We published the first guest post on this forum a couple of weeks ago from Michael Margolis. No. 2 comes from one of the Agency’s account folks, Julia Sinykin, who looks at stories in the context of water. And we’ll continue to strive to periodically shake up the status quo. The word “irony” comes to …more
Back in 2008 I wrote it’s not enough that Warren Buffet has become one of the richest men in the world. He’s also a world-class storyteller. (If it makes you feel any better, at least he’s not handsome.) Nowhere does this gift go on public display more than in his annual letter to shareholders. It’s …more
Michael Margolis originally penned this post for his online property called Get Storied. It offers a practical framework for applying storytelling techniques in the world of business. He also knows how to turn a phrase: “So while you might be convinced that you’re the Cat’s Meow, if others don’t believe that same story, there’s going …more
Any company would prize 20 column inches plus a photo on the front of The Journal’s Marketplace section. That’s exactly what UPS enjoyed in the article titled “UPS Thinks Outside the Box on Driver Training.” The piece makes for a good mini case study on the type of storytelling that plays in the business media. Note …more
Literally thousands of PR blogs dot – some might say clog – the social media landscape. When I started Ishmael’s Corner in 2008, I concluded the last thing the world needed was another digital pulpit spewing about embargoes, e-mail blasts to reporters, and the like. Instead, this blog has strived to address storytelling in business …more
I enjoy a story that depends on a contrarian bent. If someone revealed that Steve Jobs prefers Bad Religion on vinyl or that Michael Arrington leads a Bible study group, I would read those stories. So naturally, I gravitated to the piece “A hammer — yes, that low-tech tool — helps mold noses of Japan’s …more
An essay in Saturday’s Wall Street Journal makes an argument that U.S. students need to spend more time in the classroom. We learn that kids in China attend school 41 days a year more than their American brethren. The author, Chester E. Finn Jr., goes on to roll out stat after stat – the typical …more
Yesterday’s Wall Street Journal included an article that caught my attention. Titled “New Google Hire Takes Aim at Apple,” the piece – can’t bring myself to call it a story – recounts how a Google employee ( Tim Bray) recently poached from Sun used his personal blog to say nasty things about Apple’s mobile phone …more
This headline in BusinessWeek was so good, I decided to borrow it. Writer Patrick Lencioni, head of management consultancy The Table Group, chronicles the Domino’s Pizza ad campaign that takes introspective to a new level. In short, Domino’s falls on its rolling pin, publicly sharing focus group opinions that call out the pizza maker for …more
