There’s no question that photos like the one above that accompanied a New York Times article on China’s surging demand for coal accentuate storytelling.

In some cases, we’re actually seeing storytelling revolve around visuals like the seafood charticle in WIRED Magazine.

I think The New York Times does a particularly good job in building their stories around a strong narrative and compelling photographs. At a time when the photo staffs of newspapers have been decimated (to be kind), The Times augments its skeleton crew with other photo sources.

The photo of the chap shoveling coal comes from the European Pressphoto Agency. It fits perfectly with the opening graph of the NYT story:

Even as China has set ambitious goals for itself in clean-energy production and reduction of global warming gases, the country’s surging demand for power from oil and coal has led to the largest six-month increase in the tonnage of human generated greenhouse gases ever by a single country.  

Furthermore, two more photos round out The New York Times’ story on the China energy challenge, both secured from Reuters.

What does this mean for communications professionals?

It behooves us to strengthen our stories with compelling photography or other visuals.

In fact, one could make an argument that internal staff cutbacks create even more opportunity for companies to use photography to make a case for their stories with the media. 

I spoke at the American Chamber of Commerce in Beijing on storytelling a couple weeks ago. The talk triggered interest from a Chinese publication which asked me two questions via e-mail: 

How does storytelling impact today’s traditional media as well as social media? How does storytelling benefit business executives and their respective companies? 

My answers follow.

The media has changed.

I know these four words smack of understatement, but bear with me.

It used to be that the media viewed its mission as to inform and in some cases educate. Today, thanks to the Internet commoditizing all types of information, including news, the media must also entertain as a means to rise above the noise level.

As a proof point, consider the following words that came from a website for journalists:

Don’t limit your inquiry, or your thinking, to the basics of journalism: Who, what, when, where, why, how. Think in terms of story elements: setting, character, plot, conflict, climax, resolution, dialogue, theme. 

This captures the essence of how journalism is striving for a greater entertainment quotient.

Public relations needs to align with this dynamic.

This means public relations professionals should be developing content that encapsulates the elements of storytelling, which in turn enables the journalists to write a narrative. Of course, the journalist doesn’t have 200+ pages to air out a narrative like a novel. But PR professionals can still offer the right pieces – access to executives, quantifying key events, anecdotes – that lend themselves to narrative in business and trade publications.

With that said, we’re proponents of applying the techniques of storytelling to all communications (not just media relations).

Three thoughts on these techniques -

First, communicate in conversational language. I don’t know why reasonable and interesting people put on a business suit and all of the sudden their language becomes stiff and boring language. Keep it conversational.

Also, you can create drama by simply showing the contrast between the old way and the new way. The way I explain this in storytelling workshops is the difference between “what was” and “what is.” The greater the difference, the greater the drama.

And third, the power of anecdotes brings life to any communication. More than entertain, an anecdote shows a certain realness in the communication. There’s a great line from Raymond Mar who’s a professor at York University in Toronto who has researched storytelling: 

Everyone has a natural detector for psychological realism. 

The use of anecdotes helps a communication get through that “natural detector.”

These same techniques absolutely apply to social media.

Look at how 90+ percent of LinkedIn invitations arrive:

So and so has indicated you are a person they’ve done business with at so and so company.

 

I’d like to add you to my professional network on LinkedIn. 

I don’t think anyone would confuse these words (template from LinkedIn) as compelling.

At the very least, people should take 60 seconds and personalize the LinkedIn invitation with conversational language. Again, this basic technique alone will cause your communication to stand out.

I’d like to end on this note.

People like it when companies have personalities. It makes them feel like there are actual people on the other side of the communication as opposed to a faceless machine.

This might seems obvious and simplistic.

Yet, you could make an argument that many companies actually put energy into activities that squeeze out their personalities so they come across as generic and blend into the background.

Because they’re communicating the same way the vast majority of companies communicate.

It makes no sense.

The vast majority of people have been programmed to think business is serious so their communication must be dry and boring and, yes, serious.

On the positive side, if you can create a personality, it literally becomes a differentiator in this sea of sameness … which is where storytelling comes in.

Storytelling can become a powerful tool in creating a company’s personality.

People tend to think of companies like Apple when it comes to distinctive personalities, but even little things can shape a personality for companies that don’t sell iPods and iPhones.

Here’s one quick example.

One of our clients called Bumptop was just bought by Google. Bumptop created a 3-D desktop operating system which is somewhat technical, but the company shrewdly developed its personality from the start by having fun with language and storytelling. Its website - which unfortunately is no longer live - showcased this attitude with sections like “Love for Bumtop” instead of using a traditional phrase like “Press Room.”

Now, most companies would be downright scared to use a word like “love,” which you rarely see in business communication. But this type of contrarian approach and belief in storytelling played a major role in differentiating Bumptop and building its brand in a relatively short period of time.

Given a choice, do you gravitate toward entertaining people or dull people?

The same holds true for companies; hence, the reason to embrace storytelling.

Everybody loves a train wreck and what I affectionately call a “NASCAR story.”

