Brand and Corporate Narratives PDF

BRAND AND CORPORATE NARRATIVES (Integrated with papers) Lecture 1 25/09/2024 What is a narrative? - Think of it as a brick, the base of a construction - The story is the basic unit of you will develop - If you put together many bricks you will have a pile of them...

BRAND AND CORPORATE NARRATIVES (Integrated with papers) Lecture 1 25/09/2024 What is a narrative? - Think of it as a brick, the base of a construction - The story is the basic unit of you will develop - If you put together many bricks you will have a pile of them - Lego is a fascinating example of the power of storytelling, those bricks can tell many different stories - Lego has a compelling narrative, part of their success is related to the narrative they have - You need to have a narrative that is authentic, you need to be recognized for what you do - in the hands of a skilled storyteller who select from bits of information to create a coherent, succinct messages, a story can make a company’s case compelling and memorable Storytelling in business - Business people tend not to appreciate the value of relating a story - They think business is operational only - Yet many senior advisors and CEOs would argue the contrary (Steve Jobs Elon Mask) - If you don’t say a compelling story if you want to do, you will not be followed; to be a leader you need to tell a story - A person who’s a good communicators ha a grasp of storytelling. If you can’t translate your passion, you’re hard pressed to be a good leader. No one followed a committee into battle. - Communication is a contact sport. You must do it, look forward doing it and do it as often as you can. Employees then run through walls for you. Broadcast v.s. sharing - We shifted completely from a broadcasted way of doing communication to a shared reality - More and more stories are important because people want interaction and engagement rather than being broadcast or lectured to - The digital transformation brought this change - Broadcast: you listen to what I tell you but there is no interaction, and this is what communication was like until 25 years ag - Sharing is the way we communicate today - There are 4 major moments in the history of communication. 1. Storytelling in a cave 40 millions of years ago: painting of animals 2. The invention of the alphabet 3. In the 15th century the invention of the press and books 4. The digital transformation: it changed from broadcast (1 way message) to a sharing of information Digital age - The digital age started when the world wide web was invented and the first website was published on dec 20, 1990 - At the beginning everything was for free and allowed to sell products in the real world - Then, at the beginning of the century some new players started to appear: Amazon, Google (who was just a startup at the time), but also some players that are not there anymore like Napster (who allowed to share music and download to download each other music) 1  - As for the music industry the entire ecosystem was destroyed and rebuild with new devices and reorganized (Ipod) - The same phenomenon happened with the video industry - Key moment in 20062008: blogs and aggregators (Huffington post) started to appear - this is when giving your information for free started to be an opportunity but also a problem; google started gaining traffic with news produced by somebody else - On Sept 26 of 2006 Mark Zuckerberg opened Facebook and everybody entered in the social media world. - In the same year also Twitter was created - 2008 was the year of the big wall street crash for the economy and a great recession began - The entire content production was already weak and shocked by this event - There was a key device who characterized this period (20062008): the smartphone - In 2008 the first smartphone was created - In 2009 the newspaper industry understood that they needed to save somehow newspapers, therefore few things had to change Where are we now: - About 7 billion people on the planet, out of 8.1 billion, can access the web - Globally, during a typical day, people on average spend 2 hours and 26 minutes using social media. - If we add it all together, the world collectively spends 11.5 billion hours on social media platforms daily. - About 67% of teenagers say they use TikTok – and 16% say they use it constantly. - More than 500 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every minute. YouTube viewers watch over 1 billion hours of video each day. - In an online world oversaturated with content, the scarcest resource is attention. Emerging trends - Personalization: before someone else was choosing what everyone was watching, there was a hierarchy of the news chosen by someone else – now everyone gets personalized content - Traffic vs engagement: engagement is something that we give for granted, but now is much more important than traffic. - Users become members: used to be users now we are much more members of a community, subscribers, part of a club - Fake vs paid: fake news related to free content, paid walls as a protection to fake news - Big data vs relevant data: do not need all the traffic data but data that is relevant for the project/ communication strategy Business and marketing megatrends - Digital transformations: Steve jobs is the symbol of the digital transformation in 2007. The iPhone has put the Internet in our pockets. It’s the beginning of the Digital Transformation era: if you don't adapt, if you don't keep up with technological and digital evolution, you die. - Platformization: in 2011 Marc Andreessen addressed the idea that platforms are the one leading the economy, today this is a reality. The Platform Economy, where software companies are eating not only the technology industry, but every sector of traditional industries. GAFAnomics, the economy of the Internet giants (Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon), is born. 2  - Design transformation: since 2015, thanks to come fundamentals reflections on the experience economy and liquid expectations by Fjord the competition has shifted from the technological asset to that of design: technology and design are an inseparable pair and design, among the two, it is the one that can really make a difference. - Marketing: In 2014 Simon Sinak published the book “Start with why” an interesting turning point for the communication business. The traditional approach of marketing products (investing money to produce, market, sell, and defend products from competition) is gradually being replaced by the more modern approach of marketing the company's intangible assets, or the brand. - Idea that we are not working just to make profit, I want to know more why people do business. the traditional approach of marketing is gradually being replaced by the more modern approach of marketing the companies tangible assets, or the brand. - Company start to ask themselves what can we do to make the world a better place and not just selling products - Purpose before profits: Since 2018 this shift from tangible to intangible, from functionalities to values, from the product to the brand becomes an imperative for all companies that want to make a difference. The idea of why is the key point to the approach to communication from a narrative point - Brand activism: in 2019, Kotler introduces the concept of Brand Activism: the sum of efforts a brand makes to promote social, political, economic, or environmental reforms, with the aim of improve of society (Colin Kaepernik) Market vs Society - Companies are moving from focusing on marketing to society (Jeep adv with Bruce Springsteen) - The company needs to know very well its value, mission to enter the discussion in the right way and improve its reputation. - Simon Sinak (Start with why) says that we are not discussing narratives just to sell things but to create an employer branding approach, talents will be attracted to your company. A lot of companies know what they do, some know how they do it, but few know why they do it – to create a credible narrative need to know why you do what you do Narratives important for the employer branding approach – using your brand to attract talents and hire people – part of the value proposition Edelman trust Baromether - 2024 Edelman Trust Barometer. The Trust Index is the average percent trust in NGOs, business, government, and media. Class 2 02/10/24 How storytelling helps businesses - Plea vs. story: actually, people gave more money to the first sign (homeless I need help) instead of the sign with the story (spring is coming and I won’t see it) - It is a problem of authenticity, people didn’t believe the story 3  - Authenticity and fluency are two key aspects to keep in mind - These are the two starting points when thinking about a corporate narrative and what kind of comm we want to develop for an org, product, etc.. - Trust is something that we give to other people. People are more willing to trust pp that larger institutions. - A successful story should be authentic and fluent Authenticity - Janis Forman wrote the book “storytelling in business” and talks about this two topics - “In today's world, people are more willing to trust other people than they are large institutions. Authentic stories, well told, remind stakeholders that good companies are the ones that value, celebrate, and empower their people. You've got to deconstruct the cold corporate edifice and focus on the individual building blocks—the people whose stories exemplify a company's culture and values. That's how you gain trust in this increasingly cynical world"→ Bill Margaritis, corporate vice president of global communications and investor relations at FedEx. - A successful story can be characterized as both authentic and fluent. - Authenticity is a term that's commonly used in business circles by those who talk about the need for appearances to match reality. - Stories must be credible, realistic, and tangible, because business are trusted and if you betray this trust you will loose your business - "Authentic" organizational stories are intended to be truthful to meet criteria for ethical representation as well as for business success. Fluency - Together with authenticity a story must be also fluent. - Fluency is a term used to describe someone’s language skills from the point of business perspective fluency is how to create the tension for the plot of the story, creating some kind of interest. - In storytelling is about engaging the emotions and intellect of the audience and commanding the elements of a powerfully crafted and presented story—elements such as a place for the novel and unexpected, significant details, compelling language, and a logical sequence in which the story unfolds. - To be fluent storytellers, business professionals need to know how to master the language of stories. - In the case of digital storytelling, fluency means working comfortably and flexibly with technology as well. - Without fluency we don’t have stories, but rather a pile of data that’s boring