DW's Blog

Storytelling

by DW Green — July 27, 2016

Grave Marker: Boot Hill

I was in Tombstone Arizona over the weekend. Tombstone is best known for Boot Hill and the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral. It was home of the legendary Earp bothers and their nemeses the Clanton family and Frank and Tom McLaury. The townspeople were largely Republicans from the Northern states and many of the local ranchers (some like the Clantons, were also rustlers) were Confederate sympathizers and Democrats. The story of Tombstone in the late 1800’s is a very interesting story. And like any great story, it includes the four basic elements of storytelling:

The Message

The Conflict

The Characters

The Plot

In business, storytelling works on two levels: Storytelling is a strategic branding concept and storytelling as a communication tool. And like the frontier boomtown story of Tombstone, it includes the same four basic elements of storytelling.

Klaus Fog writes in his excellent book, Storytelling. Branding in Practice. “Tough times lay ahead for companies that shut their eyes and continue to compete only on product and price.”

“In order to retain the loyalty of your customers in today’s competitive environment, you have to create an experience that is relevant and differentiates your brand from others. The physical product no longer makes the difference. The difference lies in the story, because the story is what drives the bond between the company and the consumer. As human beings we actively seek stories and experiences in our quest for a more meaningful life. Likewise companies need to communicate based on values, and clearly illustrate how they make a difference. It is these fundamental aspects of our modern society and marketplace that have created the natural link between branding and storytelling.

Companies need to rethink. They need to understand the logic of storytelling in order to build an emotional bond with the people they communicate with: their customers and their employees. Employees increasingly demand that employer has values that they themselves can identify and feel comfortable with. We would rather earn slightly less and feel good about what we do for a living. It needs to make sense as part of a bigger picture. As such storytelling is a relevant for internal branding and towards other stakeholder, as it is towards the end consumer.

At their most simple, storytelling and branding come out of the same starting point: emotions and values. A strong brand builds on clearly defined values, while a good story communicates those values in a language easily understood by all of us. A strong brand exists based on its emotional ties to the consumer or employee, while a good story speaks to out emotions and bonds people together. Ultimately, storytelling has the power to strengthen a brand both internally and externally.”

How can you work storytelling into the infrastructure of your company? How can your company tell a story that will make a difference to your employees and customers? Let DW Green Company help you with your storytelling.

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