Public Relations & Social Marketing Insight

Many brands today are turning to storytelling in branding as a strategy to connect with consumers. These curated speeches demonstrate how this particular strategy benefits different brands and how it can be implemented in different industries. 

Yes, it's true, I've had story structure on the brain. I've also recently joined pinterest (of which I immediately became addicted). But there's a happy side effect of these two obsessions… this post!

 

Holy Cow! Here's a blog post with 10 different diagrams on story structure! I doubt you will ever need another story structure diagram after looking at these.

 

Some are similar. Some have their own unique twist. And then there's the 17 stages of Joseph Campbell's Monomyth to explore. Yikes -- that's a big one!

 

Of course, the simplest story structure is: problem -- resolution. Add to that a set-up/context in the beginning and a meaningful close at the end, and you are done.

 

Hah -- would that storytelling could be so simple! As every professional storyteller will tell you, a powerful story is all in the delivery. Still, if you don't follow the structures in these diagrams, you will simply end up with a plot-based description: "I went to the store. I bought some bread. I came home." No story there! I doubt you would pay money for that one.

 

Soooo -- check out these diagrams, use them to craft your stories, and you are half-way there. Then go work on your delivery :)

 

This review was written by Karen Dietz for her curated content on business storytelling at www.scoop.it/t/just-story-it ;

Winning entrepreneurs bond emotionally with employees, investors and customers--and dramatically increase their chances for funding and for long term success--when they hone their ability to tell meaningful stories about their businesses.

 

Here is an article discussing 2 examples of effective business storytelling for marketing/branding/identity purposes that really work. One is a small business (Baby Steals) and the other one is a large enterpriese (IKEA). You will notice the difference in their stories as the size of the business kicks in.

 

Pay close attention to what the founder of Baby Steals did/does -- because implicit in the example shared are story listening skills and how the stories she was hearing from customers/prospects also shaped the success of her company.

 

And then there are 10 tips for bringing storytelling into your business marketing/branding efforts. All are solid. A word of advice here -- working on several of these 10 tips takes time. The ideas you come up with during your first pass you will want to test with friends, colleagues, customers, and prospects. This is an iterative process where your focus and messaging gets sharper, clearer, and more powerful over time. So give yourself the opportunity to play. This goes no matter what size of business you have -- micro to large enteprise.

 

We are heading into the 4th quarter of the year -- what a great time to hone in on your business storytelling, laying a stronger foundation for your company in 2013.

 

This review was written by Karen Dietz for her collection of articles on business storytelling at www.scoop.it/t/just-story-it ;

Right answers to wrong questions virtually guarantee failure. Innovators betting on "out of the box" thinking or "faster, better, cheaper" innovation paradigms for success all too frequently find themselves — and their customers — disappointed.

 

Hey folks -- this is a pivotal article about biz storytelling. Why??

 

Because it addresses the most neglected aspect of effective business storytelling -- the story about the future that you and your customers/clients are creating together.

 

What I love about this article is its twist -- the level of biz storytelling these days is mostly focused on how to authentically share stories about your products/services, people, or founding to capture the hearts and minds of propsects and build loyal customers. That is OK as far as it goes.

 

But there could be more. Way more.

 

Instead of asking, "What do our customers want [and how do I share a story about that]?" how about asking, "What do our customers want to become [and what is the story I can share about that]?" What a fundamentally different -- and better -- question!

 

Org story advice for crafting 'Future Stories' is typically "Write a newspaper article about your company 5 years from now & the awards you are receivng" or some such version of that. Not bad. But there could be more -- way more.

 

When we start asking ourselves the questions posed in this article, whole new worlds start opening up. 'Future stories' are really about the future we are creating together with our customers/clients -- it is the call to be part of something bigger than ourselves.

 

Go read this article -- quickly! You will be glad you did because it will get you to fundamentally shift how you think about and share about your business, and the stories you tell about it.

 

And if you need a really great example of a company doing this, then check out this latest Nike video. 

http://www.cbssports.com/olympics/blog/eye-on-olympics/19654085/video-nikes-new-olympics-ad-greatness-is-for-all-of-us ;

 

And if you want to review a written form of this, then check out my Manifesto on my website. The Manifesto is still a work in progress, but you will get the idea. http://www.juststoryit.com/FutureStory ;

 

Enjoy this short article -- its insights, questions, and a different kind of conversation we can have about business storytelling.

 

This review was written by Karen Dietz for her curated content on business storytelling at www.scoop.it/t/just-story-it ;

As content takes its rightful place at the forefront of marketing, I'm seeing many marketers fail at basic storytelling.

 

Marketers are ineffective when they use the classic "customer testimonial" format and pop that onto their blog or make it into a video. "Here’s our product. It is great. Here are customers who say it is great. Now buy some of our product." This just doesn't hold people's attention.

 

How interesting would a book or movie be were it to have this plot?:
Boy meets girl.
They fall in love.
They get married.

 

That's what most people do with their business writing.

 

Effective storytelling

The best stories drip with conflict. They have a hero and sometimes a villain. There is a story arc. As a writing teacher once told me: "Writing without conflict is propaganda."

