Cracking The New York Times, The Washington Post or a like target with an op-ed is not for the squeamish. Your storytelling must be crisp, clever and ideally contrarian with a clear point of view (my high school English teacher would be pleased that I was paying attention to the alliteration lesson). And after articulating the issue, the close must answer the question, “So …more
YouTube has become synonymous with viral videos. When I play the video association game, I think of the Old Spice man and the hilarious Coke happy machine. Now YouTube wants to be perceived as a digital campfire for storytelling. Toward this end, the platform is hosting a free webcast on April 21 that promises to teach how YouTube …more
In the world of entertainment, there’s nothing quite like that “hero twist” at the end. But the hero in business isn’t dodging bullets. Kari Ramirez, one of our account managers in Silicon Valley, contributed today’s guest post on this very topic. As you’ll see, even an enterprise computing company can have heroes (roughly 97,000 for those counting). By …more
It almost seems like HR gives the following guidance to the copywriter before drafting a job description: “OK. You know what’s at stake. I suggest you review the job listings from our competitors and borrow what you consider to be the best elements. This is no time to go rogue. Be smart. Let’s use what’s already working. Great. Have that new description …more
Everyone pays attention to Google. When Google announced that founder Larry Page will take the CEO reins, virtually every media property in the world automatically reported on the news. The company’s PR machine doesn’t have to lift a toe (even less effort than a finger) to create demand. With that said, if you reverse engineer the fireworks from last week, one …more
I talked about the communications savvy from UPS earlier in the year. By applying storytelling techniques to a topic that typically falls under the dull category, UPS secured a feature in The Wall Street Journal entitled “UPS Thinks Outside the Box on Driving Training.” I am a sucker for puns. Lest you think this was a one-off success, check …more
Consider this quandary. Caterpillar makes heavy machine equipment like hydraulic excavators, tractors and the ever-popular backhoe loader. Pushing dirt from point A to point B doesn’t exactly conjure drama. Recognizing this point, Caterpillar developed a series of videos that do tell compelling stories by connecting the company’s equipment to a human element. My favorite involves Caterpillar’s role in uniting the country of …more
My post last week on the lack of storytelling in job descriptions triggered some interesting email exchanges. I especially appreciated Greg Morris who curates “What’s Your Story?” sharing a behind-the-scenes look at his son’s recent experiences in pursuing a job out of college. It turns out that Bank of America actually asks job candidates to …more
It’s easy to fall victim to the status quo. After all, if virtually all companies handle something a certain way, then it must be right … right? Wrong. The crafting of a job description shouldn’t be deadly dull even if companies have standardized on such an approach. This got me thinking. If there’s one large …more