and disorganized, or a poorly conceived, poorly crafted, and poorly presented story that falls on deaf ears. What if you have a fluent story but not an authentic one? - This is when you start to enter in crisis narrative - Pepsi case Kendall Jenner - A difference to make is between capability (how we do things) and character ( why we do things) - Pepsi did not do something wrong in terms of capability, it is a problem of character – company culture - Dolce and Gabbana China ads crisis: it was a character crisis - To clean a capability crisis is easier than a character one - A character one takes more time because story and narrative are very powerful 4  - Narrative stories are really powerful at the point that if you use a wrong story you have more problems that producing a bad product Chapter 1 Damodarand What is a story? Valuation as a bridge - Numbers allow us to be disciplined in our assessments, but without stories behind them, they become weapons of intimidation and bias rather than discipline. The solution is simple. You need to bring both stories and numbers into play in investing and business, and valuation is the bridge between the two. - In effect, valuation allows each side to draw on the other, forcing storytellers to see the parts of their stories that are improbable or implausible, and to fix them, and number crunchers to recognize when their numbers generate a story line that does not make sense or is not credible. - 3P test, starting with the question of whether your story is possible, a minimal test that most stories should meet; moving on to whether it is plausible, a tougher test to overcome; and closing with whether it is probable, the most stringent of the tests. Not all stories that are possible are plausible, and among all plausible stories, only a few are probable. - explicitly linking your tested story to numbers that determine value, that is, the value drivers of a business. It is those value inputs that should become the numbers in models and spreadsheets that lead to the value assessments on which you base your decisions. 5 Change is constant - Some story shifts can be traced to changes in management, both in terms of personnel and tactics. The bottom line is that it is hubris in storytelling (and the number crunching that emerges from it) to assume that the story you tell will remain immune from the real world. - Three narrative alterations: 1. Narrative breaks, in which real life events decimate or end a story 2. Narrative changes, in which actions or outcomes lead you to alter the story that you are telling in fundamental ways 3. Narrative shifts, in which occurrences on the ground don’t change the basic story but do alter some of its details in good or bad ways. - Causes for narrative alterations: - New Stories about the company 1. Management retirements 2. Corporate scandals 3. Acquisition announcement 4. Stock buyback - Macroeconomic stories 1. Inflation rates 2. Commodity prices 3. Political upheavals The corporate life cycle - A construct useful in understanding businesses is that of the corporate life cycle. 6  - What connection does this have with stories and numbers? Early in the life cycle, when a business is young, unformed, and has little history, its value is driven primarily by narrative, with wide differences across investors and over time. As a company ages and develops a history, the numbers start to play a bigger role in value, and the differences across investors and over time start to narrow. Using the story/number framework, I look at how the process changes over the life cycle of a firm, from startup to liquidation. Chapter 2 Damodarand Stories connect - A well told story connects with listeners in a way that numbers never can. The reasons for the connection are varied across both stories and listeners, and the extent of the connection can vary in intensity. - Oxytocin - The bottom line is that storytelling can draw in listeners and get them to act in ways that they would not have acted had they been presented with just the facts. As an added bonus, if you can get listeners to become absorbed in your stories, they are more willing to accept your assumptions and perspective, and thus your conclusions. Stories get remebered - Stories get remembered much better and for longer periods than numbers - As to why some stories get remembered more than others, researchers hypothesize that it is causal connections within the story that make them more memorable, especially if subjects have to work to make inferences and see the connections. Stories spur action - Not only do stories allow for emotional connections between storytellers and listeners and get remembered more vividly and for longer periods, they can elicit listeners to act. - some stories evoked bigger increases in neurochemicals and thus elicited more actions than others. The special case of business stories 7  - If stories allow for stronger connections, are remembered longer, and spur action, it should come as no surprise that businesses have used storytelling to advance their interests with different constituent groups. - With potential investors, the storytelling is designed to encourage investors to attach a high value to the business and invest their capital. - With employees, the stories that businesses tell will be designed to get them excited about working for a company. - With customers, business narratives are aimed at getting them to buy products and services, perhaps at premium prices. The stories told to each group may be different, and in some cases even inconsistent, a potentially troubling issue we will return to later in this book. - In investing, storytelling is an integral part of both investment philosophies and recommendations. There are many investors who steer away from numbers and data and instead invest in story stocks, that is, businesses with compelling narratives. CASE STUDY STEVE JOBS ….. Storytellig in a technology/data age - This should be the golden age for numbers, with increased access to immense amounts of data (big data) and improved data analytics tools and machine power - increased access to information has made investors feel less comfortable, not more so, when they make judgments. There is evidence that it has exacerbated many of the behavioral problems that have always afflicted investment decision making. As a consequence, investors seem to be more drawn to good storytelling now than in generations past. - We are also subject to more distractions in our lives, some digital but some not, and those are having an effect on how much attention we pay to what is happening around us. In fact there is evidence that as we increasingly multitask our way through the day, not only are we missing much of what is happening around us but the memories we form tend to be less robust and thus more difficult to retrieve. Again, storytelling may be what gets us to pay attention and remember The dangers of storytelling 1. Emotional hangover: It is not just listeners, though, who are in danger of letting emotions run away from the facts. Storytellers face the same problem, as they start to believe their own stories and perhaps act on them. In effect, stories feed into the biases we already have, reinforce them, and make them worse. In an earlier section, I noted that one of the benefits of storytelling is that as listeners get more absorbed in stories, they tend to become much more willing to suspend disbelief and let questionable assertions and assumptions go unchallenged. 2. The fickleness of memory: It is true that many storytellers draw on personal memories in coming up with their stories, and if they tell their stories effectively, these stories will be remembered for far longer. As researchers are discovering, human memories are fragile and easily manipulated. This is not to suggest that stories are always made up or full of falsehoods but to show that even well-meaning storytellers can sometimes reinvent their memories and that those listening to those stories might not be remembering the stories the way they were actually told. Numbers, the antidote: 8  - One of the perils of letting storytelling drive business decisions is that it is easy to cross the line and wander into fantasyland. (The fairy tale/ the runaway story). The bottom line is that storytelling left unchecked can easily lose focus, and in the context of business stories, that can be dangerous for everyone involved. Chapt 3. Damodarand We can distinct 3 types of story structure: 1. ARISTOTEL - In Poetics he gave the first description of what a good story is and what it requires - In his telling, based on his observation of Greek theater, every story needs a beginning, a middle and an end, and what keeps a story going is that the incidents within the story are linked together by cause and effect. - For the story to have an effect, the protagonist should see a change in fortune over the course of the story. 2. GUSTAV FREYTAG - This structure is made of 5 parts that contribute to build a story 1. Exposition or inciting moment: event that gets the story started and introduces the main problem it will be addressing 2. Complication or rising action: this is the phase in which the tension builds up in the story through additional events. In a tragedy, this is often the phase in which things are going well for the protagonist and in a story with a happy ending, it is the interval of trying events. 3. Climax or turning point: This is the event that turns the tide, from good to bad in a tragedy and from bad to good in a happy ending story. 4. Reversal or falling action: In this phase events occur that bring out the effects of the change initiated in the previous step. 5. Denouement: The story ends in catastrophe if it is a tragedy or in a resolution or in a resolution of some sort that shows the protagonist either winning or losing. The Freytag storytelling structure is one in which the narrator controls the environment, acting as stage master who determines when surprises happen, to whom, and with what consequences. Thus, its direct use in business storytelling is limited, since so much of what happens is out of your control, your best planned story can be rendered to waste by a real world surprise, and the ending is not yours to script. 