I am an unabashed fan of the anecdote. I’m also convinced that it’s one of the most underutilized storytelling techniques in business communications. Executives often perceive anecdotes as fluff and put the kibosh on such content before it sees the light of the day. That explains why if you audited the content generated by PR …more
As our communication campaigns increasingly address SEO and particularly organic search, thought leadership becomes even more important. Here’s what I mean and why it’s important to put yourself out there. When it comes to organic search, Google and other search engines place a premium on backlinks. They interpret backlinks as “votes” for the content. Of …more
I wrote a post in June stating that PR’s digital opportunity would come at the expense of SEO consultancies. Here’s the core rationale — Virtually every buyer around the world conducts some form of online due diligence, often plugging keywords into Google. As search engines increasingly favor quality of content — not technical acuity — …more
Wednesday’s post featured half of the list capturing my top storytelling techniques posts from the first half of 2014, including the American Chemistry Association breaking down the composition of Sriracha. Today brings the second half. PR’s Digital Opportunity Will Come at the Expense of SEO Consultancies We’ve been quietly executing campaigns that blend the principles …more
I invented the grab bag post as a forum to share three vignettes on business storytelling that otherwise couldn’t stand on their own. And here’s the latest … Serendipitous Nature of Social Media Breaks LeBron James News on My Twitter Feed On Friday LeBron James officially announced that he is taking his talents back to …more
I attended the Communicator’s Conference in Portland last week where keynote speaker Jim Olson shared Starbucks’ commitment to storytelling in its communications. When asked how Starbucks measures the impact of storytelling, he explained that it’s still early days. I’d like to answer the question, but before doing so it’s useful to dust off the axiom, …more
That’s right. The same folks who publish “the molecule of the week” and find humor in the periodic table have cracked the mainstream with storytelling techniques worthy of a big brand. Before jumping to the tactic, it’s useful to rewind the tape to Nov. 27, 2013. That’s when the Los Angeles County court sided with …more
/p> Such storytelling isn’t easy to find. When organizations and consultants go through branding exercises and come to be part of associating words with their brands, they rarely highlight “cold” or “heartless” (suppose someone selling ice fishing equipment might go for “cold.”). After scouring the Web I finally found one. Meet Nick Murray, a self-professed …more
Bloomberg Businessweek published an article by Ty Montague back in September, “Is Your Company a Storyteller? Or a Storydoer?” After a quick scan, I determined the piece focused on storytelling in business and tweeted out the link. In a weird juxtaposition of social sharing, a retweet of my original missive (thank you Runar from Oslo) …more
