The Storytelling tool

Challenge

I work for a marketing agency and we had a number of clients that would come to us to create  brand identity, brochure, website, and all of the usual tactics associated with traditional marketing.   One of the problems that we had was that clients were not always satisﬁed with the results.  We  would create marketing collateral based on their brief but they didn’t always get the results that  they wanted. For example, one client asked that we create a a ﬁve page website for them, so we  built it based on their brief, they seemed to understand their customer base and what they needed  on each page.  When we asked for feedback later in the year that same client said that the website  hadn’t done the job that they had hoped for in attracting and converting new customers.   Disappointed that we hadn’t done a great job we set out to understand what the problem was and  why.

Selection

We chose to use the storytelling tool at the outset because we felt we needed to talk to our  customers in more detail to get a deeper understanding of them and their business.  We felt that  the storytelling tool would give us a greater connection with our customers and we could ask  relevant questions in the process to get to the hard facts of the situation and truly understand what  problem they were trying to solve. We also felt that by listening to the clients story we could also  start to understand how their story could also be told to their customers.  Customers engage more  with a story, as Ariel Deleon (Global Leadership Development Director, Mars) stated in the video a  good story, a cause, excites people and unites people, and that’s what our clients need to do in  their marketing to attract their customers.

Application

We began this process by asking the client we had created the website for to come into our co- working space for an hours feedback session on the premise that we could advise them how to  make their website more efﬁcient in attracting and converting new clients.  In this session we asked  the client to tell us their back story, why had they started this business, what were their personal  goals, what are their values?  We continued by asked what their business objectives are, what is it  that you really do for your clients, what is it that you really do for yourself?  We asked that they use  as many emotion references as possible, talk about how they make the client feel and how they  feel by providing their service.  We let the client talk as much as possible and for them to decide  the ﬂow.  We prompted and guided them when we felt necessary but allowed the conversation to  go off  topic occasional if we thought we would gain further insights.  Throughout the session we  recorded keywords on the whiteboard and at the end of the session we started to look for patterns  in what was written down.

Insight

At the end of the session we had written a number of emotions and values that contradicted the  persona our client had projected through their brand and company name.  They had been doing  business in a very assertive and aggressive manner (their brand identity had a stiletto and a knife  as elements) but they themselves were a very caring and compassionate business person that  coached clients through difﬁcult times, having been through different times in business themselves.   The facade of being able to go in and sort out difﬁcult issues was different to the job the client  actually performed for their customers.  It was a revelation moment for our client, and a it was a  revelation moment for us.  The client decided to rethink their strategy and two weeks later we had  a very different brief with a different business name.  This time we helped the client create a

compelling story that touched on their own experiences, values and service offering and  incorporate this into the website.  We used the tips of using a little bit of data, hard facts and  recommendations and locating a powerful piece of information and leaning on it.  We ensured that  the story had a beginning and an end, asked questions and answered it.  We tested the story on  some of our co-workers to ask them to rate the level of engagement and level of understanding.   The results were extraordinary for our client and they are now working with a number of new  clients that hold similar values to their own.

Our revelation was that we needed to incorporate storytelling into every client meeting.  It simply  wasn’t enough for us to offer marketing tactics against a client brief, we had to co-create the brief  with our client so that we fully understood their story.  We would then work their story into every  marketing tactic we were engaged to perform for the client so that they had a greater chance of  connecting with their audience.  Our next challenge was how to incorporate this into our service  offering so that it was cost efﬁcient.  This would require telling a story of our own.

Approach

Whilst we saw the immediate beneﬁts of storytelling I do think that we can delve deeper into this  tool.  As Ariel Deleon said in the video, a great story takes the audience from beginning to end  asking of them questions and being able to answer them.  We are working with client to help them  deﬁne the problem they are solving for their audience and creating an energetic and passionate  message as to why the audience should go to the client to solve it.  However, we could extend the  storytelling tool to incorporate the customers story, understanding their needs and emotions  through ethnographic interviews.  We could then use those insights to ensure that the customers  story contains the language that the audience will understand - so that they know their audience a  lot deeper.  Storytelling has become a very powerful tool to gain insights on our clients, we think it  should be a tool that our clients use to understand theirs.


