A narrative campaign is a series of connected events or stories that form a larger narrative arc. It is a type of campaign or storyline that is often used in role-playing games, video games, and other forms of interactive fiction. In a narrative campaign, players make decisions that affect the direction of the story and the outcome of the game. The campaign may have multiple branching paths and different endings depending on the choices that are made by the players.
Narrative Strategies evolve from military Psychological Operations (PsyOps) Research.
PsyOps are used to influence the attitudes, emotions, and behaviors of enemy combatants, allies, and civilians in support of military objectives.
One of the key techniques used in PsyOps is the use of narrative framing, which involves using stories and messaging to shape the way that an audience perceives and understands a situation. By framing a narrative in a certain way, it is possible to influence the audience's attitudes and behaviors in a desired direction.
Narrative strategies have evolved over time, and they are now used in a variety of contexts outside of the military, including in business, politics, and social causes. While the basic principles of narrative strategy are similar to those used in military PsyOps, they are typically used in a more targeted and nuanced way in non-military contexts.
Anatomy of a Narrative
Narratives aren't just stories or mindsets.
A narrative may look like an iceberg, with the narrative expression as the outward visible layer of the iceberg. Its various layers are:
Expressions: This refers to the words, images, and other forms of communication that are used to convey the narrative.
Patterns and filters: This refers to the underlying patterns and filters that shape the way the narrative is perceived and understood. These patterns and filters can include cultural, social, and personal biases, as well as the way that the narrative is structured and presented.
Meta patterns and stories: This refers to the larger patterns and stories that the narrative is a part of. These can include cultural narratives, historical narratives, and personal narratives.
Psychology and memory: This refers to the way that the narrative is processed and remembered by the audience. This can include the emotional impact of the narrative and the way that it is stored and retrieved from memory.
Narrative Campaigns for ESG Communication
Narrative campaigns can be an effective way for companies to communicate their environmental, social, and governance (ESG) goals and initiatives to their stakeholders. So how can companies communicate their ESG goals?
Use storytelling to illustrate the impact of the company's ESG efforts: Share stories about how the company's ESG initiatives are making a positive difference in the world and the lives of individuals. This can help to create an emotional connection with stakeholders and increase their engagement with the company's ESG efforts.
Highlight the company's commitment to sustainability: Use the campaign to showcase the company's commitment to sustainability and the steps it is taking to reduce its environmental impact. This can help to build trust and credibility with stakeholders.
Engage with stakeholders: Invite stakeholders to participate in the campaign by sharing their own stories about the company's ESG efforts or by providing feedback and ideas for future initiatives. This can help to create a sense of community and foster a dialogue with stakeholders.
Use multiple channels: Utilize a variety of channels to reach different stakeholders, such as social media, email marketing, and events. This can help to ensure that the campaign is seen by a wide audience and increases the chances of reaching key stakeholders.
Case Study: "Narratives in Political Campaigns"
3rd Wave of Politics is all about PsyOps based Narratives and relies on mapping peoples' life-scars, lumping them into themes and building Narratives from it.
Did you know?
Counter-Narratives don’t work. In fact, they accelerate the very phenomenon that governments and policymakers are trying to undermine (Bélanger et. al, 2020). Creating new Narratives is a more effective strategy. Narrative is especially useful in revealing the speaker's concept of self, for it is the self that is located at the center of the narrative, whether as an active agent, passive experiencer, or tool of destiny. (Patterson and Monroe, 1998).
Step 1: Mission Plenary Brief
Goal Setting Bootcamp: 6 Hour long Meeting with the Candidate and Core Campaign Staff to draft Campaign Goals, team vision, and current capacities.
District Profiling: includes district’s physical geography, industries, housing patterns, demographics, community organizations, and other durable aspects of the political terrain.
Candidate Research: A candidate’s background, policy preferences, experience, committee posts, social memberships, political appoint ments, and general community reputation can all have an impact on the campaign. The same holds true for the opposition.
Step 2: Segmentation Analysis
Segment Analysis: Analysts divide groups into various categories (such as base, swing, persuadable, & hard opposition) based on the voting patterns of past three election cycles.
Step 3: Narratology Survey
Narratology Survey: Narratology techniques entail in-depth interviews with individuals and groups from each of the 6 segments identified across 30% of the randomly selected booths
Steps:
Research team identifies various voter groups and takes a sample out of the voter group.
Research team conducts Self-concept interviews.
The interviews are open-ended and start with questions leading respondents to describe their life stories.
Interviewers ask questions about trigger incidents/defining moments for the respondents in their life story.
Interviewers ask about respondents’ worldviews on key political phenomena (political events, policies, political outputs).
The goal of the interview is threefold:
Understand the worldview and structure of narratives people hold about themselves.
Understand the worldview and structure of narratives people hold about political outcomes and processes.