9  3. JOSEPH CAMPBELL - In the middle of the 20th century Joseph Campbell renew a way of writing stories going back to Greek mythology. - Helped modern society understand the true power that storytelling has in our culture and within our personal lives. - He studied and identified the universal themes and archetypes that are present in mythical storytelling across history and across the world. - His seminal work, The Hero With a Thousand Faces, outlined what Campbell called the Hero’s Journey, a motif of adventure and personal transformation that is used in nearly every culture’s mythical framework. - He developed the hero journey, a model that is used in many different situations (corporate narratives) Back on lecture 2: Star wars for business, winning characteristics of the Star Wars saga storytelling: - George Lucas was an avid admirer of Campbell’s writings, and used them as a direct reference in his creation of Star Wars - Relatability: - One of the key ingredients of a good story is creating something that people can relate to. Star Wars is a universe constructed with a combination of a whole bunch of familiar things. - Even though it was about space creatures living a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, it captured the first and perhaps most important element of great stories: relatability. - The more relatable a story is, the more likely we are to get pulled in. - Novelty: - Another important element is novelty, you have to introduce new elements but being careful to not doing something too extreme, you need to find a balance; not too foreign, not too familiar. - The best stories use relatability to get us invested and then use novelty to keep us interested. - They get the audience comfortable in the beginning, usually with a character or setting or scenario we may care about, and then introduce novelty the fun part into the plot. - Maintaining a balance of relatability and novelty is crucial. - Target the zone where you get the attention of people 10  - Tension: - Some people call it the conflict, others call it the curiosity gap. Whatever you call it, tension is what turns a good story into a great story. (Try to compare a boring love story to Romeo and Juliet). - Aristotle said that a great story establishes what is and then establishes what could be. - The gap between those two things is the tension. And that is your story. - The storyteller’s job is to close that gap and open a new one, over and over until the tale is done. - Fluency: - A great story doesn’t make you think about the words being used or the mechanics of the story itself. A great storyteller will speak at a level that doesn’t force you to think about the vocabulary. - As we have already said: To be fluent storytellers, business professionals need to know how to master the “language” of stories. The power of a story for business - Business people tend not to appreciate the value of relating a story. - They think business is operational only. - Businesspeople tend not to appreciate the value of relating a story. - They think business is operational only. - Yet many senior advisors and CEOs would argue the contrary - “A man is always a teller of tales,” the philosopher JeanPaul Sartre observed. “He lives surrounded by his stories and the stories of others, he sees everything that happens to him through them, and he tries to live his own life as if he were telling a story.” - The story Musk came to inhabit is one of the oldest in our civilization: A male hero of uncertain reputation emerges from an obscure place to save a doomed people through acts of daring. It is the story of Moses, Jesus, Superman, John Wayne westerns, Luke Skywalker, Harry Potter and the Lord of the Rings. - Sometimes in life imagination is as important as intelligence. Musk’s apparent attachment to the hero myth seems to both make him fearless and also frequently a kind of monster. The mythic mind is a self-involved mind, which can never quite regard other people as being as important as the hero/self. Indeed, the Musk of Isaacson’s book is on a series of epic quests — and is complex enough to be simultaneously hero and villain. The power of a story SMITH Chapter 1 Why tell stories? - Because it works - Why is that? Why is storytelling so effective? Here are 10 of the most compelling reasons: 1. Storytelling is simple: Anyone can do it. 11  2. Storytelling is timeless: Unlike fads in other areas of management such as total quality management, reengineering, Six Sigma, or 5S, storytelling has always worked for leadership, and it always will. 3. Stories are demographic proof. Everybody likes to listen to stories. 4. Stories are contagious: They can spread like wildfire without any additional effort on the part of the storyteller. 5. Stories are easier to remember. According to psychologist Jerome Bruner, facts are 20 times more likely to be remembered if they are part of a story. Organizational psychologist Peg Neuhauser found that learning derived from a well told story is remembered more accurately, and for far longer than the learning derived from facts or figures. 6. Stories inspire. Slides don’t. 7. Stories appeal to all types of learners. In any group, roughly 40 percent will be predominantly visual learners and another 40 percent will be auditory, learning best through lectures and discussions. The remaining 20 percent are kinesthetic learners, who learn best by doing, experiencing, or feeling. Storytelling has aspects that work for all three types. 8. Stories fit better where most of the learning happens in the workplace. According to communications expert Evelyn Clark, “Up to 70 percent of the new skills, information and competence in the workplace is acquired through informal learning” such as what happens in team settings, mentoring, and peptomer communication. And the bedrock of informal learning is storytelling. 9. Stories put the listener in a mental learning mode. Listeners who are in a critical or evaluative mode are more likely to reject what’s being said. 10. Telling stories shows respect for the audience. Stories get your message across without arrogantly telling listeners what to think or do. Annette Simmons observed, “Stories give people freedom to come to their own conclusions”. Corporate storyteller David Armstrong suggests “Telling a story, where you underline the moral, is a great way of explaining to people what needs to be done, without saying, ‘do this.’” Back on lecture 2 FROM BUSINESS STORIES TO COMPANY NARRATIVES Where do we find a corporate narrative? - A starting point is the corporate website, even if it will not always be complete - Usually you will find a “company” section on their website where they describe the company and give you some key information which are not just about the story (mission, values) but also financial information. - All the relevant information for the most relevant stakeholders - Not information about the products Tesla: a storytelling company - The chief storyteller is the founder Elon musk - Creating the business on the trust he was creating his own ideas (like SpaceX) - Tesla has a lot to say about storytelling and there is a section “about us” which is a good starting point - We see a strong narrative “accelerating the world’s transition to sustainable energy” ; those few words tell a lot about tesla and it is a very powerful and important statement - You can immediately see (from images ecc) how they are strongly related to that previous statement - They are telling WHY they are doing cars 12  - For the sustainability part somebody could argue that maybe tesla is not authentic enough, because Elon’s support to Donald’s trump campaign, now tesla is politically tainted because of the CEO’s behavior - They use many different languages on their website - There are a lot of messages in the About the company profile - The mission statement is to accelerate the world’s transition to sustainable energy - The vision statement is a little different, about what they see for the future “to create the most compelling car company of the 21th century by driving the world’s transition to electric vehicles - You will also find some interesting story like a letter from elon musk in 2016 when he founded the company Ford: - Much more traditional brand than Tesla - More than 100 years of history - Company owned by the same family since the beginning - Still making money on traditional cars than electric ones - In an ever changing world, our sense of purpose is constant. We honor our legacy as we build the future, a better world for generations to come. - From the homepage you have a welcome related to who they are - More traditional website with a lot of quotes from the ford family, ceo ecc. - Purpose sections on the website, you see everything that ford wants to say to the public Apple: - Apple is a company which has been around less years than Ford, but they have developed a profound narrative on many aspects. - The website is more product related - Mission: to bring the bets user experience to customers through innovative hardware, software and services - Vision: to make the best products on earth and to leave the world better than we found it - Think different campaign: similar to Nike’s campaign – evolution of narrative but you are still in front of a company that poses storytelling at the centre of its company. You desire an apple product because you want to belong or be a part of their narrative story. Bosch: Very well organized corporate narrative Technology company – efficiency, quality, reliability, tech invented for life (tagline) On their website they describe themselves as a company that helps to conserve natural resources and improves quality of life. They want to spark enthusiasm. Questions for business storytellers: What story (or stories) will move your organizational initiative forward? Who are the best storytellers in your organization? What about in public life? What makes them effective? What stories influence people in your organization? Why do you think so? Which ones resonate with outside stakeholders as well? Are there stories from the broader cultureyour country or your region —that capture the attention of members of your organization? Do these stories travel well across cultures? What are the elements of a powerful story? Forman Chapter 5 13 The document discusses Chevron's use of storytelling to enhance its corporate brand through the "Human Energy" platform. Overview Chevron's "Human Energy" campaign leverages storytelling to create a strong, relatable corporate brand that emphasizes people, collaboration, and innovation in addressing energy challenges. The approach uses authentic, datadriven, yet emotionally engaging narratives to build trust and differentiate Chevron from competitors. Key Elements: 1. Tagline as Framework: "Human Energy" serves as an umbrella concept connecting stories to Chevron's core values and brand promise. 2. Authenticity in Storytelling: Stories focus on tangible human elements, such as employees' contributions, partnerships with communities, and innovative energy solutions. 3. Stakeholder Engagement: Chevron communicates with stakeholders (government, communities, employees) to address global energy challenges collaboratively. 