Saravanan Natarajan, Chief Architect – Experiential Technology at GroupM Media (a WPP company). He has 15+ years of Marketing experience – Experiential, Digital, Direct, Advertising & PR – communicating both brands and products through a powerful combination of technology and story telling. Some of his past roles have included – Business Director – South -Quasar Media Pvt. Ltd., Business Director – SOLUTIONS DIGITAS, and Account Manager – George P Johnson. He holds a Bachelor of Commerce (B.Com.) from Bangalore University.

Saravanan aims to share many of his past projects, experiences and learnings that should help entrepreneurs gain insights into how to better their marketing efforts.

Saravanan Natarajan’s session – “Power Marketing Through Technology & Story Telling” shared several videos of inspiring projects. Here are the Lounge47 key takeaways:

1.Story telling is fundamental to human life. As a child one hears stories from parents and grand parents and learns early to tell stories – in one’s everyday lives, be it at work or in private

2. Story telling is an art. One needs to figure out how to tell stories in the most innovative way

3. Choreographing the story and combining it with technology comes next – be it IoT, wearable user interfaces, consumer 3D printing, holographic display etc.

4. However, the power lies in the story not the tech – don’t force feed technology, let it naturally combine with the story you want to tell

5. The story itself should be simple. It should move audiences

6. An understanding of technology is not necessary. In fact you might work better without this expertise as your focus will be on the story. Tech expertise can always be outsourced

7. An often asked question is whether virality can be engineered. No. One can only try. Use: a) simplicity b) perhaps humor c) ride a trend d) build uniqueness e) strike a human chord f) seed content appropriately to create buzz. Beyond this, there is an indefinable x factor

8. Enable fans to work for you. Leave audiences with an unforgettable experience that gets them talking to their networks or on social media, about your brand and product

9. “Back To The Future”, the movie, predicted many things like tablets, mobile phones, hands free gaming. 30 years ago! How did it do this? It looked beyond the horizon

10. To look beyond, one must stay in touch with trends through reading and observation Examples of trends: a) more connected TVs b) social and multi-screens increasing c) more tap to pay or check-in d) increasing use of artificial intelligence e) lives moving to the cloud f) organizations will know and exploit what we want before we do

11. A process for creativity: a) gather information b) always start with an insight c) connect or remix the idea d) validate the idea -how will it test out? e) execute

12. Some times stories could come out of blue -sky thinking or it could use existing things , however repackaged

13. Think big. Be unafraid to dream. Recognize that each one of us is born an artist capable of great creativity. Tap into your inner resource. In essence Story telling can be powerful in communicating your brand, product or Startup. Build this focus and capability within your team. Look for stories and tell them well.