PROBLEM
How can companies use storytelling in corporate communication?
Learning objectives
1. What is an effective corporate story?
- Are there some key elements? If yes, what are they?
Discussed in class: Characters, easy to understand, middle/beginning/end (Aristotle's basic definition of story), sense of humor and something unexpected, engaging, knowing your punchline, "make me care", give a promise that the story is worth your time, storytelling has guidelines (and not rules), use what you know, make a connection, people want to be inspired
Source: http://www.themoleskin.com/2010/03/storytelling-in-business-elements-of-story-structure/
According to Kelsey Rueger (2010) a good story draws inspiration from the past to engage audiences. An audience connects to the story when the plot, characters and some other elements come together and create a unified narrative.
A good business story has a good flow and makes a point. There are five basic throughlines:
- The main character succeeds
- The main character fails
- The main character abandons the goal
- The main character's goal is undefined
- The audience creates the goal
A good business story also uses a familiar structure to capture attention.
- Traditional
- The Hero's Quest
- The Search
- Stranger in a Strange Land
- Boy Meets Girl (Romance)
- Coming of Age (Transformation)
Good stories connect to the audience with good character development
Good stories use a vivid setting to their advantage
Kelsey Ruger (2010) also pointed out that: "First, you should use stories to craft engaging and personal experiences that relate to the overall point you are trying to make. Second, don't rely only on facts. Remember, facts matter most when the audience is rationalizing a decision that has already been made on an emotional level."
- Any examples?
There really isn't a story here but it affected me on an emotional level. The commercial is already a couple of years old but I still remember it well. One could say that the video shows some corporate values.
The commercial is from your point of view which makes it interesting. There's also a story: you start from the bottom and end up playing in a national team. The main character therefore succeeds. This commercial is around five years old and it has stuck with me over the years - I still remember it.
2. What are the effective communication channels for storytelling?
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| Source: http://www.pursuant.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/CrossChannel.png |
- What communication channels are there?
- How do communication channels depend on the product or the target customer?
When storytelling is aimed externally, Shankar et al (2001) say that companies have to consider their positioning in a larger context. Companies have to consider the results as the market can "hold" only one brand that is seen as e.g. heroic. According to Fog et al (2005) companies use television, radio, billboards, and the Internet as the means of storytelling.
According to Argenti (2013) you should choose the communication channel based on the communication activities that create the most value in terms of a specific business outcome.
You could argue that the age and also the type of product affect the choosing of communication channel. Older people are not as proficient at using e.g. the Internet or social media in general.
If the product is for greater audiences, then a mass media option is a better one. If the company wants to change the mind of people that only do window shopping, then a point of purchase type can be chosen by the company. If the company wants to sell a product for a certain type of customers, they can opt to choose a direct response. In direct response, the company directly contacts the customers via e-mail etc.
Depends on the type of story as well. If it's a video, then e.g. Youtube is a better option.
3. How to reach audience?
- Media strategies?
According to Business Dictionary media strategy is: Use of appropriate media mix to achieve optimum results from an advertising company.
Media strategy has three important questions:
- Where to advertise?
- When to advertise?
- What media type to use?
There needs to be a research to answer questions such as:
- What channels are they most active on?
- What types of content they like to consume?
- Where do they like to consume it?
- What technologies do they use the most?
There are also so many channels out there that it is almost impossible to embrace them all. Therefore it is important to decide where to to publish.
Sources:
Argenti, P. (2013) Corporate communication (6th edition). McGraw-Hill. New York.
http://www.themoleskin.com/2010/03/storytelling-in-business-elements-of-story-structure/
http://www.themoleskin.com/2010/03/the-art-of-business-storytelling/
http://www.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:132493/fulltext01.pdf
http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/media-strategy.html
http://www.pursuant.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/CrossChannel.png
http://managementstudyguide.com/media-strategy-in-advertising.htm
http://www.saydaily.com/2013/08/4-secrets-of-effective-brand-storytelling-across-channels
