Move Mountains With Storytelling
Storytelling is a complete waste of time!
It’s all ‘fluffy bunny stuff'.
What your business needs is Finance, Sales, Marketing, HR, Operations, Legal, Logistics! Of course a business would not operate without these elements.
Proper grown up business solidity because what you can’t measure you can’t manage!
You may decide that you need to do a new advertising campaign, a sales promotion or a new corporate identity or how about you redesign your website or design a new sales brochure? That will do the trick.
Or will it?
Will it not just paper over the cracks?
Possibly.
We work with global brand owners, SMEs, academic and scientific institutions and marketing services organisations and individuals who realise the same old solutions get the same old answers.
We have 100 years’ experience within our team of working with some of the world’s greatest companies so we understand business.
Think of any great business and it has compelling stories permeating the organisation. Some good stories and some negative stories. But life is about the ups and downs.
Your staff, customers, investors and consumers need to be communicated with on a one-to-one level as people not names on a list or numbers.
You can’t mislead people now in the digital age. You need to be transparent.
Companies commission us because they want to tell a business story in a different way. A more authentic, journalistic way.
Storytelling is not just about words, pictures and numbers. It helps solve key challenges.
The kind of challenges we solve through storytelling in a business context are:
- How do I surface the issues and problems in my organisation in a non-confrontational way and find solutions to fix those issues?
- How do I ‘join the dots’ between different functions of the business?
- How do I inspire imagination?
- How do I attract investment and grow my business, brand/product or service?
- How do I align all our people behind a common narrative and purpose?
- How do I write a brief to inspire my agencies to deliver great creative work?
- How do I communicate with all our key stakeholders (staff, trade, investors, media, consumers) in more interesting ways on a fundamental human level?
- How do I change perceptions towards my company, brand, product or service?
We are complementary to your other creative agencies and consulting firms as The Story we help our clients create inspires creative and strategic execution.
Because our team are from Talent Management, HR, Broadcast Journalism, Sales and Marketing we understand that a Story needs to be commercial and bring your people with you. If you don’t bring your people with you it’s like redecorating the bedroom when the house is on fire!
We live in an amazing age but sometimes technology can get in the way of telling the story.
The computer screen can only inspire people so much.
The power of stories is simplicity, clarity, confidence, visible and invisible!
Storytelling is not about Alice In Wonderland or Oliver Twist as much as we gain inspiration from these great works.
It’s about using Storytelling as a tool to build and weave the narrative glue that makes companies, brands and people engage with your key audiences in a simple human way.
Clarity And Confidence
In essence we give Clarity and Confidence to our clients by focusing on the visible and invisible story.
We help them overcome their fear to tell the real story of a company or brand.
Because if you don't tell the real story of what is going on in your organisation you may have a very big bill to pay in 'damages' to consumers who you have misled. The media, the trade, your staff and consumers will love you more if you are honest about your story. So will the City.
Visible And Invisible
There is the visible and invisible articulation of the 'story' and how you may communicate a company, brand or product/service to all key stakeholders.
In other words the story to engage people.
Visible = Clarity
In building the story with you we uncover issues and problems and help you find solutions. We also often unearth opportunities that you may have missed. Maybe a fact about your company's past which you feel is irrelevant now but which is the very foundation stone of your business. How can we make it relevant to 2017? It's Story Archaeology. By digging a bit deeper we often find a gem of a fact that you can use today. Everyone loves provenance and where your business or brand has come from is what engages people.
We also help with the Invisible so that as a leader you have the confidence behind your 'message' to your team, key stakeholders and key customers/consumers.
Being a leader can be lonely! The key thing senior executives need to convey is do you care for your team? Storytelling shows you care because it is a way of really listening to your team and how they see the future. They feel part of the new Story because they have built it with you.
You know that your story has substance because we have helped you listen to your team and understand how they see the future.
Storytelling makes our clients fearless in an authentic way. In an age when company and brand transparency is more important than ever we help our clients tell their story.
Invisible = Confidence
At what moment in the process of solving a challenge do we bring most value?
At the beginning.
Once we help you diagnose the problem, we know what to do and we 'just' need to help you communicate to your fellow directors / peers /team/ stakeholders. This is a critical part though because we expect people to decide or act according to the story.
Storytelling moves people emotionally to act and deliver because they feel the company, brand, product or service in their hearts. It helps people connect.
So if you fail at connecting at this point, somehow, you totally fail, because nothing happens!
We know how to ensure that there is action from the story.
In our experience a great story beautifully built moves mountains and connects!
The greatest compliment our clients give us is that they don’t even want the rest of their organisation to know they have used us. We are their ‘secret weapon’! We are the invisible power behind their narrative.
If you have a 'People, Brand or Territory' challenge where we may be of help to you in 2017 do get in touch.
But...hold on a moment...before you skip to the next article on social media...
Let’s be honest when most people ask you for a challenge you probably don’t have the time to write it all down as a full written ‘brief’.
So, I would like to propose that if you have a concrete challenge simply write it in one or two sentences and reply to me and I will offer you 30 minutes consultancy on how we would approach your challenge from a ‘storytelling’ point of view.
We look forward to discussing how we can help you in 2017.
Founder & Chief Storyteller
Twitter: @thestoryco
'Storytelling In A Business Context'
Senior Consultant at Clarkslegal LLP, Experienced Commercial/Corporate Lawyer, Technician, Institute of Search and Technical Rescue
8 年Nice one, Paul, a refreshing and very interesting approach!