Even the promise of a collision tends to attract a crowd.

With this as the backdrop, UTStarcom faced a quandary.

The Justice Department had nailed the company for violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, a fancy phrase for bribery. How does one put its best foot forward in disseminating such news?

Ultimately, the company went with the old “If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, did it make a noise?” strategy. By distributing the news release on December 31, the company calculated that reporters would have one foot out the door in anticipation of their New Year’s Eve celebrations.

I think it’s fair to say the new release’s headline UTStarcom Inc. Agrees to Pay $1.5 Million Penalty for Acts of Foreign Bribery in China - compliments of a writer at the Justice Department - made this tough to miss.

As it turns out, reporters were willing to stay for a few extra minutes before New Year’s Eve, as you can see from a sampling of headlines:

San Francisco Chronicle: UTStarcom settles bribery case for $3 million (Dec. 31, 2009

PC World: UTStarcom to Pay U.S. Fines for Bribing Chinese Carriers (Dec. 31, 2009)

The Associated Press: UTStarcom pays $3M to settle bribery charges (Dec. 31, 2009)

The Wall Street Journal: UTStarcom to Pay Fine for China Bribery (Dec. 31, 2009)

The New York Times: Telecom Company to Pay $3 Million in China Bribe Case (Jan. 1, 2010)

I got a kick out of The New York Times piece that highlights, “A company spokesman could not be reached for comment on Thursday.” Apparently, The Times held out a day waiting for a return call, which explains the January 1 publication date.

Still, if you’re UTStarcom, you might make the case that most of the media coverage was nothing more than a regurgitation of the news release. With the worst behind, let’s now embark on a fresh start in 2010.

But this rationale would be flawed.

Trying to hide bad news by distributing an announcement on a late Friday afternoon or on December 31 is akin to flashing a red cape in front of a bull. It’s only going to increase the media’s “enthusiasm” to explore the story with greater depth.

Plus, the story has a Tyco-like quality to show excess or just plain buffoonery (although we can safely assume no $2M birthday parties were staged in Sardinia). Consider that the Justice Department documentation already shows ditties like the company paying for Chinese officials to take junkets to Hawaii, Las Vegas and New York under the auspices of training.

It’s not like this is the first time the company has lost its way.

The law journal The Recorder published a piece entitled “UTStarcom’s Crash Shows Pitfalls of Doing Business in China” back in 2007 that captured:

Over the past couple of years, the company has admitted to backdating stock options for executives, investigated its own employees for paying bribes across Asia, and admitted improperly recording hundreds of millions in revenue.

Ouch.

And there’s still more fodder to explore.

For example, it’s not every company that asks its general counsel to do double duty as chief ethics officer, but that’s the dual title worn by Susan Marsch. I’m guessing Ms. Marsch had a few voicemails when she returned from the holiday break.

The company might also want to rethink the “Our Values” section on its Web site:

That line “clear standards of right and wrong” could use some work. Perhaps that Justice Department copywriter is available.

Kidding aside, this story has all the elements of a country song.

It behooves UTStarcom to recognize that a) the story won’t disappear behind a December 31 release date, and b) without proper preparation, its public image will be savaged beyond rehabilitation.

The vast majority of my posts address topics outside the confines of the Agency.

My last company-centric post was back in July, taking a trip down nostalgia lane with our 21-year anniversary in mind.

With the caveat out of the way, I wanted to highlight a guest post from Wei Wang out of our Beijing office.

The piece, titled “Don’t Assume China Mimics US-Style Social Media,” appeared on the blue-chip property ReadWriteWeb yesterday.

While I wouldn’t call it classic storytelling - there’s no protagonist, obstacle or happy ending - the social media scene in China is brought to life with anecdotes and personal experiences.

I particularly liked the fortune-telling anecdote which “jars Western sensibilities.”

It’s worth noting that our head of Editorial Services, Bonnie Lamb, edited the work from Wei (who was writing in her second language) and RWW’s Andrew Lobo tightened the piece into its final form.

Here’s the RWW guest post:

China enjoyed center stage this week thanks to President Obama’s visit. Naturally, trade relations were on the agenda.

For Internet companies sitting in the US, news reports that chronicled the President’s every move in China provide a visible reminder of the business opportunity that can seem a click away.

So, why not export social media to China just like KFC and American Idol? After all, seeing Yao Ming, arguably China’s grandest international star, on Facebook and Twitter, one naturally figures that, aside from the language and periodic blocking of websites, “What’s the diff?”

With Facebook gaining little traction in China (having only 390,000 users), and tweets virtually grinding to a halt since the government started blocking Twitter, these things point to the “diff.”

Simply flinging an American product into the Chinese market won’t succeed, because every social media category has a Chinese equivalent that is tuned to the specific needs of the mainland Chinese market.

Take one of China’s “Facebooks,” Kaixin001.com, which already has secured over 40 million users since launching only last year. The platform gained its initial popularity through applications that you would recognize from Facebook, such as “Friends for sale” and “Parking wars” - but with a Chinese twist.

