The PR profession must embrace visual storytelling. How’s that for a declarative sentence that leaves nothing to interpretation? We’ve discussed visual elements ranging from infographics to video to illustrations. It’s now time to turn our attention to the humble GIF (graphics interchange format), perfect for short-form storytelling. If GIFs are good enough for BuzzFeed, which …more
Every PR agency touts its storytelling prowess. When everyone gravitates toward the same shiny objective, it tends to lose meaning. You can start to get a feel for how this plays out through a simple Factiva (massive database of publications) search on the number of stories that contain the word “storytelling” going back 10 years. …more
Public relations is more than news releases and pummeling journalists to write about clients. The PR profession has been chanting this mantra for years. It’s finally come true. The rise of digital communications has given way to a content gold rush. Replacing the picks and shovels, storytelling has moved to a core tool of today’s …more
My personal soapbox is fast becoming visual storytelling. This can be a tough one for PR professionals where words have always ruled. Yet, visuals can serve as shortcuts to the emotional touch points of a story. Which explains why 500 million photos are shared on social platforms each day, a number expected to double next …more
Deciphering the inner meaning of Beatles lyrics goes back to playing the White Album backward and the “Paul is dead” hoopla, a technique that obviously proved to be flawed. I believe a more hand-crafted approach to sifting through Beatles lyrics paves the way to storytelling gold. My crack researcher Grace Hoffman – who says nepotism …more
PR professionals are quick to sing the virtues of storytelling, but their actions tell a different story. That’s how I kicked off my talk on visual storytelling at a PR Newswire event, scrutinizing the content generated by PR with two questions: Does the content deliver the “frame” that today’s journalists need to write a story? …more
Virtually every novel reflects some form of the classic storytelling arc. Same goes for movies. As I’m driving to see “Zero Dark Thirty,” I’m wondering how the heck will the movie build drama. I already know how the story ends. Yet, the CIA operative played by Jessica Chastain must deal with stuff going cockeyed …more
A few thoughts from the grab bag. Yet Another Proof Point That Content Matters When it comes to professional services firms, the McKinsey brand stands by itself. That’s why it’s revealing to highlight the number of followers on the McKinsey corporate Twitter account. Not even 10,000 followers. On the other hand, take a look at …more
There’s a reason the line “a picture is worth a thousand words” became a cliché. To debate whether it’s 1,000 words or 1,055 words misses the point. A visual pulls the reader into the narrative and enhances the storytelling. Photo sites like Flickr make it easy to add photos into your blog posts. You can …more
