I conducted a session on storytelling for one of Sony’s sales teams earlier in the week.

An old poll jointly conducted by The New York Times and CBS served as a good trigger for discussion.

The first chart points out that the average person feels “on guard” with others.

It gets worse as you can see by the following.

No big surprise here.

I suspect our cynicism toward humankind has actually worsened since 1999.

But check out the third data point.

The vast majority of people not only lower their guard, but believe a person will “try to be fair” once they know the person.

Before going further, I want to make sure I give credit where credit is due. Annette Simmons connects these dots much more eloquently at the International Storytelling Center.

Back to the NYT/CBS data.

Simply stated, the trust a person puts in you skyrockets by knowing you.

Even a closet introvert like me can’t ignore the implication.

And there’s no better way to help someone get to know you than by sharing a story.

If I say to you “I’m a great dad and love my kids,” what’s your reaction?

Right.

You probably figure I never spend time with my kids and feel guilty about it.

But if I tell you a story about tag-teaming with my three kids once a week to prepare the family dinner, and how we challenged ourselves last week with Julia Child’s Boeuf Bourguignon recipe which turned into an unmitigated disaster, now you’re starting to get a feel for my values plus more.

That’s the power of storytelling.

Here’s my third crack at Moes Takes, which last ran in February.

As a refresher, I worked with Rob Moes who was VP of marketing for Philips in the mid-1980s. During an interview at COMDEX, a reporter pressed Moes for projections on how many CD-ROM drives would be sold looking out five years. Rob responded “That’s like asking Mrs. Magellan how many lunches to pack.”

That’s why I call these fresh quotes culled from recent publications “Moes Takes.”

Round III:

“I never say we are turning the corner because it seems to me that if you turn the corner four times, you’re back to where you started.”

Sunil Gulati, President of the United States Soccer Federation
American Soccer is Hitting the Right Notes
The New York Times (August 12, 2010)

It was clever the way Mr. Gulati put his high school geometry to work to figure this one out.

Dulled-down version:

“In the sports community, one never wants to be satisfied. There’s always room for improvement.”

I thought it would be fun to periodically dip into the archives, so this one rewinds the tape to 2005:

“The problem is at some point I do need to make money. I have enough traffic and enough money from Google ads to pay the bills but the profits are just enough to buy me a carton of cigarettes.”

Om Malik, Founder of GigaOm
Are Blogs Ready For the Big Time?
Financial Post (July 9, 2005)

This is classic Om, with a remark that is textured in the mode of Salinger.

He tells the world, the hell with convention, I’m going to smoke. But scrutinizing the quote more deeply, he calls out the quantity as a “carton,” not a pack, sending a message that he’s doing fine, thank you very much.

Dulled-down version:

“Everyone needs money to pay the bills. Thankfully, the revenue from Google ads achieves this objective, allowing me to eat, pay the rent and even indulge in a smartphone.”

Next up:

“The fish don’t vote.”

Edward M. Stern, President of PowerBridge
Underwater Cable an Alternative to Electrical Towers
The New York Times (March 16, 2010)

I love this quote. Very Chicago-ish.

When questioned why lay cable in the Hudson River instead of on land, he makes it clear the demands of the fish constituency are far less than human beings.

Dulled-down version:

“Today’s taxpayers do not want cabling infrastructure near their homes, a problem that disappears when the cabling is placed in rivers and the ocean.”

Keeping with the political theme, we captured this final quote:

“We have to put an end to this. The public should not have to mortgage their houses for a soft drink and a snack [at movie theatres].”

Carmel Shama, Lukid Party Politician
MK Plans Popcorn Law For Movie Munchers
AFP Wire Service (April 2, 2010)

You can never go wrong with hyperbole.

But note that the hyperbole must work within a geographic context.

For example, this quote wouldn’t make sense in places like Stockton, California, where a box of Dots has held its value better than the housing market.

Dulled-down version:

“As the voice of the people, elected officials have a responsibility to cap the price of a soda and popcorn at movie theaters. People shouldn’t have to spend large sums of money for this pleasure.”