Understand the “scars” that people have had or defining moments of their lives. Scars are emotionally charged memories of both lived experiences and media.
Imprints, Aspirations & Scar Mapping (IAS Mapping): Research team identifies aspirations, defining moments, key dissatisfactions, or scars that people have faced in their lives. Next, the team clusters scars from various thematic areas. These psychological scar clusters are the building blocks or foundations upon which the candidate shall form his/her narrative.
Outputs:
1. Mind maps of narrative archetypes and scars
2. Scar clusters: common themes or scars that people may have.
Example: Memory of a parent or self in asking for a favor from a person of influence and being humiliated by them.
Example: Memory of a much-awaited success after a long struggle.
3. Aspiration clusters: common aspirations that people of various voter groups may hold. These aspirations are both material and psychological.
McClelland's Human Motivation Theory states that every person has one of three main driving motivators: the needs for achievement, affiliation, or power. These motivators are not inherent; we (a populace) develop them through our culture and life experiences.
Achievers like to solve problems and achieve goals. Those with a strong need for affiliation don't like to stand out or take risk, and they value relationships above anything else. Those with a strong power motivator like to control others and be in charge.
Step 4: Issue Mapping
Based on the Narratology Survey, the narrative strategy team ranks key electorate issues by their importance and the public perception of which issues can the candidate most successfully address. This gives us the priority issues the election message should focus on.
Step 5: Scarmapping and Storyboarding
Communications team creates storyboards for each issue message to a particular group by inserting relevant scars in each story/message identified in the Narratology Survey.
Target: Create 100 stories that connect various themes to candidate's personal life experiences.
Step 6: Campaign Messaging
For each of the identified priority issues, the narrative campaign team works with the candidate and the core team to develop messages which will be communicated to different voter segments consistently. Different messages go on different media. Both White (from the candidate) and Gray (seemingly from others) amplification plays a role.
Step 7: Narrative Seeding, Testing, & Echo Monitoring
Seeding and Echo-Monitoring: Through various methods the narratives are then seeded into the population. The source of seeding is never the candidate or a party affiliate but a neutral organization disconnected with the candidate. Messages that have good resonance i.e. the "messages that stick" are then picked up by the candidate.
Testing: Successfully seeded messages are then tested on a small group of audience by the candidate and audience responses are tested by the communications team.
Step 8: Message Seeding and Amplification
In a narrative campaign, message seeding refers to the practice of introducing a specific message or idea into a conversation or public discourse in order to gain traction and generate buzz. This can be done through various channels, such as social media, news outlets, or word of mouth. The goal of message seeding is to get other people to repeat the message, amplifying its reach and influence.
Amplification refers to the act of increasing the volume or reach of a message or idea. This can be done through various means, such as sharing the message on social media, writing about it in a blog or news outlet, or discussing it with others. Amplification can be particularly effective in a narrative campaign because it helps to spread the desired message or story to a wider audience and can help to shape public opinion or discourse on a particular issue.
The narratives which have had some echo/some form grip on the minds of the people is then amplified by the candidate and campaign through various initiatives and messaging. These could include:
Direct: Candidate speeches, posters, marketing collateral, social media, calls, messages, mass mails etc.
Semi-Direct: Messaging by those who are identified as sympathizers or supporters - WhatsApp group messages, advertisements by PACs, door-to door campaigns by workers.
Indirect: Messaging by those who are not clearly identified as sympathizers or supporters – the “general populace” or “non-partisan groups” or “goodfaith influencers”. Mediums could be Whatsapp groups, quora questions, reddit, influencer messages and campaigns.
Typical Roles in a Political Narrative Amplification Team for a District
Step 9: Engagement and Accellerants - the Direct Contact
Narrative Amplification Team works closely with the candidate to come up with and manage with various campaign teams in:
1. Organizing lectures and interactive sessions in various colleges or local festivals.
2. Coordinating Jan Sabhas with Field Coordinators
3. Organizing breakfast, lunch, and dinner meetings with key interest groups and campaign teams.
4. Writing daily speaking points for each event.
5. Organizing car/bike rallies with volunteers.
6. Organizing interviews and fireside chats.
7. Writing press briefs and articles.
8. Forum creation, i.e., to amplify candidate issues the team creates interest group forums around them and connect people around the same. The idea is that the forum should develop a life of its own. Some examples could be, Indian Women Health Worker's Network, Indian Women in Sciences, Youth for Urban Development Forum etc.
Step 10: Narrative Evaluation
There are 4 Layers of Narrative Evaluation:
Narrative outcome evaluation: looks at whether the message and stories are finding resonance in the target audience.
Narrative evaluation: looks at whether the message and stories communicate the right vision.
Channel evaluation: looks at which channels resonated best with what groups of audiences.
Capacity evaluation: looks at whether the capacity systems (teams, and other resources) are performed well as per narrative requirements.
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