Impactful corporate storytelling demands singular stories, not schizophrenia
Remember when you were a kid? Something had gone wrong. You were involved, and someone was going to be angry. A teacher, a parent or a sibling. But you weren’t seen, and to minimise repercussions you crafted a version of the truth that had an air of plausibility to it that would also get you […]
The geek shall inherit
Few companies have done more over the past 20 years – and frankly ever – to turn Big Data into insights that inspire evidence-based action than dunnhumby. Before they helped Tesco create its Clubcard and methodically predict customer shopping behaviour, Sainsbury’s was the UK’s biggest supermarket. Within a few years, the insights developed by dunnhumby […]
How to be a better brand storyteller: the five golden rules
This week is the Society for Storytelling’s 15th annual National Storytelling Week. Events to mark this promotion of the oral tradition of storytelling take place in schools, museums, bookshops and pubs across the country. If I get my way, the 16th will take place in boardrooms, too. Storytelling is much in vogue in business. Marketing […]
When storytelling goes bad – a guest blog for PRmoment
(This blog originally appeared on 17 November 2014 as guest blog on PRmoment. Thanks for the platform, Ben!). On this coming Thursday, PRmoment is hosting an event on storytelling: “The role of public relations as a content provider”. And quite right, too. Storytelling is a craft whose time has come. Again. Stories rock. Storytelling is […]
Two dozen things I learned from #TEDxBrighton
Last week’s TEDxBrighton was my first TED event in the flesh. As an aficionado of the form, a passionate advocate of more impactful communication, and a corporate and brand storyteller, I had high hopes of a Halloween well spent. I was not disappointed. I learned a lot last Friday. About new ways of thinking and […]
#TEDxBrighton: a buffet for the brain and a curate’s egg
Long Beach was twinned with Brighton beach (not the nudist bit) on Halloween, as the TED roadshow rolled into town, annexed the Dome, and treated open-minded Sussex folk to a buffet for the brain. Truth be told, it was also the very definition of a curate’s egg. Good in parts – at times exceptional – […]
Why social intelligence matters – live!
Later this evening, I’m chairing the W2O Group’s Social Intelligence Summit. And I can’t wait. I like the W2O Group, and its agencies WCG and twist. A lot. I’ve worked for WCG, heading up strategic planning for EMEA, out of the London office. And I’m now lucky enough to count them as a client in […]
What’s the point of Tesco?
On 5 Live last night, the BBC’s Business Editor Kamal Ahmed gave a very pertinent judgment on the latest chapter of woe for the tallest, wilting poppy in British retail. He said, quite simply, “People are no longer clear as to what Tesco is for”. His implication was that its executives no longer understand its […]
Why should we measure communications? It all starts with why
The spirit of Simon Sinek was hovering around Russell Square on Tuesday morning. As part of its contribution to AMEC’s Measurement Week #amecatwork, the PR industry’s professional body the CIPR convened a roundtable bringing together the great and the good of measurement and evaluation (M&E). We spent far too much time talking about advertising value […]
Active understanding and the art of Anglo-Chinese insight
I met the co-founders of an inspiring new agency, Comms8, today. Sally Maier and Carol Chan have built what they’re calling London’s only integrated communications agency to help brands in the UK and Greater China build business locally and in one another’s markets. The trilingual duo has a powerful and complementary offer, straddling marketing and […]