The Hero’s Journey; or, Waiting To Be Saved
“But the reason stories like these are so prevalent is because they are universal ways to teach us about life. So when the Hero’s Journey tells us about the call, the refusal, and the eventual acceptance of the quest, it’s telling us that it’s how we, as people, should behave.
We can refuse the call several times. That’s natural, even heroes do it. But we still have a quest to perform, and we know it, and eventually we will need to take responsibility.”
Death of the page view? How about the rise of the sponsorship
“We’re under pressure to create better experiences. Page views are great, volume is great, but we need to be able to tell a better story from an advertiser’s perspective.”
Just as MSNBC.com is aggregating related editorial content – text, video, slide shows and interactive tools – into a single page experience, the sales team is pitching the ability to aggregate all of an advertiser’s campaign elements onto that story page.
“We’re offering the ability for advertisers to tell their story in a richer way,” said Kim.
Digtal Storytelling on an iPad using StoryKit
Nice tutorial on how to use the StoryKit app to create a digital story.
How the Old Spice Videos Are Being Made
The story behind the stories. As Lou Hoffman said to me in a tweet yesterday, they hit the storytelling trifecta.
“Iain Tait, Global Interactive Creative Director at Wieden, is leading the effort. “In a way there’s nothing magical that we’ve done here,” he explained by phone this afternoon. “We just brought a character to life using the social channels we all [social media geeks] use every day. But we’ve also taken a loved character and created new episodic content in real time.”
Why has the world gotten interested in storytelling?
“Storytelling works. The simple reason why storytelling is becoming a major factor in management and organizations is that it works. Purposeful storytelling can get results in the modern organization that traditional abstract modes of communications can’t.
An old technology with a modern use.”
The Art of News and Storytelling in the Age of Social and Digital Media
The PDF is now available from the national media panel they did in April. No charge.
Five things you need to know about storytelling and PR
Sharp group, this Hoffman Agency. 
“Amid the changing media landscape and clutter, Mayda Jutahkiti, deputy general manager, The Hoffman Agency Singapore, tells us how storytelling would still prevail and how brands should continue to do so.”
Well crafted, thoughtful piece.
“Via blogs, or, more likely, Twitter, you might have come across the breezy term “tl;dr.” Which is short — appropriately — for “too long; didn’t read.”
“Yes. You know the conventional wisdom: long-form journalism doesn’t do well on the web. Our attention spans are too short and sentences are too long and and we’re too easily distrac — oooh, Macy’s is having a sale! — and, anyway, complex narratives are inefficient for a culture that wants its information short, sweet, and yesterday. Long, carefully wrought articles are tasty, sure; online, though, the news we consume is best served up quick-n-easy.”
“The Art of Storytelling is all around us and can be seen everywhere you look. From the clothes we wear to the music we listen to. Everything, and everyone, has their own unique story. These compelling, engaging experiences that give us insight into who we are as an individual, a community, a company, a product, and a culture. Infused with a style and language all our own we are all the leading character in our own stories!”
Great storytelling tip from James Blish
You can apply this advice to just about any storytelling you need to do.
“Think of some future innovation, find the person most hurt by it. That person is the center of your story.”
“So the Old Spice cam paign was funny, sur pris ing, and perfectly-calibrated. These would be rea sons enough to like it. But I’m not going to let you stop there. Here’s how I think the cam paign estab lishes an impor tant new precedent—not for online adver tis ing, but for online sto ry telling across the board.
Here’s where I think it could take us.”
“Are you inspiring others to action with your captivating stories that delight your audience?
Or you guilty of just providing a leadership yawn-fest?”
Killer infographic. Way to involved to do a thumbnail for you but if you deal with personas at all it’s well worth a look.
Narrative Marketing: Brand Strategy as Storytelling
“Agent Provocateur has made a name for itself in redefining the world of intimate brands with its branding approach in providing edgy, yet luxurious design with a boutique feel. The brand’s prominent use of storytelling techniques in its marketing campaigns has helped to establish and augment this feeling of desiring the undesireable, i.e. sumptuousness with an edge of danger. Their successful campaigns featuring Kylie Minogue and their UK cinema commercials, including the iconic “Love Me Tender” Valentine’s Day campaign that was a YouTube sensation, prove the success of this type of narrative marketing.”
Are You Using Storytelling to Promote Your Personal History Service?
“It’s the right side of our brain that harbors our creativity and emotions. It’s where storytelling has its impact. People are drawn to telling their personal histories by such deep seated desires as leaving a legacy, capturing fond memories, or finding meaning in their lives. They’ll ultimately make a decision to engage your services based on emotional not quantitative information. If you’re not making “storytelling” a part of your presentation, you’re losing clients.”
Story Telling Advice: How You Can Tell Better Stories To Gain Attention
Lou Hoffman tweeted about this earlier today. An oldie but goodie. (The post that is. Not Lou.)
“Ira Glass is well known as a master story teller. Here he talks about the basic building blocks of a good story. His advice fits no matter what kind of story you need–elevator pitch for your personal situations to a sales story that will help you sell more.”
Digital storytelling: A tutorial in 10 easy steps
“With millions of videos floating around on the Web, I’d like to make the case today for a genre that has received far too little attention: digital storytelling.
Digital storytelling is a craft that uses the tools of digital technology to tell stories about our lives. Done properly, storytelling can be a powerful, evocative way of communicating themes and stories, often touching us in deeper ways than one-dimensional videos that rarely probe beneath the surface of people’s lives. Nonprofits, especially, can use this technique to convey powerful, emotion-filled messages — by letting the people you’re helping tell their own stories.”
