Storytelling and Corporate Communication

*Flashback to the first tutorial meeting, together we watched Youtube video "The India-Pakistan partition in 1947 separated many friends and families overnight. A granddaughter in India decides to surprise her grandfather on his birthday by reuniting him with his childhood friend (who is now in Pakistan) after over 6 decades of separation, with a little help from Google Search"

This ad effectively represent storytelling is used.

There were 3 main Learning Objectives that are agreed upon:

1. What is Corporate Communication (CC) and why storytelling is used there? 
2. What makes successful storytelling in  CC?
3. Case studies and real life examples (successful vs. unsuccessful)

1. 1 Corporate Communication 

Every functional area, at one time or another, was the newest and most important. Communication, in this 21st century, is obviously important for every company because:

• We live in a world that information now travels at a lightening speed as a result of digital communications and Social Media

• General public is now more sophisticated in approaching the organizations since people are more educated and skeptical about corporate intentions. Statements or propaganda like "What's good for XXcorp. is good for everyone"- people couldnot care less if they don't know you and don't have trust in. 

• Organizations, espcially the ones with thousand of employees from all over the world, are getting extremely complex in a way that keeping track of every individual is almost impossible, without a communication strategy.

(Argenti, P. 2009. Corporate Communication. 5^th edition. McGraw Hill. New York)

What is Corporate Communication? 

Corporate communication is a management function or department, like marketing, finance, or operations, dedicated to the dissemination of information to key constituencies, the execution of corporate strategy and the development of messages for a variety of purposes for inside and outside the organisation.

In today’s global corporation, this function serves as the conscience of the corporation and is responsible for the organisation’s reputation.  Previously called “public relations” or “public affairs,” corporate communication has taken on new importance in the 21st century as a result of corporate scandals or crises at companies like Enron and Toyota.
The department usually oversees communication strategy, media relations, crisis communications, internal communications, reputation management, corporate responsibility, investor relations, government affairs and sometimes marketing communication.
The person running the department is the chief communications officer of the firm, and reports directly to the chief executive officer in many of the top global organisations due to the critical importance of the function today.

For example: Jon Iwata, the chief communications officer for IBM, oversees a large department focused on both marketing and communications for the company. This global function is responsible for IBM’s communications to all key constituencies including customers, employees and communities.  It also plays a role in shaping and executing the company’s Smarter Planet strategy, and initiative focused on developing sophisticated systems to make the world a better place like smart grids and efficient water management systems.

Jon works closely with Sam Palmisano, CEO of IBM, on strategy execution, and is a member of the company’s most senior management team.

(http://lexicon.ft.com/Term?term=corporate-communication) 

1.2 Storytelling 

Everyone has a story to share. We are shaped by our life experiences, both personal and professional. Sharing stories about our own lives, and also the lives of the people whom we serve is very powerful. It gives our connections the opportunity to really feel like they know us.

Every financial advisor I’ve ever met has a story to tell about who they are, what they are passionate about, why they do what they do, and most importantly, whom it is that they serve! Blending these kinds of stories and publishing them online where they can now be found and consumed by your clients and prospects is a tremendous opportunity to not only build a loyal following, but ultimately to grow your business.

(Stephanie Sammons - founder and CEO of Wired Advisor™)

This is the power of blogging, or marketing yourself through the content you create and publish online. People love stories, and they especially love stories that they can personally relate to. Marketing through storytelling takes the concept of blogging and content marketing to a whole new level. Not only are stories more personable, they are more inspiring, emotional, motivational, and memorable.

As you learn the stories of the people you are connected to, and they learn your stories, your relationship can inevitably grow stronger both online and offline. Think about events such as the Olympics, or even the Superbowl. It is fascinating to learn the stories behind the people who are competing. It draws us to them and it makes us care about them! They are no longer names and faces to us, they are people whom we have come to know and love!

5 Types of Stories for a Financial Digital Marketing Strategy
-Trending News Stories -Personal Stories

There are many ways to think about storytelling, and it also takes some practice to become a better storyteller! Keep in mind, stories are all around you happening in every moment of everyday. You just have to open your mind and start viewing your life experiences as a conglomeration of stories that can be shaped and shared with your audience.

You’re also going to need a place to publish and distribute your stories, and this is where a blog or blog-driven website comes into play. Otherwise, how will your stories be found?  You must take the initiative to get them out where they can be easily discovered and shared by your target markets! Blogging and social media channels are the modern day tools for building a storytelling marketing strategy.

-Educational Stories

Educating your clients and prospects through stories is a very effective way to help them understand both simple or complex financial planning and investment concepts. Let’s face it, financial content is dull and dry. If you want to hook subscribers, fans, and followers with your educational content, you need to make it interesting and put it into the context of a story!

Most of the news that your clients and prospects are exposed to tends to be negative and fear based. This is especially true with regard to financial and economic news. The mainstream media does a great job at keeping us worried!

Utilizing trending news topics is a great way to drive traffic to your blog, but you need to make that news relevant to your target audience. How does it affect them? Why should they care? Can you think of a story to weave into the news topic?