I’m always on the lookout for compelling quotes. If one catches your attention, please e-mail it to me at lhoffman@hoffman.com.

I know I said advertising gets narrative but this falls under the extreme category.

Cruising through the May 1916 edition of Popular Mechanics, I came across the ad headline:

One Hint From These Men May Be the Turning Point in your Life!

Lest you feel a “carny” come-on, the copy strives to establish credibility from the get go:

Suppose men like Wilson, Rockefeller, Carnegie and Hill called on you, in your own home and confided to you the innermost secrets to their success!

This isn’t Michael Jordan hocking underwear. We’re talking the great minds of the era like Rockefeller and Carnegie paying you a virtual house call.

And what’s with the exclamation point?

The copy continues:

Suppose they stood at your side, constantly guiding you — could you possibly fail to get the things you want most in life? Well, that is what these men do for you through the Master Workers’ Book, written by them for your guidance.

Not even conversational language can save this story.

Now comes the game-changing benefit:

It is like a personal and permanent visit from them, full of ideas, plans and methods from cover to cover — and if you get only ONE HINT (all upper caps in the ad) from them it may change your entire life — may mean greater success for you than you even dreamed possible.

Very shrewd to address a person’s “entire life” as opposed to a person’s “life,” lest he or she feel short-sheeted.

But my favorite is how they package the value proposition.

As separate volumes, the four books which make up The Master Workers’ Book, sold for $6; but the recent strides in bookmaking have enabled us to put these four books into one splendid volume which we are able to give you for the cost of postage with a year’s subscription to World’s Work ($3), the one magazine which every ambitious person owes it to himself to read.

This is a version of the sales pitch to subscribe to Sports Illustrated and get the DVD of how the swimsuit issue was made at no additional charge … operators are standing by.

And while I’m impressed with their advances in bookmaking, I can’t help but wonder if an outsourced manufacturing model to Southeast Asia might have pummeled the price down to $1.50.

But here’s the real mystery in the ad that we’ll never know.

What are Wilson and Rockefeller and Carnegie and whatshisname doing schilling a self-help book for the proletarian? This would be like Warren Buffet morphing into Danny Bonaduce to sell stock tips on late night cable.

I guess finesse didn’t factor into ad storytelling in 1916.

Everyone left the news release for dead years ago.

Then Enron imploded, Sarbanes-Oxley arrived and the need for public disclosure resurrected this humble servant.

That’s why you saw Berkshire scooping up Business Wire some years ago. It was a form of “forget mining for gold, let’s sell the pans and sluice boxes.”

But not even the Carnac-like Buffett could have foreseen how the Internet and search engine optimization (SEO) would increase demand for news release distribution.

Beyond meeting disclosure requirements, communication consultancies like ourselves often deploy the news release for syndication purposes, a cost-effective means to build backlinks to a client’s digital property. In this scenario, there might not be any outreach to influencers.

But here’s a question to consider -

Does applying storytelling techniques to a news release increase its syndication quotient?

Logic says yes, a belief reflected in our client news releases like a recent one on a cell phone accessory from Bringrr:

New York – June 22, 2010 – For most of us, it’s a given that we sometimes drive off and forget our cell phone, leaving it at home, at the coffee shop, or at work. It is a frustrating fact of life and, when it happens, we have to turn around and get it or live without our phone for the day. With the launch of a new product called Bringrr, today the chances of forgetting or losing your cell phone have been greatly reduced.

In this example, we did reach out to influencers which, when combined with the syndicated coverage, made for a successful launch.

But how much did the storytelling approach increase syndication over your standard dull news release?

We really don’t know.

Victoria Harres at PR Newswire was kind enough to enlist her company’s brain trust, but the quantification proved elusive for them as well.

Drilling down another layer, how does the influence of a syndicated story grade out? Does most of the value come in the form of backlinks?

A news release that is syndicated typically republishes the news release word for word. This isn’t going to have the same influence on a reader as an article in a branded media property written by a real journalist, but what’s the delta between the two?

