‘Emotion can be most basic, strongest element in storytelling’

ANTALYA, Turkiye

An emotion can be the strongest element in storytelling, a Turkish Airlines official said on Tuesday.

“An emotion can be the most basic and strongest element in establishing a connection,” Rafet Fatih Ozgur, head of the corporate communications, said at the Stratcom Youth: International Young Communicators Forum.

At the forum held in Turkiye’s resort city of Antalya, Ozgur explained to young communicators about various elements of storytelling.

He gave an example of Turkish Airlines’ advertisement showing a Turkish national women's basketball team receiving messages from their fathers on the court.

As part of a storytelling workshop, he said people desire to be a part of an experience. During the pandemic, people felt lonely and stayed away from each other, he said.

To boost public morale during the lockdown period, Turkish Airlines organized an epic historical flight to the Samsun province, a key site in the Turkish War of Independence.

The flight included almost 10 million virtual passengers, including celebrities, politicians, universities, sports clubs, influencers, and ordinary people.

Ozgur said that storytelling is sometimes a “true journey.”

Turkish Airlines also advertised Turkiye’s first visually impaired mountaineer and national athlete Necdet Turhan. The commercial film Peak was shot in extraordinary conditions, bringing together the story of climbing to the peak.

He went on to say that storytelling can give hope to people and can be told in a different language.

"Stories are for sharing," he said, adding that successful stories could be achieved in cooperation with a team working together, and focusing on the same goal.

He also talked about how to increase brand value and highlighted Turkish Airlines’ global awards.

Beginning on Friday, the six-day event in the southern province of Antalya was jointly organized by Turkiye's Communications Directorate and Youth and Sports Ministry.

The forum, which is hosting 100 young communicators from 13 countries and 42 universities, is one of the side events of the Stratcom Summit 2021 held in December, which brought together experts and leaders from across the world.