4. Diverse Content Formats: Stories are presented through videos, visuals, and articles, highlighting themes like sustainability, energy efficiency, and community development. Examples of Stories: Building LEEDcertified buildings and renewable energy projects. Community partnerships for AIDS awareness and local economic development. Employeedriven initiatives showcasing technical ingenuity and personal engagement. Strategic Insights: Stories build the brand's credibility by aligning actions with the company's values. Storytelling is complemented by data and visuals to appeal to both reason and emotion. Digital platforms like Chevron's website serve as central hubs for these narratives, fostering dialogue and transparency. Forman Chapter 7 The chapter explores how FedEx utilizes digital storytelling to enhance trust, strengthen its brand, and reinforce its corporate culture. Power of Digital Storytelling - Stories told by employees help convey the values, character, and integrity of FedEx. Digital platforms like blogs and videos allow these narratives to reach a global audience, fostering connection and engagement. Evolution of Communication - From the early adoption of FXTV in 1988, which served as a private television network for internal communication, FedEx transitioned to a digital first approach, focusing on more engaging and authentic storytelling through its revamped “FedEx One” platform. Cultural Emphasis 14  - The company highlights "culture heroes" through stories of extraordinary employee efforts, such as delivering critical packages during crises or performing acts of heroism, reinforcing FedEx's values and inspiring others. Strategic Storytelling Goals - Under Diane Terrell’s leadership, storytelling became a strategic tool to bridge cultural and geographical divides, boost employee morale, and address evolving consumer demands for accountability and authenticity. Employee Driven Narrative - Initiatives like "I am FedEx" encourage employees to share personal and professional stories, emphasizing their roles as the company's representatives while fostering a sense of unity and belonging. Social Media Integration - FedEx leverages platforms like Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter to distribute stories widely, ensuring accessibility and encouraging interaction, thereby modernizing its engagement strategy. Impact on Brand and Trust - By showcasing real stories of employees and customers, FedEx enhances its emotional appeal, builds consumer trust, and positions itself as a socially responsible and innovative leader. The chapter concludes that authentic and fluent storytelling, supported by technology and a strong corporate culture, is vital for building trust and driving engagement in the modern business landscape. Lecture 3 – 09/10/2024 The elements of a corporate narrative A framework for organizational storytelling - Organizational: applies to every kind of organizations (institutions, companies, political campaigns) Authenticity: - “Authenticity is a rule any good communicator should follow. Don’t put out a persona or a group of facts you don’t have. Don’t lie. Everything that is knowable will ultimately be 15  known.” Dick Parsons, Chairman of the board, Citigroup, and former Chief Executive Officer, AOL Time Warner - The dictum "Words must match deeds" is the key ethical criterion by which stories should be judged. - Does the story pass the test of being "credible," "realistic," "tangible" — descriptions that come up repeatedly in discussions of organizational storytelling at best practice firms? If not true now, is the story realistically aspirational? Does it support the organization's strategy, culture, and brand? - In addition, stories should not be monolithic expressions of the organization's leadership; rather, they should consider the voices of significant others, such as employees, customers, and communities. - Regardless of the specific business objective of an organizational story, the teller needs to give scrupulous attention to the accuracy of the story's details. - This is especially the case because "story" as a kind of business discourse is often greeted with skepticism: one executive ! taught in a storytelling workshop remarked, "By stories, don't you mean fairy tales? Aren't you talking about fantasy?" His comment is fairly routine. - Authentic storytelling about an organization is databased storytelling. - The story's details as well as those in the documents that often serve as a companion piece to the story are "fact based and factchecked," explains Helen Clark, manager of corporate marketing, policy, government, and public affairs at Chevron. Dark side of storytelling: faking authenticity Trust in me… shut your eyes and trust in me Somebody will detect that your authenticity is fake and you will be in trouble In D&G case they weren’t’ actually faking but you can tell that it was not sincere Fluency in storytelling for business - Being authentic is a necessary though not sufficient condition for successful organizational stories. - Storytellers need to be fluent as well to cut through the busyness, distractions, and competing demands of work life. - Stories then need to engage people’s emotions and intellect, live vividly in their memory and imagination, and move them to respond in ways the storyteller intends. To be fluent, an organization’s spokespeople need competence in the craft of storytelling and, in some cases, in the use of communications technology. General business objectives - Stories for business have practical purpose. - This is, in general, to gain or strengthen the trust of the intended audience(s) and, with this achieved, to inform, persuade, and even inspire them. Specific business objective - In addition to achieving these general business objectives, stories are intended to accomplish specific business objectives. - These objectives can cover anything from recruiting new members to a firm, to increasing the customer base, to presenting a profile of the senior leadership to the media. - In the best practice cases, these specific business objectives include the quite significant goals of building and strengthening corporate strategy, corporate culture, and corporate branding, the ultimate goal being to build the business, its profits and reputation. Questions for business storytellers: 16 The right Purpose, Audience, Moment, Storyteller, and Characters good selection of these story elements comes from careful response to these questions: What purpose do you want to achieve in story form? With whom? Why now? Who should tell the story? Who should be included in the story? Example: - Every company has to present a sustainability report - Mother nature status report ad for apple - They explain data in a different and entertaining way - Apple park: they created a short story inside the headquarters. - It’s a short movie were they where telling their sustainability report in a different way. - In this way it’s more entertaining and also convincing of the fact that Apple is actively investing its resources in reducing pollution and carbon emissions. - We should also notice how they created a story that keeps the entire company unite and connected. Not only the CEO is speaking, a persona from each department is involved in the discussion. - The Freytag structure is perfectly followed by the story. Forman – Chapter 9: Storytelling workshops for change: Philips The document examines Philips' use of storytelling workshops as a transformative tool for reshaping strategy, branding, and corporate culture. Key highlights include: 1. Transition from "Lumen" to "Human": o Philips shifted focus from technical features to enhancing people's lives, embracing a people centric approach. 2. Strategic and Branding Transformation: o Under CEO Gerard Kleisterlee, Philips realigned its business model to "health and wellbeing," emphasizing user needs across sectors like Healthcare, Lighting, and Consumer Lifestyle. 3. Storytelling Workshops: o These workshops were central to instilling authentic communication. Employees engaged with storytelling exercises tied to the company's brand promise, "Sense and Simplicity." o The process included phases like Passion (emotional connection), Action (real-world application), and Commitment (long term engagement). 4. Healthcare Sector Initiative: o Workshops began in Healthcare, helping employees connect emotionally with the end users, shifting focus from product specifications to patient stories. 5. Lighting Sector Expansion: o Inspired by Healthcare's success, storytelling helped reposition the Lighting division. The "One Lighting Story" unified branding under the vision of "Simply enhancing life with light," linking light to wellbeing. 6. Legacy and Cultural Norm: o Storytelling became an organizational practice, influencing strategic decisions and employee behaviour. The approach is expected to extend into the Consumer Lifestyle sector. 17 This comprehensive integration demonstrates how storytelling can be a catalyst for change, fostering internal alignment and resonating with stakeholders. Back on lecture 3 Define the culture - An organization's culture is defined by the behavior of its members and reinforced by the stories they tell. The behavior and stories are more powerful than any corporate edict, policy statement, or speech from the CEO. - You can't just say, "We treat people like family here," and expect it to happen. You have to actually treat people like family and hope they do the same. - But unless you work at a company with only a handful of employees who work in the same room, people can't see what's happening to everyone else all the time. That's where stories come in. - Although it's clearly the behavior that has to happen first (treating people like family, for example), it's the stories about what happened that live on and create the culture and expectations for others to follow. Smith Chapter 8: Define the culture The document from Lead with a Story by Paul Smith focuses on defining and reinforcing organizational culture through storytelling. Here are the key points: 1. Culture Defined by Stories: o Organizational culture is shaped by the behavior of its members and reinforced through stories. o Positive stories about leadership and actions aligned with values foster a strong, desired culture. 2. Examples of Stories Defining Culture: o Procter & Gamble (P&G) During the Egyptian Revolution: ▪ P&G prioritized employee safety by providing unwavering support to Rasoul Madadi and his family during the unrest in Cairo, exemplifying how employees are the company's greatest asset. o IBM and Leadership Accountability: ▪ IBM Chairman Tom Watson set an example by following security protocols, demonstrating adherence to rules irrespective of rank. o Morgan Stanley and Respect: ▪ A leader reprimanding a trader for disrespecting a delivery worker emphasized dignity and accountability. 3. Stories of Negative Behavior: o Negative stories can highlight cultural expectations if they include corrective actions. Otherwise, they risk normalizing undesirable behavior. 4. Unspoken Norms vs. Policies: o Actual workplace norms often trump written policies. For instance, promoting flexible work arrangements requires stories showcasing positive examples of employees successfully using such policies. 5. Cultural Sensitivity: o Understanding and respecting local customs is critical for leadership success, illustrated by an expat manager's misstep during the Kobe earthquake. 