Marketing and Sales – The Power of Narrative and Storytelling
“What’s the story—the real story—of your business?
I’ll tell you what it’s not:
It’s not the one on your “About Us” page on your company Web site. Not the generic, voiceless, lifeless biographies of your CEO/CIO/CTO/CFO/CMO.
It’s not the marketing blurbs and buzzwords your sales people use every single day.
It’s not the operations metrics, the TPS reports or financial statements.
Here’s a glimpse of what it is:
It’s what your employees tell their friends about how they came to work for your company, and why they’re still there….”
“I’ve been trying to cull ‘stuff’. For an information-aholic, that is a painful struggle. As part of the process, I’m glancing through some journals, hoping to get them out the door. Last week, I came across a journal article from 2006 (free here) – a broad study looking at how storytelling increases civic participation [by Yong Chan Kim & Sandra Ball-Rokeach].”
5 great quotes about storytelling
“Stories are our primary tools of learning and teaching, the repositories of our lore and legends. They bring order into our confusing world. Think about how many times a day you use stories to pass along data, insights, memories or common-sense advice.”
A perfect storm: the social web, storytellers and brands
“With this in mind, my presentation focused primarily on what brands and their agencies are learning about integration, interaction and new partnerships in the hypersocial environment we find ourselves in. I also attempted to explain why brands may be reticent about taking a step further into building deep, immersive, narrative worlds. Along the way, telling the story of a (failed) BBH Labs joint venture and what we took from it… and finally, ending with a proposal.”
“Maybe because storytelling is so old, there is a high degree of consensus about what makes a good story-whether it’s a story told to children to transmit cultural values, a story told in the board room to effect organizational change, or simply a story told to a friend at a bar to share ideas and ideals.”
Nice review of the Panraven service that I included in a post last week.
“Have you ever sat in an interview, and have been asked the opener – “tell us something about yourself’?” I have, and I can say straight away that I fumbled the first few times. Very few of us are good storytellers. Even an impromptu story of our own life.
Given a piece of time and a piece of paper, we can stitch together a clear enough story in words. But give us a scrapbook and we can add much more to it. Pictures make storytelling a whole lot easier (and also more interesting).”
Report From SXSW Interactive: “I See Dead Ad Jobs.”
This is really good.
“I was born in the year 1954 when stamps were three cents.
If you thought, “Wow, three cents??” you’re a digital immigrant like me. You’re a digital native if you thought, “What are stamps?”
Unfortunately, there is a third group: digital rejectors — you’ve met them. The eye-rollers; the shoulder-shruggers; the print and TV addicts who need to go to some sort of media rehab. For the purposes of today’s article, we’ll dub them digital douchebags, but no laughter please; we’re at their funeral and it isn’t polite.”
“Liberate, extend and build the story of your business!
Anyone can now get anything anywhere from anybody. And everyone gets lost in the crowd. Your story, your values, your inspiration — this is why customers choose you. This is why they remember you. This is why they tell others about you.”
New Possibilities for Historical Place-based Storytelling
“We organize information on maps in order to see our knowledge in a new way… To ask for a map is to say, “Tell me a story.” ~ Peter Tuchi, Maps of the Imagination: The Writer as Cartographer.
Today I learned that the historic maps posted on the Maps Etc web site can be transferred to Google maps as an overlay. This is great news for place-based storytellers.”
5 Storytelling Tips from the World’s Greatest Conman – Sgarbi’s Rules
“I came across this article in Details magazine about aptly titled, ‘The World’s Greatest Con Man Helg Sgarbi’. Not only is it a fascinating read but it tells us something about storytelling.”
Storytelling for Business — The Campfire Principle
“Did you ever go on a campout? Do you remember telling stories around the campfire? Could you tell one of those stories today? Believe it or not, most people can. That story that you heard once or twice as a child is a vivid memory that can be recalled and retold. That’s pretty powerful. So, how do you make that process useful for your business? How do you create a campfire for telling your company’s story?”
“Arranging is storytelling. Your arrangements must communicate a coherent idea. There can and should be diversity in the story along with high points and low points, but everything needs to fit together into a unified story. If you are not telling a story (a theologically rich story if you are playing in church), you are simply filling time while the offering is being taken (and that is a shame).”
so.salem via Flickr
Everyone Likes A Good Story — So Make Sure Your Investor Presentation Has One
“There are a few reasons why creating a narrative through your slides is important.
First, people (investors included) like stories – they’re more engaging than a string of seemingly unrelated facts. When done well, stories incorporate elements of suspense, insight and even a climax.”
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