power of storytelling

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 -

Visit VietnamBusiness.TV for business videos, news & research

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 i ts target audiences...so thatThose people will do and think.... . .what we want them to do or thinkknow of the companyfeel favourable towards its brandrecommend its products to othersinvest in the stockmake positive comments onlinewant to work there


“PR, simply put, is the art of story tel l ing…”


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 How do you get a withdrawn teen to open up and seek help?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 & CEOVisit VietnamBusiness.TV

for business videos, news & research

THE IDEA:

OK2TalK.orgThe 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 followersOver 68K engagements (likes and reblogs)Over 1.15M pageviewsOver 6K submissionsOver 108K clicks to the GET HELP resources pageThe 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—Thought flows in terms of stories—stories about events, stories about stories about events, stories about people, and stories about intentions people, and stories about intentions and achievements. …The brain is a and achievements. …The brain is a story-seeking, story creating story-seeking, story creating instrument” instrument” Frank Smith in “Frank Smith in “To Think”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 BanSynergistic

Value-added

Innovation

Paradigm

Out-of-the-box

Shareholder value

End-to-end solution


6 WordsVisit VietnamBusiness.TV

for business videos, news & research

“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.”

Make it Concrete

= 37 grams fat


http://www.cspinet.org/index.html

=


= 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

34

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 aresult, 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

37

Central Message Key takeaway/headline

Supporting Key Message



ProofFacts

Figures Examples

ProofFacts

Figures Examples

ProofFacts

Figures Examples


Develop Our Story


Measure It With Story Tell ing

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&AThank 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

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