6. The Power of Storytelling: o Sharing stories that embody the desired culture helps spread and sustain it across the organization. 18 The chapter concludes with the importance of identifying and sharing stories that reflect the values and behaviours the organization aspires to cultivate. Back on lecture 3 Establish value - Every company has the corporate value statements. Sometimes they're called company values and principles, or simply what we believe. But values are only words on a piece of paper until they're tested. - That is, until someone is put in a difficult position of choosing between doing the hard right or the easy wrong. The easy wrong is usually more attractive in the short term: It's more profitable, more convenient, helps you avoid an embarrassment, or just makes you look good. - Stories are uniquely called for when trying to establish values in an organization. Only a story can convey the uncomfortable predicament required to truly define a value. - Annette Simmons calls such stories “valuesinaction” stories. They show what happens when you put your values into action and act on them - From storytelling to story doing Smith – Chapter 9 Establish value: The document from Lead with a Story by Paul Smith emphasizes the importance of storytelling in establishing corporate values. Here are the key takeaways: 1. The Power of Stories to Define Values: o Stories demonstrate how values are applied in real situations, making them more meaningful than bullet points or policy statements. o Stories of leaders embodying values inspire others and reinforce the organizational culture. 2. Examples of Values in Action: o Integrity: ▪ Northwestern Mutual's founder borrowed money to honor insurance claims after a train accident, setting a lasting example of doing the right thing. o Customer First: ▪ A supermarket CEO adhered to a policy of parking far from the entrance, even in heavy rain, to prioritize customer convenience, reinforcing the value of customerfirst policies. o Persistence and Passion: ▪ Sam Walton of Walmart enthusiastically sold ironing board covers, showcasing persistence and attention to customer needs. 3. Creativity in Upholding Values: o Stories like Martin Nuechtern’s ("a dog at the Met") demonstrate how creativity can help adhere to values, even in challenging situations. 4. Finding and Using Stories: o Identify moments when values were tested or upheld in unique ways. o Share these stories broadly to illustrate the values and motivate employees to emulate them. 5. Practical Steps: o Reflect on the company’s history to uncover stories of values in action. o Share these stories during training, meetings, and through corporate communications. 6. Critical Reflection: o Strong value stories indicate strong values. Lack of such stories might signify weak cultural adherence to stated principles. 19 The document underscores that values become meaningful and actionable through the stories told within the organization. Back on lecture 3 Encourage collaboration and build relationships - Finding common values is one way storytelling can help build relationships, but not the only one. - Personal storytelling can create caring, emotional bonds between employees. - You can use storytelling to create a collaborative environment. Smith chapter – 10: Encourage collaboration and build relationships Chapter 10 of Lead with a Story focuses on using storytelling to encourage collaboration and build relationships in the workplace. It highlights the importance of personal and work related stories in fostering trust, teamwork, and a positive environment. Key takeaways include: Personal Stories Build Bonds: Example 1: A new Big city manager and his assistant bonded during a storytelling exercise at a team retreat, revealing shared values and interests. This exercise transformed workplace dynamics, enhancing collaboration and trust. Example 2: Jamie Johnson shared a deeply personal story about his brother's struggles with bipolar disorder and subsequent suicide. This act of vulnerability helped Jamie connect with colleagues on a deeper level, improving team relationships and performance. Work Stories Promote Collaboration: Example 1: A consulting firm's "monthly challenge" allowed employees globally to share stories and brainstorm solutions for unique client problems. This exercise fostered collaboration, generated creative solutions, and strengthened workplace bonds. Example 2: A story about senior leaders on a corporate jet, acting as equals and sharing a humorous situation, reshaped perceptions of the team, making them appear approachable and collaborative. Practical Applications: 1. Breaking the Cycle of Strangers: Encourage employees to share personal stories to reveal common values and foster connection. 2. Creating Vulnerability: Sharing personal challenges, insecurities, or failures can make leaders more relatable and accessible. 3. Storytelling as a Strategic Tool: Regularly sharing work related challenges and solutions strengthens team cohesion and inspires innovation. 4. External Impact: Sharing internal stories of collaboration and relatability can attract and retain talent by showcasing a positive company culture. The chapter emphasizes that storytelling—both personal and professional—plays a critical role in building a collaborative and empathetic work environment. Back on lecture 3 The process of building a corporate storyline Storyline: 20  - The storyline of a Group is the common narrative that allows for differentiation, still maintaining a recognizable and coherent image. - A good storyline it is authentic and relevant for all stakeholders (internal and external) and must be able to evolve and adapt in time to changing market needs and scenery. Case study: - TEDDY GROUP; fashion company, been around for 60 years - Starting point: dressing people to make our dream come true → mission - Look at the method not at the exact tools Study line: 1. Stakeholder interview 2. Eco,social,cultural trends 3. Competitor analysis 4. Workshop 5. Positioning and storyline: 6. Strategic plan/ output STEP 1: STAKEHOLDER INTEVIEW STEP 2: ECO SOCIAL AND CULTURAL TRENDS 21 STEP 3: COMPETITOR ANALYSIS STEP 4: WORKSHOP 22 Step 5 Positioning and storyline: - The storyline of a Group is the common narrative that allows for differentiation, still maintaining a recognizable and coherent image. - A good storyline is authentic and relevant for all stakeholders (internal and external) and must be able to evolve and adapt in time to changing market needs and scenery. - But it is important to take one position, not all of them - When trying to define a Storyline it is important to choose, to eliminate the superfluous and concentrate on the essence. We don't have to take the risk of wanting insert all the concepts, in order not to fall into easy corporate rhetoric. - It will be up to the different Story Angles and the Communication Plan decline the Storyline into a multisubject capable of fully explain Teddy's values and directions. Brand platform: how to define positioning - The Brand Platform summarizes the assets essential strategies of the Group. A card of identity of the brand it will lead the evolution of the company and its system narrative, internally and externally. - The base of the placement holds together the main cultural tensions of the panorama where the company fits in. Lecture 4 16/10/24 : Damodaran chapt 3 23 Narrative, how brands are telling their stories Three types of stories: Product, founder and business 1. The product story: Related to the thing that I want to sell, but also the thing that I would like to use to change the world (Macbook Chat gpt) MacBook was not promoted as a computer but as a way of changing everything in the status quo Introducing the world to ChatGPT also a good way to tell a story 2. The founder story Founder based stories can be one of five types: a) Horatio Alger story: It is a variant of the rags to riches story. Investors are attracted to this story by the tenacity of the founder in making something of himself or herself in face of immense odds. In Italy we have a story like this with Leonardo Del Vecchio, founder of Luxottica b) The charisma story Elon Musk: - Very strong personality, person who creates things which are ahead of its time, controversial figure. - Elon Musk has founded or cofounded many businesses, including SpaceX, Tesla, and \SolarCity, but with each of these businesses, investors are as much drawn to him, as a charismatic founder, as they are to the companies themselves. - The story it's build around an epiphany, a moment when he or she gets a vision of business opportunity and then proceeds to fulfils that vision. - Very much focused on the communication of the founder and its personal journey. - Complicated because the founder it's usually focused on its own ideas and it's not open to other types of communication. c) Connections story (Bill Gates): - In some businesses, it is who you know that gives you the advantage, and founders who have the right connections, either because of family background or due to their past roles as politicians or regulators, are given special deference. d) Celebrity story (Oprah Winfrey): - Investors are sometimes drawn to the celebrity status of a founder, in the belief this status will allow them to attract business and generate value. - Jack Nicklaus, Magic Johnson, and Oprah Winfrey have all used their celebrity status to build successful businesses, with many investors being drawn to the celebrities' names as much as to the businesses themselves. e) Experience story (Peter Thiel): - It is the track record of some founders that draws investors to their businesses. - The assumption, when investing in these businesses, is that if they have been successful in the past in building businesses, they will be successful in their new ventures. There are two dangers of crossing the line and making a business story all about the founder or founders - A business that is too closely tied to its founder may not be able to survive personal failures on his or her part. 24  - Second, while listeners are always attracted by the personal aspect of founder stories, these personal elements still have to be connected to business success. 3.Business stories: We can distinct many types of business story 1. The bully (Uber): Company with a large market share, a superior brand name, access to lots of capital and a reputation for ruthlessness. 2. The underdog (Lyft): Company that is a distant second (or lower) in market share in a business, with claims to a better or cheaper product than the dominant company. 3. The eureka moment (IDRA): Company that claims to have found an unmet need in the market, usually in a serendipitous way and then has come up with a way of meeting that need. 4. The better mousetrap (Dollar shave club): company that contends it has a better way of delivering and existing product or service that will be more desirable and better suited for the need. 5. Disruptor (Tesla): Company that changes the way a business is run, altering fundamental ways in which the product or service is delivered. 