the power of storytelling in business communication · the power of storytelling in business...
TRANSCRIPT
The Power of Storytelling
in Business Communication Oct 1st, 2014
Nguyễn Thanh Sơn
- General Director, T&A Ogilvy -
- President and Co-Founder, SAGE Brand & Commnucations Academy -
This slideshow is from a presentation at the M2 Marketing & Media events in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam organized by ITV-Asia.com and VietnamBusiness.TV
To see videos from the events, interviews with speakers and
to get information on upcoming M2 - Marketing & Media Network events Please visit VietnamBusiness.TV
“The story is the most important
things a company needs to tell its target audiences... so that Those people will do and think... ...what we want them to do or think know of the company feel favourable towards its brand recommend its products to others invest in the stock make positive comments online want to work there
“PR, simply put, is the art of story telling…”
Never Underestimate the Power of a Great Story
THE STORY BEHIND OK2TALK
THE CHALLENGE: Reach young adults that are struggling with mental health issues in silence and encourage them to take a step forward
When 1 in 4 teens and young adults feel alone, unloved, and isolated because of mental illness, how can a communications campaign break through and convince them to talk about it and seek help?
In the wake of the aftermath of Newtown, the White House wanted to start chipping away at the stigma surrounding mental illness. Profoundly affected by the loss of his own son to mental illness, NAB President and former Senator Gordon Smith met with Vice President Biden to talk about what NAB could do to help, using the power of its broadcast megaphone to educate Americans on mental health.
NAB partnered with Ogilvy to develop a TV and radio public service announcement (PSA) campaign to encourage more in-depth conversations about mental health in schools, the workplace, families, and among friends.
How do you effectively reach the young audience that is watching less live television? How do you get a withdrawn teen to open up and seek help?
THE STORY: How National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) is encouraging conversation around mental health
“The next time you ask someone
how they are doing,
don’t just settle for “fine.”
Encourage an honest answer.
It could save their life.”
Gordon Smith, NAB President & CEO
THE IDEA:
OK2TalK.org The first step towards recovery and getting help is to start talking. In order
to reach this audience and to encourage open and safe communication, Social@Ogilvy chose the Tumblr platform as the destination that could foster active sharing and support. OK2TALK.org provided the appropriate and urgent resources needed, including the phone number for a 24-hour hotline for anyone needing immediate assistance.
The PSA and supporting partnerships drove audiences directly to this Tumblr, encouraging the audience to add their voice.
A Responsive Tumblr site:
• Large-format photography and video
• Parallax and infinite scrolling
• Fixed navigation
• User-generated content
• Prominent “share” functionality
• Reblogs of related content
• Prominent 24/7 hotline
THE RESULTS: Immediate traction with the audience
Within the first two weeks of launch
Over 13K followers
9,300 engagements (likes and reblogs)
Over 75K pageviews
Ranked as one of Tumblr’s trending blogs
To date (February 2014)
Over 27K followers
Over 68K engagements (likes and reblogs)
Over 1.15M pageviews
Over 6K submissions
Over 108K clicks to the GET HELP resources page
The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (1-800-273-TALK), the
featured helpline, saw an off-trend increase of 7% in total calls
for July and August 2013
... Thank you. I just want to say that this is an amazing organization and there are many people who appreciate what y'all are doing. So thank you to all of the lovely people who are involved.” … I am a middle school teacher and have kids walk through my door each day that could use support and uplifting from a place like this. I have recently lost my best friend to suicide/mental illness and truly believe if she had been able to feel like she could ask for help, she would still be here. Thank you for putting faces and voices to something that deserves attention!”
THE RESULTS: Outpouring show of support and appreciation from the Tumblr community and OK2TALK audience
… I’m not going to pretend like I know what you are going through and how you really feel deep down. What I am going to do is support you through whatever it is. Sometimes I get scared and lonely because it seems that every door I have opened was shut in my face. That is why I hide the tears or shut down, then people wonder why I don’t want to talk. Here at “Ok2talk.org”, you can do all the talking you want and people like me :-) are here for YOU!” ... Reading all of these I want these people to know that people do care rather you know or not. You are somebody’s reason to smile. And you all were put on this earth to live and to be who you want to be. Don’t cut your life short. We all have the potential to do anything we want. Be the change.”
