the many tried and true genres, we can all assess when the story is in or out of the genre’s voice. That is, perhaps, the greatest strength of genre-focused storytelling.