Take, for example, the application called “Xingming Yuanfen,” in which you can type in a friend’s name and test your “yuanfen” (i.e. your predetermined relationship with that person). Another application explains who you were in your previous life. It turns out I was a bandit, much to the chagrin of my parents.

These “fortune-telling” applications enjoy incredible popularity on computers and mobile phones. While fortune-telling jars Western sensibilities, it remains a part of Chinese culture.

But the best example of China walking to the beat of its own drummer is the continued popularity of the BBS.

That’s not a typo.

That is the same bulletin board system that went by the wayside in the US with dial-up modems and US Robotics. Chinese students - who, like their counterparts in the US, are more open to experimentation than other segments - established the foundation for the BBS to flourish in China.

All major universities operate their own BBS. Peking University and Tsinghua University (which are the Harvard and MIT of China) host the Weiming BBS (named after Weiming Lake at Peking University) and Shuimu Tsinghua BBS, respectively.

With 10+ years’ worth of graduates who grew up on the BBS now driving the Chinese Internet market, these same people have fueled a range of BBS sites tied to their interests and professions. According to the latest CINIC (China Internet Network Information Center) report, roughly 30% of Chinese Web users spend a significant amount of time on a BBS. So, these sites certainly transcend geekdom.

55BBS, for example, is an online community where users share discount information, coupons and other creative ways of landing a good deal. Users also show off what they got from their latest shopping spree, showing off a photo of a skin care product as if it were a trophy.

Perhaps the most unique phenomenon in China is Tianya, the #1 BBS, with almost 30 million users.

What is Tianya? Think of it as a gathering place for an eclectic blend of intellectuals, journalists, freelancers, professors, researchers, gadflies, etc. Users write on and comment about sensitive social issues that may be off-limits to mainstream media. People also head to this forum to gossip about celebrities (okay, some things don’t change between cultures).

A Chinese word has been coined for BBS evangelists: “Da’rens,” which roughly means “people who really know how to do something.” We’re now starting to see some “Da’rens” parlay their popularity into commercial success. The famous makeup Da’ren known as Arora started out writing about cosmetics on a BBS before launching a blog for the mega-portal Sina.com.

From a Chinese perspective, the fundamental difference between a blog and BBS is that a BBS allows for anonymity, which appeals to the introversion of many Chinese. Blogging is also more of a solitary activity, with readers chiming in with comments later. The BBS, on the other hand, is more of a collaborative undertaking, which again appeals to the Chinese.

This all means that Internet companies from the US looking to crack the mainland Chinese market need to do their homework and tailor their products accordingly.

Here’s an easy litmus test when planning your market entry in China: “What’s the difference between the US and Chinese version of your product?”

If the answer takes more than 60 seconds to explain, then you’ve got a fighting chance.

Boy meets girl.

David topples Goliath.

Money.

Overcoming hardships.

Goliath meets girl.

All the basic themes of classic storytelling work in any culture and in any language.

But this doesn’t mean you can develop stories in your home market, fling them over the fence to far-reaching countries and expect them to resonate with the local media.

Regardless of the theme, you still need local characters for a story to play in a “Peoria” like China.

Look at the story last week in the Journal “Scouring China’s Streets for Car Design Ideas” that examines Mercedes-Benz’s decision to focus on China for inspiration in building tomorrow’s cars for the global market, not just China.

First and foremost, you have a local protagonist in Olivier Boulay, who heads up the Mercedes design studio in Beijing.

A killer anecdote sets the tone for the story:

A decade ago, in search of inspiration for an ultra-luxurious Mercedes-Benz, designer Olivier Boulay studied Japan’s chauffeur-car culture.

Now, as he dreams about the future of the automobile, he zips around Beijing on a $367 electric bike, along with throngs of the city’s residents.

Nice touch that Boulay shared the receipt of his motorbike with the reporter.

The story goes on to weave in China-centric stats like how China now represents Mercedes’ fourth largest market compared with 10th place back in 2006.

But the most revealing data lies in a bar chart that shows Mercedes now sells more cars in China than in Japan (although it’s strange that the same bar chart didn’t appear in the online version of the story; perhaps a shortage of bytes on this day).

Accentuating the point, we learn that Boulay spent 17 years in the Mercedes design studio in Japan before making the jump to China.

Step back for a moment and consider the head of Mercedes Japan. Do you think he or she was thrilled about this story? What about the Mercedes employees based in Japan?

But without this context, you don’t generate the drama that shapes the story.

The communicators looking after the Mercedes global brand recognize this point and obviously had the clout to advance this one-voice story (would be interesting to know if the Mercedes communicators had to navigate internal politics to free up the story).

Playing a bit to the nationalist tendencies in any country, Boulay shares:

“You can see how a new generation of consumers in this country is way out in front.”

Also worth highlighting, you don’t need hard news to generate these types of stories. The closest the Mercedes story comes to a news hook is noting that “Boulay moved to Beijing this year.” Not exactly a stop-the-presses moment.

All in all, it’s a great example of localizing storytelling.