What I personally find interesting is in their quest for content, heavyweight business publications like The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times republish news releases. It’s caused me to wonder if the brand of book like a Journal or a Times causes the news release to have more juice with the readership.

I don’t know, but my instincts suggest this would be true.

If anyone has insights or better yet, hard data, we welcome your input.

This blog is geared to explore how storytelling techniques can be applied to brand building.

But what about the story that a company doesn’t necessarily want to tell?

Like when things go wrong.

We’re about to enjoy a front-row seat to such a case study with the Justice Department calling out Oracle with the news release headline:

“United States Files Complaint Against Oracle Alleging Contract Fraud.”

Nothing says “this is serious business, mister” like when the government bestows the word “fraud” on you. Just ask Goldman Sachs which shoveled $550 million to the SEC in exchange for removing the scarlet F from their chest.

The inflammatory nature of the F-word triggers headlines like the one in the San Jose Mercury News: “Ex-employee says Oracle fleeced feds on software.”

I think we can all agree that “fleeced” isn’t a word that bolsters your brand equity (unless you’re a major league baseball team at trade deadline).

Using a few pieces from the Merc article, we can logically project how this story will play out:

“Oracle salespeople used a variety of questionable tactics to hide the fact they were overcharging the federal government for software, in a scheme that cost taxpayers millions of dollars from 1998 to 2006…”

While “millions of dollars” isn’t exactly a precise number, to borrow from the late Senator Everett Dirksen, we’re definitely “talking real money,” which has the Fed’s attention.

“… former Oracle manager Paul Frascella claimed the company encouraged its salesforce to structure deals — and even use “white-out” to hide figures on printed contracts — so the government wouldn’t learn about repeated violations of that agreement.”

The government has someone on the inside that has documented his claims and can name names. Oracle is already in damage control mode reaching out to every employee who ever shared a cup of java with Frascella. Those same folks can expect a friendly call from their local Feds.

The whistle blower, Paul Frascella, left Oracle in 2008 but filed his claim in 2007.

This means he gave himself another year to not only collect more documentation but to do his xeroxing guided by government attorneys. We can also surmise that the government probably told him when he could leave the company.

Plus, note that the Justice Department only jumped into the fray three years after Frascella’s initial claim, no doubt making sure they had an iron-clad case before going public.

Obviously, Mr. Ellison and his team of attorneys will determine Oracle’s course of action. Given the combative nature of the company, it’s possible they’ll pursue the character assassination route with Frascella. I’m sure Frascella has already taken the precaution of padlocking his garbage cans.

Regardless, it’s likely we’ll see language gamesmanship from Oracle; i.e., we did give you our best prices. Let’s step back for a moment and define this concept called “best.” The complex nature of software makes pricing extremely complicated. Are we talking about the best price for the software or the best price in helping our friends in the government achieve the best total cost of ownership, known as TCO? You see, there are so many variables that …

As noted in previous posts, you can’t separate executive behavior from the outbound communications during a crisis. They are one and the same as we saw with Toyota’s fussy gas pedal and continue to see with BP.

But when Oracle does communicate to the outside world, they can still apply storytelling techniques.

I don’t mean they should strive to entertain.

This story will be plenty entertaining without Larry channeling Wayne’s World with a top-10 list on why the government has a “shweet” deal with Oracle. 

Here’s what I do mean.

Oracle is going to investigate the situation. They’ll learn exactly what went down. They’ll also decide on corrective actions that will prevent such a scenario from occurring again.

This puts Oracle in the perfect position to articulate what was and what will be.

I think I’m on safe ground in assuming there will be a sizable gulf between the two, a classic storytelling technique for creating drama.

To reach the happily ever after, you also need to get rid of the bad guys which calls for firing those who cheated the government as well as those who encouraged the conduct.

And finally, you need a hero.

How about Frascella?

Talk about an unexpected ending that will leave people aghast.

Can you imagine Ellison thanking Frascella for bringing this unacceptable behavior to his attention?

Now, that would be blockbuster.