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 …more
The rise of the blogosphere has given prominence to the absolute necessity of communicating with authenticity. The infamous “Cluetrain Manfesto” called out this point long before the blogosphere gained traction: “Business is being transformed, but not by technology. The Web is simply liberating an atavistic human desire, the longing for connection through talk. That’s the one …more
Certain storylines never go out of style. People love to see bullies get punched in the nose (like when Michael J. Fox’s Marty McFly clocked Biff in “Back to the Future”). Perseverance overcoming all obstacles is another can’t-miss theme. But there’s no story quite like coming back from the dead to spike the ratings. Such was the …more
Forget the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat. The China Olympics will essentially offer up a Petri dish for stories that transcend sports. I was in Hong Kong back in 2001 when China was officially awarded the Olympics. I managed to snag a copy of the Beijing Youth Daily newspaper commemorating the milestone, which was …more
With the fervor surrounding the Beijing Olympics close to its apex, any story tied to China gains some extra juice. That’s why you see announcements like the one by IODA (the Independent Online Distribution Alliance) launching the largest digital music store in China timed to lead into the Olympics opening ceremonies on August 8. Timing aside, IODA paints the classic contrarian story with …more
Businesspeople tend to associate storytelling with fiction. Yet, the same elements that make a book such as “Moby Dick” a compelling read — good versus evil, care for the characters, humor, etc. — have a place in the business world. Whether it’s a potential customer evaluating your product or a journalist probing your latest news, communicating information …more
