Imagine one blog post causing such a ruckus that readers demanded a book. That’s essentially what happened to Ella Frances Sanders when she created the post “11 Untranslatable Words From Other Cultures” in 2013. Roughly 12 months later, her book “Lost in Translation” hit the book stores and was an instant hit. Amid considerable media …more
I can’t pinpoint exactly when I met Raf Stevens. He’s part of what I refer to as the “storytelling posse” on Twitter, those evangelizing business storytelling 140 characters at a time. Not one to limit his narratives, Raf recently published his second book “Leadership, Storytelling and the Power of Connection” which explores the role of …more
Given the headline, you might be thinking that my binge watching of Dexter has gone too far. Relax. I’m not suggesting you literally interview the deceased. Instead, the idea is to go back in time to interview a famous person by “borrowing” from existing video footage. MLB.com shows the way in creating a video in …more
It’s not easy. Here’s the situation. The giant Hong Kong food company, Lee Kum Kee Products Group, created an app and website for the China market. The app evangelizes a healthy lifestyle, encouraging people to embrace the one exercise that can be done anywhere, walking. As can happen on the Internet, wires got crossed and …more
Even if you’re not a Game of Thrones fan — must be a few lawyers out there who quibble with their court system — one can only marvel at Tyrion’s sales pitch to Daenerys (season 5, episode 8) as he jockeys for the top advisor role. It is sheer genius and case study in persuasive language. Nothing …more
Our European managing director, Mike Sottak, made the trek to the French Riviera to attend Cannes Lions. I believe this is where we cue the audio, “Hey, it’s tough duty, but someone has to do it.” If you haven’t heard of this event, here’s the description straight from the horse’s website: We believe creativity is …more
The debate on native advertising rages on. Earlier this month the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) again reminded publishers that dressing up ads as journalism calls for clear labeling on the product. Mary Engle, associate director of advertising practices for the FTC, said at the Clean Ads I/O conference, “For us, the concern is whether consumers recognize …more
It’s always fun raking through the posts at the mid-year point. Monday’s post included half of the list capturing my top posts from this year, including Alex Rodriguez showing his sensitive side (not a pretty picture). Here’s the rest of the list. 6 Reverse Engineering the Storytelling in a New York Times Feature In short, PR …more
Finally, I don’t have to evangelize the value of storytelling from a tattered pulpit. This is the first post curating the best content since the new blog design went live. I still marvel that the microphone works. Here’s my take on the best posts from the first of half of 2015. To Borrow from a …more