6. Low cost player (NeN): Company that has found a way to reduce the cost of doing business and is willing to cut prices on the expectation that it can sell a lot more. 7. Missionary (Patagonia): Company that presents itself as having a larger, more noble mission than just making money. Steps for storytelling 1. Understand your business and know yourself 2. Understand your audience: Your business story may not be the same when you are talking to different stakeholders (employees, customers, or potential investors), because each has a different interest in the story 3. Marshal the facts: Nothing will undercut your story more than mangling the facts. To check your story before delivering it, you should consider adapting the five Ws of journalism to business: - Who - What - When - Where - Why 4. Talk in specific: You need to specify what you are offering as a company that will draw these people to your products or services 5. Show don’t tell 6. Have a good ending The ingredients in a good story - The story is simple - The story is credible - The story is authentic - The story is emotional Back on lecture 4 Recap: Building a corporate storyline in 5 steps. 1. Company Interviews: collect keywords 25 2. Eco social cultural trends 3. Competitor analysis: take all the direct competitors and try to see how they are positioning compared to the trends out there (Direct competitors) Indirect competitors Aspirational competitors Best practices Benchmark methodology: Substance and Distinctiveness: 1. Substance (clarity and transparency): evaluates whether the company is transparent with its stakeholders and presents in a clear and concrete way the most important information. 2. Distinctiveness (Impact): how the company presents content, how well it manages to create an effective narrative and to involve user/stakeholders. We consider here elements such as stories , visual contents, infographics 4. Workshop: get together people from a company and you interview them 5. Positioning: example Dress to belong (Teddy); Brand platform: Summarizes assets and essential strategies of the group. As card of identity of the brand it will lead the evolution of the company and its system narrative, internally and externally. The base of the placement holds together the main cultural tensions of the panorama where the company fits in. What are purpose, mission and vision statement? (from Bain&Company) Purpose, mission and vision statements explain why a company exists, how it plans to achieve its goals and what the business will ultimately achieve. A purpose statement is an explanation of the company’s motivations and reasons for being and why it works the way it does. A mission statement is a definition of the company’s business, who it serves, what it does, its objectives and its approach to reaching those objectives. A vision statement is a description of the desired future state of the company. An effective vision inspires the team, showing them how success will look and feel. Checklist and signature story 1. Checklist for stories and corporate branding Signature stories can reveal much about who you are and influence others. - Consider whether your company has a brand tagline, and if so, whether it serves as a frame or filter for stories: o Does your company have a corporate brand that is credible and realistic? Does it express the company's core values as well as differentiating it from the competition, and is the brand tagline a memorable and succinct shorthand for what the company stands for? If so, are there stories that you use at work whose "moral" or main point is one or more aspects of the brand? For example, if creativity is a component of the company brand, do you tell stories about yourself or about others at work that exemplify this component of the brand? If not, are there potential stories that come to 26  mind that are worth telling? To whom and on what occasions? Do other people, those internal and external to the firm (including the traditional media, bloggers, analysts, customers, suppliers), tell such stories? Taken as a whole, are these stories diverse in content but similar in message, and what if anything are the benefits of this? - Determine whether at least some of your stories or those of others supports your company’s brand tagline: o Do stories that you or others tell about your company's brand show how the company has delivered on its brand promise? Are there stories that derive from your work or personal experience that speak to and extend the brand? Are there multiple voices— many storytellers who demonstrate in stories one or more facets of the brand? In at least some instances, are you able to work with video clips or pictures for your stories? - Identify stories carrying the brand narrative that are rich in accurate data and appeal to the heart: o These attributes apply more broadly to all stories, the former representing authenticity and the latter fluency in organizational storytelling. In the case of stories that you or others tell about your company's brand, do they fulfill some instances, are stories accompanied by other communications, such as fact sheets, descriptions of processes, or senior leader's addresses, that complement the story and corroborate the story's authenticity? - If applicable, assess the stories that evoke and appeal to broader cultural values: o If appropriate for your company, do you use brand stories that appeal to broader cultural values, values that may be admired by others and associated with the country in which you are headquartered or have a large presence? If, for instance, you produce jewelry or fashion in Italy, are there brand stories that evoke the artistic sensibility connected to many things Italian? o If you are headquartered in Germany and sell high end machine parts, do you evoke the German heritage of scientific excellence? If in the United States, do you use a ragstoriches story that taps into the country's entrepreneurial and pioneering roots? 2. Checklist for building fluency in storytelling - Identify the "hot sauce" in your story: o Is there a significant detail that can appeal to your audience's emotions, perhaps evoking similar memories and stimulating their ability to imagine seeing, touching, hearing, even tasting and smelling the concrete detail in the story? - Figure out how to do "lead with people stories," stories about characters: o Besides yourself, are there others you should feature in your story? What about a customer's experience with your firm? From a sales perspective, it is more effective to develop a scenario about actual customers' experiences with a product than to enumerate the product's features. The former allows prospective customers to tell about the benefits they'd enjoy from using the product. - Search for the novel and unexpected: o Where are the "aha" moments in the story that may surprise and delight, grab and hold people's attention? What's the news in the story, not the background but the foreground? What elements of the story are counterintuitive and can drive your point home? This may be a significant detail (the hot sauce), or a novel character (the FedEx vice president of information technology with the poise of a dancer who tells her story to a rap beat), or even a novel expression. Edit the story to strip out jargon, clichés, 27  and corporate speak. Remember that people are likely to be turned off and to tune out of stories that appear to be inauthentic. - If the story is digital, think about whether it will go viral: o Have you engaged people's minds and hearts? Is the topic timely and relevant to those you want to reach? Have you done a good job of crafting the story weaving significant detail into the story, focusing on people rather than products, and including the novel and unexpected? Can you push the story out to friends, family, and business associates, some of whom may take up the topic and spread the story? Who might be the likely champions of your story? - Develop a story that is responsive to people's needs, concerns, and knowledge: o What is the best story you can offer that is responsive to people? For instance, can you tell a solutions based story to prospective customers, a story about a current customer for whom your company's services solved that customer's problems? Better yet, can you first listen to your prospective customer's specific needs and tell a story about how your company's products or services can address these needs? If you are a technical expert speaking to nonspecialists, can you build your story by picturing them as intelligent and inquisitive people who are willing to give you a brief opportunity to engage their attention and address their needs? Be sure to strip technical jargon out of the story. Forman – Chapter 11: Professionals who value organizational storytelling are its champion - The interviews conducted for the book, primarily with corporate communication executives, reveal a deep passion for storytelling and its transformative power in workplace relationships. - Storytelling has become a valuable tool for engaging hearts and minds, strengthening corporate strategy, culture, and brand, and addressing challenges like mistrust in business, competitive pressures, and employee disengagement. - The process of discussing storytelling often led to intimate, reflective conversations, uncovering personal stories that highlighted its impact. For example, one executive shared a childhood memory that influenced her career path, while another described how a CEO’s bold decision and a symbolic story energized employees and repositioned the company competitively. - Storytelling also fosters connection and engagement in workshops, where participants share stories that captivate their peers, revealing new facets of their personalities and sparking thoughtful feedback. This passion and attentiveness to storytelling indicate its growing significance in organizations, particularly as a means of inspiring and persuading others. Best practice organizations are storytelling enterprises - In best practice organizations, storytelling is deeply integrated into core business activities such as strategy, culture, and brand building, making it a valued norm endorsed by senior leadership. - Rather than being confined to a specific communication group, storytelling is widely embraced and shared across the organization, becoming part of the ongoing dialogue about effective communication. - Corporate communication professionals act as guides, promoting storytelling through structured activities, workshops, and consultations. - They strike a balance between personal expression and organizational goals, ensuring storytelling is neither overly scripted nor disorganized. - This approach fosters storytelling as a meaningful, collaborative practice with both depth and broad reach. 