The Storytelling tool Challenge I work for a marketing agency and we had a number of clients that would come to us to create brand identity , brochure , website , and all of the usual tactics associated with traditional marketing . One of the problems that we had was that clients were not always satisﬁed with the results . We would create marketing collateral based on their brief but they did n’t always get the results that they wanted . For example , one client asked that we create a a ﬁve page website for them , so we built it based on their brief , they seemed to understand their customer base and what they needed on each page . When we asked for feedback later in the year that same client said that the website had n’t done the job that they had hoped for in attracting and converting new customers . Disappointed that we had n’t done a great job we set out to understand what the problem was and why . Selection We chose to use the storytelling tool at the outset because we felt we needed to talk to our customers in more detail to get a deeper understanding of them and their business . We felt that the storytelling tool would give us a greater connection with our customers and we could ask relevant questions in the process to get to the hard facts of the situation and truly understand what problem they were trying to solve . We also felt that by listening to the clients story we could also start to understand how their story could also be told to their customers . Customers engage more with a story , as Ariel Deleon ( Global Leadership Development Director , Mars ) stated in the video a good story , a cause , excites people and unites people , and that ’s what our clients need to do in their marketing to attract their customers . Application We began this process by asking the client we had created the website for to come into our co- working space for an hours feedback session on the premise that we could advise them how to make their website more efﬁcient in attracting and converting new clients . In this session we asked the client to tell us their back story , why had they started this business , what were their personal goals , what are their values ? We continued by asked what their business objectives are , what is it that you really do for your clients , what is it that you really do for yourself ? We asked that they use as many emotion references as possible , talk about how they make the client feel and how they feel by providing their service . We let the client talk as much as possible and for them to decide the ﬂow . We prompted and guided them when we felt necessary but allowed the conversation to go off topic occasional if we thought we would gain further insights . Throughout the session we recorded keywords on the whiteboard and at the end of the session we started to look for patterns in what was written down . Insight At the end of the session we had written a number of emotions and values that contradicted the persona our client had projected through their brand and company name . They had been doing business in a very assertive and aggressive manner ( their brand identity had a stiletto and a knife as elements ) but they themselves were a very caring and compassionate business person that coached clients through difﬁcult times , having been through different times in business themselves . The facade of being able to go in and sort out difﬁcult issues was different to the job the client actually performed for their customers . It was a revelation moment for our client , and a it was a revelation moment for us . The client decided to rethink their strategy and two weeks later we had a very different brief with a different business name . This time we helped the client create a compelling story that touched on their own experiences , values and service offering and incorporate this into the website . We used the tips of using a little bit of data , hard facts and recommendations and locating a powerful piece of information and leaning on it . We ensured that the story had a beginning and an end , asked questions and answered it . We tested the story on some of our co - workers to ask them to rate the level of engagement and level of understanding . The results were extraordinary for our client and they are now working with a number of new clients that hold similar values to their own . Our revelation was that we needed to incorporate storytelling into every client meeting . It simply was n’t enough for us to offer marketing tactics against a client brief , we had to co - create the brief with our client so that we fully understood their story . We would then work their story into every marketing tactic we were engaged to perform for the client so that they had a greater chance of connecting with their audience . Our next challenge was how to incorporate this into our service offering so that it was cost efﬁcient . This would require telling a story of our own . Approach Whilst we saw the immediate beneﬁts of storytelling I do think that we can delve deeper into this tool . As Ariel Deleon said in the video , a great story takes the audience from beginning to end asking of them questions and being able to answer them . We are working with client to help them deﬁne the problem they are solving for their audience and creating an energetic and passionate message as to why the audience should go to the client to solve it . However , we could extend the storytelling tool to incorporate the customers story , understanding their needs and emotions through ethnographic interviews . We could then use those insights to ensure that the customers story contains the language that the audience will understand - so that they know their audience a lot deeper . Storytelling has become a very powerful tool to gain insights on our clients , we think it should be a tool that our clients use to understand theirs .