Why I Tell Stories and You Should, Too
If you enjoy TV sitcoms (and hate TV ads), you understand the power of storytelling. Stories make you think, ask questions, and start conversations. Companies make TV commercials hoping you’ll memorize a product feature and a website address. Storytelling is more powerful, and it works for more than just laughs, it works for business too.
Storytelling Endures
John Deere started “The Furrow,” a custom publication for its farmer customers, in 1895 (that’s not a typo). The earliest issues looked more like a catalog (from what I’ve seen online) than a collection of interesting stories. But the magazine evolved “to tell stories that people enjoy reading and provide them with knowledge that they can apply in their operations.” John Deere continues to tell stories in The Furrow.
Many American auto makers have done the same, though not for 100 years, whether in print or online. Same with homeowner’s associations, financial planners, fitness centers, and grocery retailers, among others. One of the best examples of this type of marketing comes from Red Bull, the energy drink giant. Many people now consider Red Bull to be a storyteller and media company more than a soft drink brand. The company invests a lot of money and energy in storytelling.
Business storytelling goes well beyond a publishing platform. I did my best to bring storytelling to life when I led the advertising and PR departments for Suzuki motorcycles in the U.S. When I started there in 2003, I told Suzuki’s 1,000-plus motorcycle dealers that I wanted to tell stories about Suzuki owners and the products they enjoy. And I did that through advertising and PR and event marketing, plus a custom print publication.
I wanted to tell stories then because I knew – as a long-time magazine editor – the power of stories. Through magazines, I wrote and distributed stories about people, places, and things. And readers responded. They told their friends. They contacted companies I wrote about. They sent me letters. Smart brands have learned that people find stories interesting, they earn attention; then people stick around, ask questions, buy stuff. I told stories at Suzuki as often as I could.
What’s a Story, and What’s Not?
Well into his 70s, John Leisner regularly rode his Suzuki sportbike on the twisty mountain roads north of L.A., and I got to tell that story to other Suzuki owners.
Whether for business or a TV show, all stories are made the same way. They have a beginning, middle, and end. More to the point, every good story goes something like this: a person doing something faces a dilemma (beginning), and because of that challenge they take a different action (middle) to reach a resolution (ending). That’s it. That’s every good book you’ve read and show you’ve watched.
These business stories can involve your products and services, but those things can’t be the focus of the story, they cannot be the main subject. The best stories focus on people. Because we can relate to a person doing something and encountering a problem. That sounds like us, and we empathize and we want to know more. When a story shows that person in a recognizable place, it becomes more relatable. We’ve been there, faced that situation and understand.
What’s not a story? If you break the person-problem-resolution guideline, you have not created a story. If you try to make your product the hero, that’s not a story, it’s an ad. Doesn’t mean you shouldn’t do that. You can create powerful advertisements for print or video with quality imagery, design and copy. But that’s not storytelling.
Why & When to Tell a Story
Business “performance” stories should focus on people as much as data.
Mike Harris loved his job at the oil refinery. He made good money, liked his co-workers, worked outside, and he got to fix things with his hands and tools. Plus, he could leave work at the same time most days and go home to his wife and kids. Some of his workmates, however, went home with serious injuries, lacerations and broken bones and burns. Every day, Mike’s job was dangerous, life-threatening at times. Mike and his team talked about the risks often, each morning before work.
See the story developing? This is a real scenario I faced as a communicator. This refinery was dealing with workplace injuries, everything from common trips and falls to rare but real fatalities. They wanted to reduce injuries and keep workers safe. The company communicated to workers with injury-rate data, both local and national. It reminded workers about best practices and appropriate safety gear. They communicated consistently and often, yet the injury rates stayed the same.
I suggested a new communication plan that included stories. I recreated the refinery’s weekly newsletter to feature stories about Mike and people like him, mixing in the important data for context. I told stories about why safety was important to Mike, and about his safe practices and good ideas. Safety is personal and these stories were far more powerful than any data about finger-pinch points or chemical hazards.
I told stories about safety for several years at this refinery. And we saw behavior change that lead to injury-rate reduction on site. The company implemented other ideas to reduce injuries; it wasn’t all about storytelling. But workers responded to the stories, the conversation about working safely changed.
You tell stories when you want to start conversations. When you want to build relationships, stories are influential tools. When you want to build trust in a brand, stories help you share beliefs and values.