Share a story about how this news has affected someone you know or work with, or provide a hypothetical story that is related to a current news topic to make it more relevant to your audience. If you can’t come up with a story, find one online and point to it as an example!

-The Stories of Your Clients

Everyone of your clients has a story. If you’ve built strong relationships with them, you probably know their stories. You should absolutely protect the identity of your clients and not share any of their stories without their permission!

Think about the power in sharing a story about a client who has built a successful company in your community. Can you interview the client about how they accomplished this? What about sharing a story about a client who has accomplished an amazing feat or overcome an incredible obstacle in life?

When potential clients or prospects learn from you about the stories and experiences of people who are just like them, they may be more likely to work with you. They will come to believe that you understand their situation as well!

-Classic Stories, Lessons, and Quotes

So many great stories have already been told and shared, and as long as you provide credit where credit is due, you can pass on the stories that have already been told in a context that is relevant to your readers!

Curating classic stories, lessons, and quotes from others can be a very powerful digital storytelling strategy.

Sharing your personal life stories is difficult if you are to be truly vulnerable, but these kinds of stories are also the most powerful. What are your life experiences, lessons learned, personal tragedies and triumphs?  What can others learn from your life? How much are you willing to share?

It’s not necessary to air your dirty laundry when telling personal stories, but showcasing your authentic personality and spirit is what can bond people to you. Sharing these kinds of stories can build trust from strangers, and can strengthen existing connections. To cultivate client loyalty and attract new clients into your business in a wired world, it’s time to put your stories on display where people can find them. Post your stories to a blog, share them on social media channels, and incorporate them into your email newsletters, seminars, and other business building strategies!

Storytelling could bring your brand to Life and Strengthen your marketing Impact - like Adam Toren wrote on Entrepreneur provided with the success of Kickstarter and Coca-Cola Share Campaign. Especially, he mentioned that Storytelling works for anyone : 

Writers can blog through Medium, visual brands can share via Instagram, those with characters can create mini-series on Vimeo or useBrandStories to interest potential customers. If you love the stage, thrive on interactivity and excel in front of the camera then you can use conferencing software such as ClickWebinar to set up online digital two-way interactions and publish them instantly across social-media channels.

A brand's story is no longer limited to or controlled by the media outlets and advertising that it uses. One would even say that this has been completely reversed: the media now runs stories based on how much traction they've gained elsewhere. Your customers and advocates are now the tastemakers, giving power to the stories that resonate with them.

2. What makes successful Storytelling in Corporate Communication? 

When it comes to successful storytelling, TEDtalks is what comes to my mind first. I personally saw them- the speakers as the great storytellers. They are there always with a stories to be told, not selling or marketing. Anytime I watch or find a new TED talk, it means finding stories to listen, to relate and learn from them. 

I'm not an expert to assess or invent the own method of producing storytelling so I found out 2 articles that the author, in my opinion, did a great job 

According to Nayomi Chibana on blog.visme.com, she analyzed the 7 factors that lead to the charisma of TED talkers as following:

      Immerse your audience in the story.

      Tell a personal story.

      Create suspense.

      Bring characters to life.

      Show. Don’t tell.

      Build up to S.T.A.R. moment.

      End with a positive takeaway.

Read more at http://blog.visme.co/7-storytelling-techniques-used-by-the-most-inspiring-ted-presenters/#aDv3oM0mQY0Pz78M.99

Kelli Law from Entwine Creatve Work had an amazing insights into Storytelling techniques.

Storytelling is an art that takes planning, research, and skill; the best storytellers make decisions along the way that drive their stories forward, engage their audience, and impart information vital to the telling of their story. The best content agencies understand this craft and can produce timely stories about a brand, product, or company. By following these five rules, you too can tell an interesting, captivating story that will enchant your audience, share important information, and engage from beginning to end.

1. Understand your brand and audience; speak in an authentic voice
2. Get your facts straight with 5 Ws.
3. The power of specifics, details, and imagery
4. Show, don’t tell
5. Know the end at the beginning

I found it as informative as the graph of Argenti, P. 2009 in his book mentioning illustrating  Corporate Communication Strategy Framwork- Extended (Argenti, P. 2013 Corporate Communication, p47)
To specify a little bit more 5W, which I personally consider important points, that author above meant are:

1. Who is your story about? Know your characters and your subject. Is your story about the brand, or about someone using the product? Is your story a history of a company or a history of the company founder? It makes a difference.
2. What happens in your story? This one seems obvious, but if you’re going to describe action and tell a story, you should understand what’s going to happen. More on plot and story structure later.
3. When does your story take place? Is it set in the present, the future or the past? This will dictate verb tense, point of view, and who knows what and when.
4. Where does your story take place? Can you see the setting in your head? Are you telling an intercontinental tale or one that happens in a subway station in the Bronx? A sense of place helps your audience put actions in context, juggling in a circus tent seems normal; juggling in a chemistry lab does not.
5. Why did your story happen? What were the motivating factors, and what set your story in motion? If man drowned on the Great Barrier Reef, why was he there? What motivated him to take up diving? Why didn’t anyone save him?