28 Developing fluency in storytelling is within everyone’s graps - Fluent storytelling, as taught in best practice companies, is accessible to anyone and can be developed independently using the checklists and lessons provided throughout the book. - These checklists, drawn from various case studies, offer practical advice for crafting successful stories tailored to specific purposes and audiences. - Strategic Initiatives: Focus on audience analysis, aligning the story to goals, and considering timing, setting, and champions to enhance persuasive storytelling. - Corporate Branding: Ensure stories align with brand taglines, support the brand's identity, and are both data rich and emotionally engaging. - FedEx Practices: Highlight key characters, include novel and surprising elements, and identify compelling details to create stories that captivate and have viral potential. - Philips Practices: Emphasize visual imagery, audience profiling, and scenariospecific story versions, while incorporating rehearsal and revision with constructive feedback. - While the book does not directly address technology, advances in tools like cameras and social media make creating and sharing digital stories easier and more impactful. Together, the checklists, cases, and lessons provide a comprehensive resource for developing storytelling fluency in personal or organizational contexts. Signature stories can reveal much about who you are and influence others - Rediscover your storytelling roots. What is memorable? It’s the stories. You need to know your stories. —Julie Hamp, Chief Communications Officer, PepsiCo - To incorporate storytelling into your work, start by crafting your signature story—a personal narrative that reveals your values, character, and key experiences. It may be based on a significant relationship, accomplishment, or failure that shaped who you are as a person and professional. Steps to Develop Your Signature Story: 1. Rediscover Your Roots: Reflect on your storytelling influences, such as mentors, family, or cultural traditions. 2. Prime the Pump: Use guiding questions to identify potential story topics: o What impactful experiences have you had with mentors, family, or colleagues? o What major challenges have you faced, and what lessons did they teach you? o What stories, books, or films resonate with you, and what do they reveal about you? 3. Adapt for Audiences: Consider your audience, purpose, and context: o Tailor details and language to different settings. o Use your story as a standalone piece or embed it in larger communications, such as talks, job applications, or team messages. 4. Crafting and Revising: o Refine your story through thoughtful revision and adaptation for various purposes. o Review using a checklist to ensure it aligns with storytelling best practices, making it engaging, relatable, and impactful. A wellcrafted signature story can be a versatile and powerful tool for connecting with others and conveying your unique identity in both personal and professional contexts. Checklist for reviewing your signature story 29 Authenticity in Signature Stories Signature stories prioritize authenticity, emphasizing genuine feelings and personal identity while being strategically tailored for business contexts. Rooted in Romantic ideals, such as those championed by JeanJacques Rousseau, authenticity means expressing heartfelt convictions, even if they occasionally overshadow factual precision. Modern interpretations, like those by Joan Didion, echo this focus on emotional truth over rigid accuracy. Key Considerations for Authentic Signature Stories: 1. Adapting for Audiences: o Authenticity doesn't imply a single, fixed version of your story. o Tailor your story's details and focus to suit different audiences and objectives without compromising its core truth. 2. Strategic Disclosure: o Authentic storytelling isn't about revealing every personal detail. o Professionals should selectively share aspects that align with their audience and purpose, avoiding oversharing or excessive self promotion. 3. Balancing Feelings and Facts: 30  o While emotions are central, maintaining factual accuracy is crucial, particularly for high profile businesspeople, to avoid scrutiny and credibility risks. 4. Avoiding Narcissism: o Authentic stories should highlight values, accomplishments, and genuine experiences, steering clear of superficial self promotion often associated with "personal branding." Conclusion: Signature stories are foundational to effective storytelling, starting with genuine personal narratives and extending to enterprise level practices. They serve as bridges, connecting individuals and audiences through shared humanity and purpose. By crafting your own signature story, you can authentically and strategically engage others, fostering meaningful connections in both personal and professional settings. Lecture 5 23/10/24 How to define positioning if the company does not exist yet? - The Brand Platform approach is useful to help existing companies, but could be challenging if you are trying to create a communication strategy for a new company, like a startup. Narrative for a new company STEP 1: Interviews The content matrix - Rather than doing a SWOT analysis for a startup use a content matrix - The content matrix is an instrument to help define your competitors and yourself, by finding your desired voice and place, in both the market and society, as well as to help you navigate through the world of content production. - E.g.: Radoff – Radeon detector startup – rather than saying “we help you detect gas” their narrative revolves around the idea of making your life/city better – give consumers trust by telling them that they are the experts and they will know how to help you 31 The drill problem - “People do not want to buy a quarter inch drill. They want to buy a quarter inch hole!” Theodore Levitt - When we buy a product, we essentially hire it to help us do a job – if it does the job well. The next time we are confronted with the same job we tend to hire that product again, if it does a crummy job we fire it and look for an alternative - People do not simply buy product they buy them to make their life easier Jobs Theory - A Job is defined as an improvement that an individual seeks to achieve in a specific circumstance. - A Job never only has a functional aspect, but also has a social and emotional dimension. Furthermore, it is always defined in the circumstance in which it occurs and must be recurring. - A job has 3 dimensions: Functional, social and emotional - Functional: The activity that the consumer must carry out (what, how, where, who when) - Social: The social implications of the activity (how others perceive me) - Emotional: The emotional (subjective) implications of the activity (how it makes me feel) A Job is not a need - Describing consumer behavior starting from a need leads to the failure of operations (and companies) because by definition needs are very generic - The jobs, on the other hand, are formulated taking into account circumstances and provide a focus on the social aspect and the emotional aspect of an activity not only on the functional one. A Job is not a Persona - Describing consumer behavior starting from a category of typical user (personas) designed by generalizing psychographic and demographic characteristics is an approach that could work in the very stable societies of the 1950s1970s. - Our societies today are liquid and this means that factors such as age or income say very little about our propensity to consume a product or service. According to these models, Facebook was a product for kids... - Focusing on what the user is trying to do (Job) instead of who they are, keeps the company's focus on generating value where the user is already investing their time. 32 A job based communication - Job based communication is much more effective because it talks about something to which the target audience is already devoting attention and time in a specific way. And precisely in that specific way, communication speaks. This makes the brand relevant to the audience. - An example is Nike's Covid19themed Play Inside, Play for the World campaign, based on the following Job: «l'm at home and I have to spend my time» ("Functional" dimension) «I feel helpless» ("Emotional" dimension) « I would like to be perceived as the hero who is saving lives» ("Social" dimension) Which job is my company responding to? - Wider question than what product should my company sell – you are bigger than the products you sell, the do not buy what you do, they buy why you do it STEP 2 - Competitors’ analysis STEP 3 Eco social cultural trends - What’s going on in the world STEP 4 What is my story (look at case studies): - Brand narrative - Logo - Colors - Typography - Photography - Applications These are all elements related to the narrative – help construct it 33 Lecture 6 30/10/2024 Brand and corporate activism - It’s now gaining more importance in comparison to the previous years - It is now part of the brand narratives approach, and it is useful to help the company tell their own story - IDENTITY → BRAND → REPUTATION - The problem with reputation is that you cannot control it, while you can control the identity and the brand part - The reputation does not depend on you - Companies communicate about identity and brand, reputation is out of their control - Example 1: - Lego has a great reputation even if they produce something that is not sustainable; they have a good reputation for the storytelling they to about their brand and they have a strong identity communicated in the right way - Lego’s promise to go beyond plastic had to admit that they could not do it and ditched oil free bricks sustainability setback but they were transparent which paid off, they did not lose market share - Example 2: - Formula 1 challenge: Drive to survive (Netflix series telling the stories of 20 pilots) this created a new interest in F1. - F1 planning to be net 0 carbon by 2030 working toward an energy transition environment (made promises). - Hamilton becoming carbon neutral himself, he wants to cut his own environment impact - Mission winnow: was the main sponsor of Ferrari for many years the company was creates by - Example 2: - Philiph Morris (tobacco emperor). In f1 you cannot promote oiling/gas companies, tobacco companies, that’s why the sponsor has been rejected by Ferrari and it’s not their sponsor anymore. BRAND ACTIVISM: Find your space in an environment in which the direction is now more than ever focused on: 1.CSR: market driven 2.ESG: corporate driven 3.BRAND ACTIVISM: society driven The father of modern marketing Philip Kotler - When he published a book about brand activism, he choose for the title the sentence “From purpose to action”, meaning going from storytelling to story doing - You need to keep in mind what people want - Your brand is expected to help solve and not aggravate world’s biggest problems it is no longer enough to be neutral - CEOs are expected to take a public stand on issues such as: treatment of employees, climate change, discrimination, wealth