Storytelling (PBL 1)

During the first PBL we came up with the following problem: how can a corporation inspire or share their message most effectively by storytelling?
The learning objectives are supposed to be a guide to a solution to the problem. The learning objectives are:

1. What are the elements of good corporate stories?
2. What are the most effective corporate communication channels?
3. What is the target audience of the corporations?

In this blog, I will find literature to answer the learning objectives.

Elements of good corporate stories
There are different sources who tell us something about the elements of good corporate stories. The first source (O'Leary, 2011) tells us that these elements are:

• Passion: it is important to tell stories around issues your audience cares about;
• A protagonist: this is the company or the product/service of the company;
• An antagonist: what is the issue or challenge that the company has been built to address? This can be for example a cultural issue or an industry problem;
• The revelation: it is important to tell your audience something they do not know, share something unexpected;
• The transformation: what is the impact of your story? What is different as a result of the story your company is telling?

In my opinion, the Western Sydney University has all these elements worked up very well in their corporate story.

As you can see, they tell a story the audience cares about (passion). Everyone thinks using child soldiers is wrong (an antagonist) and everyone is happy to see when the child is rescued and when Western Sydney took him in. Due to the university, where he gets his law degree (the protagonist), he is able to help others (transformation).

Another source (Gunelius, 2014) defines the following five elements of a good corporate story:

1. Identifiable character: it is important that the story has a primary character who the audience can relate to and identify with.
2. Problem/conflict: the core conflict must be a problem that the product/service of the company can solve.
3. Beginning: the beginning must offer the information the audience needs to identify with the primary character and to understand why the core conflict matters to him.
4. Middle: here you can get more detailed. Here you have to look for opportunities to create situations, settings, and secondary characters that lead the primary character to the solution of the core problem.
5. End: the solution needs to be mirrored or translated to a solution of the audience's problem. Here you can mention your brand, products or services (in)directly at the end of your brand story, but be careful that you do not turn your interesting brand story into a self-promotional piece.

Pixar filmmaker Andrew Stanton compared storytelling to telling a joke: "It is knowing your punchline, your ending, knowing that everything you're saying, from the first sentence to the last, is leading to a singular goal." Based on this statement there are the following core elements of a great business story:

• Get to the point: know the results you are driving for, identify the points you want to make;
• Get over your conflict aversion: make sure there is a structure in your story, make sure the fundamentals are in place;
• Get emotional: identify the kinds of emotions you want your audience to feel. Do not be afraid to share what is real and true to you;
• Find your hero: identify the hero and give him a conflict to overcome;
• Prize the details: the more the audience feels and sees what you are describing, the more they will like the story;
• Challenge your audience: since you have a purpose in telling your business story, end your story with a question that will compel your audience to take action.

The commercial of Nikon is a great example of a good corporate story which includes the elements mentioned above. For example, Nikon gets to the point: the commercial is all about capturing the moment the audience cares for (emotional). You can also see a lot of details and after watching the commercial, you have the feeling you really need a Nikon camera to capture the moments you care for (challenge your audience).

The most effective corporate communication channels
There are a lot of communication channels a corporation can choose to tell their story, for example posters, events, videos, games and social media. But which one is the most effective?

There are four steps that can help you choose the most effective communication channel (Hadjistoyanova, 2016):

1. Add channels into the mix as necessary, to reach specific audiences: think about which non-traditional channels are best for the different audiences you want to reach.
2. Add and use different channels more frequently as they become more popular: do research on current stakeholder behaviours in new channels, what channels they use and which are influential.
3. Experiment with new channels to determine their effectiveness before starting to use them frequently: measure the use of the new channels as you experiment with them.
4. Evaluate your channel options and select the channel mix that is most appropriate for your objective and target audience of the message: identify which channels are best suited for your communication objectives.

Based on the above, we can conclude that the most effective communication channel is not the same for every corporation. To determine which communication channel is most effective for your corporation, you should do research on the stakeholder behaviours, experiment with new channels and evaluate your channel options.

However, the objective is focused on storytelling in the form of a video. The Warton School of Business found that sales prospects are 72% more likely to purchase a product or service when a video is involved. They mention that one of the best ways to raise brand awareness is through the use of videos. Videos are effective because they entertain and instruct. You can communicate the message of your corporation quickly and easily, in a format that people prefer and enjoy. 

The target audience of corporations
Smart corporations do not attempt to market everything to everyone, because it is not an efficient use of time and money, and it is not effective. Defined market segments help companies define their target audiences.
There are 7 steps that can help you to define your market (Entrepreneur, 2013):

1. Make a wish list: with who do you want to do business? Identify the geographic range and the types of business or customers you want your business to target. For example, targeting teenagers is not specific enough; African American teenagers with family incomes of €30.000,- and up, is.
2. Focus: clarify what you want to sell and remember: you can not be all things to all people, and smaller is bigger.
3. Describe the customer's worldview: when you look at the world from your customer's perspective, you can identify what they need or want.
4. Synthesise: in this stage, your niche should begin to take shape as your ideas and the wants and needs of the customer merge to create something new.
5. Evaluate: it is important  to evaluate your proposed service or product to see if it takes you where you want to go, if somebody else wants it and if it is a one of a kind.
6. Test: once you have a match between niche and product, you should test-market it. This can be done by offering samples. With this testing, you find out if this market is the market you defined and want to serve.
7. Go for it: it is time to implement your idea and to sell your product or service to your target audience.

Audience targeting is critical for a successful marketing plan, because when the corporation has defined its targets, it is time to figure out what to tell them and how to spread the word.

Sources
Bergeron (2016), How effective are videos?, accessed 30 August 2016, from http://contagious-ideas.com/effective-videos/

Echostories.com (2015), Storytelling fundamentals, accessed 30 August 2016, from http://www.echostories.com/storytelling-fundamentals-core-elements-of-a-great-business-story/

Entrepreneur (2013), Defining your market in 7 steps, accessed 30 August 2016, from https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/225656

Frog Dog (2012), Know your audience: market segmentation and customer targeting, accessed 30 August 2016, from http://frog-dog.com/know-your-audience-market-segmentation-and-customer-targeting/

Hadjistoyanova (2016), Choosing the right communication channel, accessed 30 August 2016, from https://www.cebglobal.com/blogs/corporate-communications-four-steps-to-choosing-the-right-communication-channel/

O'Leary (2011), The 5 elements of a good company story, accessed 30 August 2016, from http://www.businessinsider.com/the-5-elements-of-a-good-company-story-2011-4?r=US&IR=T&IR=T