Storytelling enables marketers to construct compelling narratives which can start new conversations and reshape perceptions of their products.

But in the social-media age, when consumers are airing their views about goods and services on platforms like Facebook and Twitter around the clock, this process frequently fails to make a tangible impact, as shown by the huge number of brand hashtags that vanish without a trace.

In response, Burger King has actively embraced "storymaking" – an idea premised on contributing to discussions which have organically gained traction on these properties, rather than trying to lead the audience in alternative directions.

"We talk a lot about storymaking at Burger King," Eric Hirschhorn, the quick-service restaurant (QSR) chain's chief marketing officer, told delegates at Advertising Age's Digital Conference 2015. "It's actually hard to drive participation. And I think the idea of creating a hashtag and getting people to enter a contest: those are large challenges, at least for us.

"And that's why we take the approach that it is really, really important to listen; and really important to start participating in conversations that already exist and helping amplify them; and facilitating creative conversations around things that matter.

"I think that's our greatest filter: what matters? What are people talking about? What do people care about within our world? And I think deviating from our world too much is a losing proposition."

Drilling down into this perspective, Hirschhorn highlighted the "two key principles" underpinning the Miami-based enterprise's "storymaking" model. And while the first guideline, he conceded, may seem a "bit nerdy", it has brought considerable clarity to the organisation's endeavours in the social space.

"We love this idea that the science of storymaking is subject to the same laws of inertia that any other physical object is subject to in the real world," he said. "It takes great energy to create forward momentum and great counter-energy to stop something that's already moving. And I think that's really true for conversations across social, and wherever it might be."

Going against the social flow can, of course, yield major dividends for marketers. A more common outcome, though, is that these efforts meet with widespread indifference or – worse still – public embarrassment as brands become the topic of popular ridicule and derision. In the fast-food sector, where attitudes are often critical, such concerns generally prove difficult to ignore.

"The risk profile of starting a new conversation is actually really high for us as a brand. So we actually find it to be much more efficient, and less risky as a brand, to insert ourselves into a conversation that already exists, where [it is] relevant to our audience and to our guests at our restaurants. So that's one of the key things that we think about," said Hirschhorn.

Elaborating on the topic, he cited Burger King's permanent reintroduction of Chicken Fries to its stores in early 2015. This offering was originally launched in 2005, axed in a 2012 menu overhaul, and then reappeared for a limited period in late 2014. And whenever the product was not on sale, it provoked anguish – especially among millennials and members of Generation Z.

Source: Warc, Stephen Whiteside