"As the buzz about content marketing, social media and all things digital continues to rise, one of the catch phrases that gets a lot of attention is storytelling in marketing. We afford it incredible lip service but do we actually practice it?"

Hmmmm -- good question. Here the author, Drew McLellan asks if in previous decades business was better at storytelling in its marketing and advertising.

 

Makes you think. Drew includes 3 videos to make his point. The first is a 1980s video from Dunkin Donuts as an example of effective storytelling. Well -- it is definitely not storytelling but instead an add that is all features and benefits.

 

The other two advertising videos however, are great examples from the past of really good stories.

 

I don't know if our biz storytelling is not as good these days as in previous decades. But I do like the questions Drew poses at the end of the post to help us decide.

 

What do you think? Is our biz storytelling better or worse than before?

 

This review was written by Karen Dietz for her curated content on business storytelling at www.scoop.it/t/just-story-it ;

[Valuable read for content, PR pros ~ Jeff]

"While not all agree, let's suppose, for a moment, that we are, in fact, presenting through our contemporary storytelling a relatively narrow range of the American experience. Some of the questions we ought to be asking are, is it enough to maintain the same formats, as we have, and try to entice more/different storytellers? Do we need to expand our awareness in some way to consider more broadly the particulars of this time, this particular space, and who is involved? And, fundamentally, what is it going to take to go further, to do more?"

 

Now here is a very thought-provoking piece about storytelling in general. I've curated it because the more businesses understand the craft of storytelling, the more effective we can be.

 

Warning -- there is such rich material here -- along with fabulous video examples to watch -- that you will need to carve out some time to explore everything here.

 

And hey -- we all live in a culture surrounded by media. It is important to keep up with shifts and changes in technology and its impact on storytelling so we can understand our daily life better -- and the opportunities open to us.  

 

What is the biggest shift technolgy brings? Ethnographic storytelling. What the heck is that? It is when you put the camera and the storytelling into the hands of people to create and tell their story. Nothing new here -- this was pioneered by Anthropologists Sol Worth & John Adair in the 1972 book Through Navajo Eyes.  The article contains several examples.

 

What is new is that now technology makes the ability to share our stories very easy and cheap to do -- through a proliferation of channels to share them. THAT is what is getting reinvented -- not the structure of a good story.

 

And technology is bringing us unique and very creative ways to craft our stories. For example, there's a link within this article to "How the Indie Audio Community Is Transforming Storytelling," This article shares a story where audio is dominant. It is great.

 

Other examples in the article include Localore -- a project about place-based storytelling.

 

What do I like about this article and the links to other articles within this piece? It asks essential questions like:

Who gets to tell the story? Who gets to ask the question that begins the story? What is the question?

 

When businesses and organizations start asking themselves these questions FIRST when wanting to tell a digital story, they focus on the story first. Too many people in my experience -- when wanting to tell a digital story -- get caught up in the technology first and end up spending tons of money with unhappy results. Or they think the story will emerge if they just start talking - to be edited down by the videographer into a story -- with the same unhappy results.

 

So read this article, its links to other articles, explore the digital story examples given, and start figuring out the following:

How can I have my customers share their stories about my organization using ethnographic storytelling? How can I leverage audio storytelling (see the article for info/examples) beyond radio & podcasts? How can I leverage location & physical space to share biz stories? How can I creatively use technology to share biz stories that reflect my/our Unique Voice & Unique Proposition?

 

I could comment at length on this article and its links. It has taken me awhile to curate this piece because I kept going back and dipping in for more.

 

So give yourself time to enjoy this creative romp exploring cutting edge electronic storytelling and all the deep insights here!

 

This review was written by Karen Dietz for her curated content on business storytelling at www.scoop.it/t/just-story-it ;

[Karen's right. This is a rich vein of thinking about storytelling. ~ Jeff]

Most writers neglect the power of a story to captivate their audience immediately ...

 

This is a quick article with several key messages. But the one that strikes me is that when crafting a story, the most interesting beginning that gets reader's hooked, is often found in the middle of the story.

So true! And I love the example he uses to demonstrate this tip.

 

Beginnings and endings of stories are always hard for those new to storytelling. Even veteran storytellers could benefit from the author's tip here.

 

Think about your stories -- do they need an upgrade by exploring their middles and finding a more compelling opening?

 

This review was written by Karen Dietz for her curated content on business storytelling at www.scoop.it/t/just-story-it ;

[An inspiring example of storytelling by Sean D'Souza]

So we have all heard time and time again, "to attract links you need to build great content". But very few actually talk about what good content looks like. That's because good content can come in many different forms.

 

Here's an article by Joe Hall that very clearly explains why content on a website gets ignored. And they are all story principles!

 

Keep this list handy and make sure when you are creating content -- any kind of content whether it be a blog post or a brochure -- that you include a well written title, has a unique voice, contrast, a focused key message, etc.

 

Read the article for more!

 

This review was written by Karen Dietz for her curated content on business storytelling at www.scoop.it/t/just-story-it ;