Ryan Reynolds‘ storytelling abilities aren’t just a quirky element of his public persona — they’re the bedrock foundation of his success across multiple industries, he says.
Reynolds, a longtime TV and movie actor, learned that his storytelling chops could benefit him in a business capacity while starring in, co-producing and promoting the 2016 movie “Deadpool,” he said at the Fast Company Innovation Festival 2024 on Tuesday. The movie’s budget didn’t leave much room for marketing, so Reynolds shouldered some of the load himself, filming and posting comedic advertisements on social media.
Multiple of Reynolds’ posts went viral, and “Deadpool” grossed $782.6 million in box office sales against a $58 million budget, according to IMDB-owned Box Office Mojo.
The experience prompted Reynolds to invest in multiple companies — Aviation Gin in 2018 and Mint Mobile in 2019, for starters — and launch marketing and production firm Maximum Effort to help promote them, he said. If you’re searching for a connective thread between a gin brand and a mobile network operator, you’re not alone.
“I have a devotion and love for storytelling in weird places,” said Reynolds.
The ensuing marketing campaigns, marked by Reynolds’ particular brand of humor and timeliness, helped Aviation get acquired for an initial payment of $335 million, and up to $275 million more in potential future payments, by beverage giant Diageo in 2020. Reynolds retained an ownership stake in the deal, according to the announcement, and Maximum Effort went on to sign big-name clients like Match.com and Kraft Heinz.
Mint Mobile’s parent company, Ka’ena Corporation, was similarly purchased for up to $1.35 billion by T-Mobile last year. “Reynolds will continue in his creative role on behalf of Mint,” T-Mobile said at the time.
A crucial workplace skill
Good storytelling is a crucial workplace skill in nearly every job or industry, Stanford University lecturer and communication expert Matt Abrahams tells CNBC Make It.
If you can craft a compelling narrative for your specific audience — whether that’s your boss, your interns or a room full of executives — you’ll get people to listen to you, understand your perspective and even change their minds, says Abrahams.
To use your storytelling powers to gain influence, you need to do four things, he says:
- Hook your audience with an introduction that breaks a pattern in the first couple of seconds. Think of it like the opening scene of an action movie: You can use an alarming statistic, or enter the story with an emotional scene.
- Mention why it’s relevant and salient to the audience. This will convince the other person why they need to listen, and establish some narrative tension that’ll pique their interest.
- Establish expectations like a tour guide. Once you have their attention, introduce yourself and set expectations of what they’ll gain from the rest of the conversation. This is a good time to introduce some humor or relatability.
- As you tell the rest of the story, maintain your audience’s attention with physical, linguistic or mental reminders of why they care. Be as concise as possible, always tying each sentence back to the main point.”
“The biggest mistake people make in their communication is they don’t focus on the needs of the audience,” says Abrahams. “Attention is the most precious commodity we have in the world today. If I’m not tailoring my message to you, you’re not going to pay attention to it.”
Reynolds agrees: Maximum Effort focuses less on creating perfect ads and more on grabbing an audience’s attention as quickly as possible, he said. Being relatable and relevant to the viewer is more important than just about anything else, he added.
“The idea is that if you can move at the speed, or as close to the speed of culture and the cultural conversation, then your brand is much more likely to create emotional investment in a consumer,” said Reynolds. “I’m so, not at all, an entrepreneur … but I’m very interested in, and pretty good, at emotional investment.”
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