THE RESULTS: Outpouring show of support and appreciation from the Tumblr community and OK2TALK audience
“Thought flows in terms of stories—stories about events, stories about people, and stories about intentions and achievements. …The brain is a story-seeking, story creating instrument” Frank Smith in “To Think”
Gage’s Brain
It’s not rational…
“Emotion, feeling, and biological regulation
all play a role in human reason… We are
not thinking machines. We are feeling
machines that think.”
Without our emotions, we are unable to reason.
“The bridge between rational and non-rational processes is
emotion…”
SHOW… …don’t TELL
He felt depressed
“for 6 days-or was it 7-he had not moved from the stale-smelling sofa. He could tell it must be getting toward the dinner time as he could no longer make out the titles of the books across the room in the dark. But he had not been hungry since she left. He could not remember the last time he left the room.”
He was low income child who had to struggle to achieve his dreams
Cedric became a latch-key child at the age of five, when his mother went back to work. She filled her boy's head with visions of the Ivy League, bringing him home a Harvard sweat shirt while he was in junior high. Every day after school, after double-locking the door behind him, he would study, dream of becoming an engineer living in a big house -- and gaze at the dealers just outside his window stashing their cocaine in the alley.
The “Sticky” Factors
Simple
Unexpected Beginnings
Concrete
Credible
Emotional
Story
Simplify
Mind-Numbing Words to Ban
Synergistic
Value-added
Innovation
Paradigm
Out-of-the-box
Shareholder value
End-to-end solution
6 Words
“For sale: baby shoes. Never worn.” -Hemingway
____ __ _____
It was a bright, cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen.
“I come from a family with a lot of dead people.”
"We went to the moon to have fun, but the moon turned out to completely suck."
"If your teacher has to die, August isn't a bad time of year for it."
“Many years later, as he faced the firing squad, Colonel Aureliano Buendía was to remember that distant afternoon when his father took him to discover ice.”
“It was a pleasure to burn.”
“All children, except one, grow up.”
= How About Some Popcorn With Your Fat?
By WILLIAM GRIMES The scariest thing at the movies isn't Jason or Freddy Krueger. It isn't even Mickey Rourke in a dramatic role. It's popcorn.
Credible – use scale
32
What if… Every house in China decided to replace just 5 incandescent bulbs with new compact fluorescent ones?
It would be equal to taking half (18 million) cars off the road in China.
Analogies & Metaphors
Emotional – be vulnerable
Rokia, a 7-year-old girl from Mali, Africa, is desperately poor and faces a threat of severe hunger or even starvation. Her life will be changed for the better as a result of your financial gift.
• Food shortages in Malawi are affecting more than 3 million children. • In Zambia, severe rainfall deficits have resulted in a 42% drop in maize production from 2000. As a result, an estimated 3 million Zambians face hunger. • Four million Angolans — one third of the population— have been forced to flee their homes. • More than 11 million people in Ethiopia need immediate food assistance.
Left Brain Right Brain
Remember…
Show – don’t tell – be emotional.
Create a movie in the listener’s mind.
Hook them with a great beginning.
Simplify.
Make it concrete.
Details make it real.
Know listener’s frame of reference and use metaphors and analogies.
Your Story
Start with our message
Central Message Key takeaway/headline
Supporting Key Message
Supporting Key Message
Supporting Key Message
Proof Facts
Figures Examples
Proof Facts
Figures Examples
Proof Facts
Figures Examples
Develop Our Story
Measure It With Story Telling
Conflict – Basic tension (good vs. evil)
Prominence – Well-known people/companies
Impact – Significant effect on readership
Timeliness – When is it happening?
Exception – Departure from the norm/surprise
First – Never been done before
Trends – Surveys, data, unique insight
Experts – You, other business leaders, academics
All in 100 words or less!!
Where We Need to Push?
How Can We Tell Our Story?
Who?
What?
Where?
When?
Why?
Q&A Thank you!
This slideshow is from a presentation at the M2 Marketing & Media events in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam organized by ITV-Asia.com and VietnamBusiness.TV
To see videos from the events, interviews with speakers and
to get information on upcoming M2 - Marketing & Media Network events Please visit VietnamBusiness.TV