How Siemens uses storytelling to engage customers


Another real world example of business storytelling at work, this time in the B2B space with Siemens, one of the world's largest tech companies.

There's work involved in telling stories, and not all clients want to do the work or pay for the content. But those who do gain a competitive edge.

How Siemens uses storytelling to emotionally engage clients and staff






(Click on the above title to read the entire article):

BY  ON 
What does storytelling mean to you?
I think story-telling is an area of expertise that some people have and that isn’t necessarily part of corporate comms, corporate affairs, media relations or anything else. It’s an area of focus for a lot of companies now, they realise that storytelling is one of the most powerful forms of communication, and that comes at a couple of different levels.

I think that good communicators, the great communicators, all really do it naturally. These days though, there is some science coming into it so that all communicators and all companies can start to consider how they use it.  I think that’s the difference.

Think of someone like [Richard] Branson, he uses it all the time.  Every time I've seen him interviewed, he basically tells a story...   

Kurt Vonnegut on storytelling


Mr. V. sure knew how to spin a story

The following eight points are Vonnegut's clear-eyed advice to writers of short stories, and while it some of it -- like being a sadist -- doesn't exactly apply to business stories (LOL), much of it does.

Get to the point, he says, create a rooting interest (a hero), and write as if you're writing to only one person. Truer words have never been spoken.

  1. Use the time of a total stranger in such a way that he or she will not feel the time was wasted.
  2. Give the reader at least one character he or she can root for.
  3. Every character should want something, even if it is only a glass of water.
  4. Every sentence must do one of two things — reveal character or advance the action.
  5. Start as close to the end as possible.
  6. Be a Sadist. No matter how sweet and innocent your leading characters, make awful things happen to them-in order that the reader may see what they are made of.
  7. Write to please just one person. If you open a window and make love to the world, so to speak, your story will get pneumonia.
  8. Give your readers as much information as possible as soon as possible. To hell with suspense. Readers should have such complete understanding of what is going on, where and why, that they could finish the story themselves, should cockroaches eat the last few pages.

From his book, Bagombo Snuff Box: Uncollected Short Fiction

 (thanks to brainpickings.org)


The Five Laws of Business Writing



1. Always tell the truth


2. Every story is an experience


3. Every story has a hero


4. Every hero has a goal


5. Every hero must meet obstacles




Why truth?
Because in an age of information overkill, truth is rare.

Why experience?
Because the audience must connect and be transformed.

Why a hero?
Because someone must drive the story.

Why a goal?
Because the audience must always feel there’s a finish line.

Why obstacles?
Because nothing worthwhile - in business or life - comes without a struggle.


The following are two excellent references that helped deepen my understanding of the rules of good storytelling. I was influenced by the first book a long time ago, the second much more recently.

1. The Hero's Journey (Joseph Campbell)

2. The Elements of Persuasion (Richard Maxwell and Robert Dickman)





Storytelling that moves people


Excerpt from a Harvard Business Review interview with Robert McKee:

 Please note: Robert McKee  was a bit of a hero to me as I was learning the craft of screenwriting and storytelling. Although this article is a decade old, McKee's thoughts -- and his book -- stand the test of time.

 Storytelling that moves people
Why is persuasion so difficult, and what can you do to set people on fire? In search of answers to those questions, HBR senior editor Bronwyn Fryer paid a visit to Robert McKee, the world’s best-known and most respected screenwriting lecturer, at his home in Los Angeles. [...] Persuasion is the centerpiece of business activity [...] Why is persuasion so difficult, and what can you do to set people on fire?
To read the HBR article, click Storytelling that moves people

Mckinsey article on storytelling

"What non-profits can teach the private sector about social media"

(excerpt):

"Companies are spending countless hours and millions of dollars trying to master social media. Is this a revolutionary platform that can drive everything from customer relationships to product development--or just another form of marketing?"

I find the debate quite fascinating. Is social media the future of marketing, or is it simply a black hole? No one knows. But the Mckinsey article, excerpted in Forbes, sheds some new light on the topic. Registration is free should you wish to read the entire article.


[click on the link below]

The Power of Storytelling







Companies are spending countless hours and millions of dollars trying to master social media. Is this a revolutionary platform that can drive everything from customer relationships to product development--or just another form of marketing? In a new book titled The Dragonfly Effect, Stanford University marketing professor Jennifer Aaker and marketing strategist Andy Smith seek to answer these questions by examining numerous examples of social media at work, distilling a framework for inspiring infectious action.
One of the four "dragonfly wings" that comprise the authors' framework and give the book its name is engagement, which they define as "truly making people feel emotionally connected to helping you achieve your goals" through storytelling, authenticity and establishing a personal connection. Presented here is an excerpt adapted from the book, followed by a discussion between the authors and Dan Singer, a director in McKinsey's New York office. The conversation focused on lessons useful for leaders seeking to boost their organizations' marketing effectiveness by engaging customers through social media. The bottom line: Using social media to capture people's attention is different from traditional advertising, and companies that measure the effectiveness of these new channels by simply counting Facebook fans should rethink their approach.

Article Controls

Social-Media Engagement: A Case Study from The Dragonfly Effect Scott Harrison was at the top of his world. The 28-year-old New York–based nightclub and fashion promoter excelled at bringing models and hedge-fund kings together and selling them $500 bottles of vodka. He had money and power. Yet his lifestyle brought something else: emptiness. Harrison felt spiritually bankrupt.
So he walked away, volunteering to serve on a floating hospital offering free medical care in the world's poorest nations. Serving as the ship's photojournalist, Harrison was quickly immersed in a very different world. Thousands would flock to the ship looking for solutions to debilitating problems: enormous tumors, cleft lips and palates, flesh eaten by bacteria from waterborne diseases. Harrison's camera lens brought into focus astonishing poverty and pain, and he began documenting the struggles of these people and their courage.
After eight months, he moved back to New York, but not to his former life. Aware that many of the diseases and medical problems he witnessed stemmed from inadequate access to clean drinking water, he decided to do something about it. In 2006 he founded Charity: Water, a nonprofit designed to bring clean and safe drinking water to people in developing nations.
Harrison launched the organization on his 31st birthday by asking friends to donate $31 instead of giving him a gift. It was a success--the birthday generated $15,000 and helped build Charity: Water's first few wells in Uganda. In the three years that followed, Harrison's simple birthday wish snowballed into donations that today total more than $20 million, translating into almost 3,000 water projects spanning everything from hand-dug wells and deep wells to protection for springs to rainwater harvesting. The organization has now provided clean water to more than 1.4 million people spanning 17 countries. Its success can be explained through four design principles for generating engagement with a brand through social media.
Tell a story. Harrison's personal journey--evoking themes of redemption, change, and hope--engaged others on an emotional level. By candidly discussing in media interviews and YouTube videos why and how he started Charity: Water, the thoughtful, accessible, and youthful Harrison helped viewers fall in love with him and his cause.
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For the complete article, click here.