Content Criteria for Brands’ Visual Storytelling Narratives on Social Media Platforms “An Experimental Study with Graphic Design & Branding Students”

 
The research paper discusses the use and evaluation of visual brand storytelling on social media platforms, aiming to establish governing criteria for assessing the effectiveness and efficiency of such narratives. The study was conducted as a practical experiment in the Visual Narrative course for second-year students, fourth semester, majoring in Graphic Design and Brand Building at the College of Arts and Design, King Salman International University in Sharm El Sheikh.
The experiment focused on local brands in Sharm El Sheikh, aiming to engage students who had daily interactions with and emotional attachments to these brands. Students interacted with brand owners, collected necessary information, and commenced the design phase for the required visual narratives. These narratives varied, including photographic posters, collage posters, graphic posters, GIF pixel files, memes, and PowerPoint presentation designs.
Following the students' content production, a set of criteria emerged, including: content relevance or suitability, the ability to captivate and connect with the audience, educational value in conveying information, empathy generation, encouragement of repeated engagement, ethical standards, clear and readable messaging, persuasive content, and strong motivational aspects.
The research recommended the inclusion of a course in narrative storytelling for current brands in Advertising and Brand Building departments, as this aspect is often lacking in most academic institutions in Egypt. Additionally, it advocated for the adoption of Egyptian brands in course projects in response to Egypt's plan for sustainable development.