gap, immigration - Business is now expected to be an agent of change 34 Elderman trust barometer: - Government is seen as far less competent and ethical than business - The Edelman trust barometer also tells us that the employer is the new safe house in global governance, with 72% of respondents saying that they trust their own company. - And 64% believe a company can take actions that both increase profits and improve economic and social conditions in the community where it operates. - Another interesting insight from the survey was the fact that the past year saw CEO credibility rise sharply by seven points to 44% after a number of high profile business leaders voiced their positions on the issues of the day The New Hygiene Factor - When Marketing 3.0 was introduced a decade ago, a purposes driven business model was a relatively new source of differentiation that gave early adopters a competitive edge. - As a group of customers began to favor brands whose activities had a positive social impact, a handful of companies started to embrace the humancentric approach and make it the core business strategy. - These pioneering brands, such as The Body Shop and Ben & Jerry's, were considered cool. Several solutions to societal problems were embedded in their businesses, allowing customers to participate. Humanity's toughest challenges were, at the same time, the biggest business opportunities for these companies. - Today, this trend of human centricity has become mainstream. Thousands of companies have put particular focus on their social and environmental impact, even actively using it as a major source of innovation. Many brands have captured a loyal following by promoting a health conscious lifestyle, minimizing carbon footprint, conducting fair trade with emerging market suppliers, ensuring goof labor practice or building entrepreneurship at the bottom of the pyramid. - It has become a hygiene factor that without broader vision, mission, and values, brands have no license to compete. Companies that fail to incorporate responsible practices run the risk of being overlooked by prospective customers. Customers are increasingly making their buying decisions based on their perceptions of a company's ethical conduct. Indeed, customers now expect brands to work for the good of society at large, and corporations know it. The "Stop Hate for Profit" campaign, in which Microsoft, Starbucks, Pfizer, Unilever, and hundreds of other companies paused advertising on Facebook, calling for the social network's better handling of hate speech and misinformation, is a testament to the importance of corporate activism. The body shop - One of the first companies to fight for its ethical values and beliefs – CEO wanted to make skincare products but also fight for animal rights, civil rights, fair trade, environmental protection – fighting for different activities. - The Body Shop was one of the first companies to fight for its ethical values and beliefs. - Body Shop clients said they were interested in her products but also approved of her activism and often gathered to march together for the causes they shared. She was a true business revolutionary, and her pioneering voice still reverberates throughout the halls of businesses that are awakening to the new reality. 35 Lecture 7 – 20/11/2024 Communication strategy: Brand and corporate narratives and the integrated communications plan Integrated communication Owned media: - Channels that are controlled by the brand Physical touchpoints Uniforms Website & App Social Media Properties (Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Instagram, ecc.) Newsletter, Direct Email Bills, prescriptions, guides Earned media: - Channels that, even if not controlled by the brand, talk about the brand Wordofmouth Media Articles (Articles on newspapers, tv programs, etc. ) Social Media comments: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, ecc. Reviews Wikipedia Paid Media: - Channels that a brand pays to use, a.k.a advertising Advertising ATL (Abovetheline) TV Print Radio OOH (Out Of Home) Cinema Internet (display and native: social and search) BTL (Belowtheline) Folders Events Sponsorships / Product Placement Shared Media: - Hybrid channels, of which the brand only has partial control, fueled not by investments in visibility but in engagement of an audience Communities online Interest Groups Google Business 36 How do I reach integration? Case history: Eni, a media company approach - They had several departments dedicated to communication (ext, int, pa brand, hr, ir), all working together to achieve a communication strategy representing the brand identity. - Internal and external communication departments need to work in synergy to create the storyline and the messages of the company. - Companies can also outsource their communication strategy to communication agencies, to achieve greater efficiency. Account Strategy synergy is at the basis of these agencies, where both must carry out projects for different brands. Once the agency wins a client, the daily execution is in the Account’s hands and included several tasks: Assist in the creation and presentation of integrated communications campaigns. Monitoring the media. Apply communications techniques beyond media relations. Identify and build relationships within clients. Lecture 8 27112024 How is the earned world doing? - Brands communicate what they are doing – they can earn a way to promote what they are doing – get journalists interested in what you are doing - Newspapers started in 17th century as bulletins – used to know prices of goods - In the 18th century started to have some advertising in them, just a few lines about a business or a local activity - Penny paper – used to tell stories about crime - 2009 – deep crisis, business model had been doing well for two centuries – it was going through a profound transformation - Print newspaper advertising revenue declined steadily - In the past decades sales of physical newspapers declined ➔ the percentage of adv investment in newspapers also declined. In fact, because of digitalization, advertising moved to the online world. - The media landscape has changed - Nonetheless newspapers are still very influential, important for companies even if they’ve lost market – it is because of the reputation aspect of newspapers. 37  - The money that used to go toward the newspaper industry went to digital platforms like Google and Facebook - News organizations, like The New York Times, now focus on quality subscribers over quantity and engage in branded content creation to retain and attract subscribers. - Newspapers today do not have the millions of readers they had a few years ago. However, they managed to know better the ones who remain loyal to the press by using subscriptions (to a newsletter for example), through which they can obtain the data of their readers. - They don’t have as many subscribers as before, but they know them well. - The New York Times is the benchmark for the entire media industry – in 2008/09 decided to move the HQ from Times Square to a few blocks west and then sold the building because they were out of money. - News organizations today operate in a complex ecosystem, having to compete for attention with several sources (not necessarily other news organizations, Netflix also competes for attention). - The New York Times adapted by offering additional services and products to subscribers (videos, interactive pages, exclusive interviews). - Page One – video documentary by The New York Times, investigation on themselves they asked the question: are we on the brink of disappearing as a business and as a news organization? - Snowfall (2012) – project in which they covered the avalanche in Washington – introduced animations and embedded videos on the same page as the article – innovation that started to create the entire new business of long form stories and multimedia reporting - Started to create content for smartphone users, vertical structure – first few years of the iPhone explosion - What is clear is that digital is the future – the entire production of the New York Times is digital – so what they did as an experiment in 2012 is what they keep doing everyday now reaching 8 million subscribers - How to become Spotify – moving from a business where they buy the news to a subscription, streaming service – Spotify as a point of reference for newspapers – if you pay you do not have advertising – this is becoming the business model for the newspapers business Lecture 9 – 04/12/2024 MANCA 38 Lecture 10 – 06/12/2024 Media Relations: fundamentals of dealing with legacy media. Organizing a media relations strategy. Who is in charge of media relations in a company? - The press office, a department that works through several phases: - Active – they focus on promoting reputation, making pr to spread the chosen messages, make people talk about the brand, etc. Generally, they act to build brand awareness and reputation. - Passive – protecting the reputation of the company because something has happened, or journalists come to ask questions. They are not looking for publicity, because they are in a passive role where they need to respond to the press. - Organizational – preparation to prevent crises, done when not promoting an event or answering questions. Pseudoevents: - First, we have to distinguish between news and pseudo-events - An event intentionally designed and planned; it is not spontaneous, it happens because someone conceived it or planned it or incited it. - So: not a train derailment, but an interview Built to be picked up by the media - Examples of pseudo-events: statements, press releases, press conferences, interviews The purpose of media relations - Media relations is part of an entire strategy to protect and enhance the reputation of a company, and to influence and inform the target audiences. - The purpose of press relations is not to issue press releases or handle enquiries from journalists, or even to generate a massive pile of press cuttings - The true purpose of press relations is to enhance the reputation of an organization and its products, and to influence and inform the target audiences. - It means working on identity and brand to enhance reputation. - Some of the reason why media relations is used are: Improving company/brand image Higher (and better) media profile Changing attitude of target audience Improving relationships with the community Increasing market share Influencing government policy at local, national or international level Improving communications with investors and their advisers Improving industrial relations - However, the quality of press relations is more important than the quantity. In some situations, not having press coverage can even lead to success. But when you do need to talk, you need to find the right person to talk to. - To do that, you need to understand: what is the function of the organization the essential audiences to its success the messages to convey which media are available