Corporate storytelling: a guide to 7 key steps
The goal of every company is to sell more . To do this, it is important to create awareness around your product or service , but above all around your brand . In a market where competitors with more affordable prices and alternative or equivalent products are born every day, what really can diversify your company is its history .
Whether you are a large company established in your industry or a small start-up looking for a way to differentiate yourself from the competition, corporate storytelling should be at the heart of your entire communication strategy .
And if you don't have a communication strategy, this is exactly the best starting point, whether you have a dedicated marketing department or are interested in approaching your partner / supplier with more awareness and preparation.
How to do business storytelling
Contrary to popular belief, no one knows the history of your company better than you . By following these simple principles of creative writing , you will be able to devise new strategies driven by content with a strong narrative impact.
Yes, because storytelling means nothing more than telling a story, but most marketers and communication agencies abuse this word, to the point that it almost seems that everyone is doing storytelling and that it is enough to write a post on your profile to tell something. This is publishing, communicating, not telling. And this is why, in order to identify the key elements of a communication strategy based on storytelling, it is necessary to refer to “ The Anatomy of Story ”, by John Truby, an American screenwriter and script teacher.The 7 key elements of storytelling
When we talk about the structure of a story , we mean its narrative development over a given period of time, which can be the reading time of a post, the 15 seconds of a story on Instagram or the commercial of the latest Fiat model. Stop for a second to think about all the advertisements (including billboards in your city) that impressed you the most: they all had the ability to condense in a few seconds a message broad enough to allow you to think about everything that revolves around the concept illustrated and become memorable.
If you are developing a storytelling strategy , for example, to tell your brand, you must first of all reflect on the message you intend to convey and ask yourself who are the people it will be addressed to . After that, you will have to focus on defining who will be the protagonist of your story (your customer, a potential new customer, your employee, you, etc.) and what you want to tell . Always remember that the WHAT is far more important than the HOW: although in communication it is believed that the style in which something is told really makes a difference, the public perceives the event more easily, rather than the message hidden within it.
Each story features at least 7 key steps :
1 - The need
The need is something that the protagonist of the story has within him and that he feels he must satisfy in order to have a better life. In general, it is about overcoming one's weaknesses and producing growth.
In "promotional" terms, understanding the need of your audience allows you to relate to it in a more intimate way and be able to stage it, immediately creating a relationship between the story we tell and the viewer.
In this simple but powerful spot, Mcdonald's is telling its audience that its traditions are timeless and that its restaurants will always remain the meeting point between 2 different generations with different needs but similar desires.
2 - Desire
Speaking of desire, in storytelling we mean the goal that the protagonist pursues throughout the story. There is a close connection between need and desire, but beware, they are not the same thing: in general, to the achievement of a goal, therefore to the realization of the desire, the protagonist satisfies his need.
To better distinguish the two things, the need concerns something internal to us and will probably remain implicit and hidden by the "message", while desire is the path that the protagonist takes to satisfy it.
Do you remember the scene from “What women want” in which Mel Gibson presents his commercial for Nike? No? I link it to you below: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8qxlpY68xs
3 - The opponent
The opponent is a character, event, obstacle or element that aims to prevent the protagonist from achieving his goal. To find the perfect opponent you have to start with the protagonist. Be careful not to fall into the trap of the inner opponent: when we talk about characters in conflict with themselves, we refer to an inner weakness, therefore to a need to be satisfied.
If you can't think of examples, think of the super gymnastics who oppose the skinny guy in the Vigorsol ads.
4 - The plan
Action is unthinkable without a project, both in life, in writing and in communication. The plan is the set of actions or single action that the protagonist will perform in the course of the story to achieve his goal.
In a sense, it is the action itself that is being told.5 - The clash
Whatever story you intend to tell, the protagonist and the opponent will have, at some point, a clash in which the fate of one or the other will be decided. It is not necessary for the two characters to beat each other up, but the protagonist must come face to face with his problem and do something to solve it. Often this is where, in business storytelling, the company comes into play and solves the problem.
6 - Self-disclosure
The clash produces, in the protagonist, an important revelation. What he has learned must be staged and never described by the protagonist. If your product or intervention is causing this change, show its effects.7 - The new balance
Following the overcoming conflict, the protagonist is now in a completely different and better situation. His life has changed and this is where a good business storytelling strategy becomes memorable: by staging real people with real problems that are solved thanks to us, we can create a direct relationship with the audience and become memorable.
Where to start
Ok, now what? You have never written a story. Let alone create the spot of the year!Before you break down, actually ask yourself if what you need is really something that unique and elaborate or if there are other ways to differentiate yourself. Telling a story is always and above all a means of demonstrating to one's audience why "us" and not the competition. To do this, listen to the needs of the people your product addresses. Try to understand what your story needs to say about this and you will easily find the right story to tell.
Once you have defined the structure and the 7 key steps, you just have to find the right means to tell your story.
