Storytelling and corporate communication

In the opening discussion of this first PBL session we watched a video-trigger related to storytelling and corporate communication. The video was about two old friends (one from Pakistan, one from India) that have been separated for many years and thanks to Google search they could reunite. The video was launched by Google search India with the title "Reunion".

 (link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gHGDN9-oFJE)

After briefly discussing the video the group understood the sentimental value of the video, how it fits to Google's reputation and how the message was well transmitted. 

The group defined the following problem: How can corporations use storytelling?

After the brainstorming, the group came up with three learning objectives:

1. How to identify stakeholders/ target audience?
2. How to make an effective storytelling? Examples.
3. How to communicate corporate values through storytelling?

1. How to identify stakeholders/ target audience?

First of all I want to define who the stakeholders are. Stakeholders are all groups of people that are affected by or have an effect on the corporation. These groups can for example be customers, employees, investors, suppliers, government, etc. Your products might appeal to a large group of people but there is no sense in trying to market it to everyone. Focusing on only a smaller number of people who are really interested in your product will allow you to communicate with the specific target audience more detailed. 
To begin identifying your target group it is necessary to determine what your product is and where you want so sell it. Some of the basic demographics that you might consider are: sex, age, profession, marital status, location, education, income (Weight, 2012).

Here are five steps that should be followed when identifying one's target audience:
1. consult your businessplan: reconsider your overall goals and what products you are offering. What makes you special from other companies? Think about what you need to know about your customers.
2. do some research about your industry, market, competition.
3. develop customer profile: in-depth description of who your typical customer is; it includes, besides demographical information, psychographic information, which includes the customer’s psychology, interests, hobbies, values, attitudes behaviors, lifestyle, and motivation to purchase.
4. Find out where your audience is: Which websites, apps and social media platforms do they use? Do they email a lot? 
5. Monitor and evolve: once you identified your target audience you have to keep researching in order to stay up to date (Glowski, 2016).

Constituents of Organizations (Argenti, 2013, p. 36)

2. How to make an effective storytelling?

Definition of storytelling: storytelling is an "active story management with selected addressees, a defined context and a carefully chosen code, a central process of planning, implementation and control conducted by those responsible for a company's communication". 
Definition of corporate story: "A corporate story is a comprehensive narrative about the whole organiation, its origins, its vision and its mission. The story is a realistic and relevant description of the company, created in an open dialogue with all stakeholders that the company depends on." (Podnar, 2015, p.97-98)

Key protagonists and factors of a corporate story (Podner, 2015, p. 100)

Creating a coherent corporate communication strategy includes defining the oragnization's overall communication strategy, identifying the relevant constituencies, delivering an effective message, and analyzing the constituency responses to determine whether the communication was successful. 

Corporate Communication Strategy Framework (Argenti, 2013, p. 43)

When creating an effective story you need to consider five important aspects: Plot, character, conflict, theme and setting (Flocabulary, 2011)

In a video Beth Comstock (2014) explains what a successful story needs:

• Relevant stories connect on personal level
• How are you memorable?
• It is about gettin inside people's mind
• it is about passion
• remind people of when they were children
• wild imagination
• convey a message: why is this relevant?

Furthermore, a successful story should be tailored to the specific audience, should be interesting, should include a happy ending, a climax and a falling action. It is also important that the audience can identify themselves with the protagonist and the protagonist should be a prototypical of the organization's main business. The story should deal with a specific individual or organization.

3. How to communicate corporate values through storytelling?

How can we use storytelling to communicate the corporate's values? 

• Make recognition social in your company
• Make sure your massages include stories
• Make sure your messages have a "moral"
• Tap into organizational memory
• Make the employee the main character

(Source: Jacobson, D. 2014. Transforming Culture By Storytelling. URL: http://www.globoforce.com/gfblog/2014/transforming-company-culture-through-storytelling/. Accessed: 28 January 2016.)

Case studies: 

1. good examples: 

• Proctor & Gamble https://youtu.be/uGJGQQVNqjg 
• Lego https://youtu.be/fZ_JOBCLF-I
• GoPro https://youtu.be/CjB_oVeq8Lo   

     2. bad examples: 

• Samsung: https://youtu.be/9IDIuHtGTxk 

Communication channels: 

• offline: spoken word, letter, print media, poster
• online: e-mail, blogs, television, podcasts, Internet, video, Facebook, Twitter 

Keywords: Storytelling, corporate communication, emotions, target audience, company image, channels, message, stakeholder

Sources: 

• Argenti, P. A. 2013. Corporate communication (6th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill Irwin.
• Comstock, B. 2014. Future of StoryTelling 2014. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJ_zQEeU1ag. Accessed: 27 January 2016.
• Cornelissen, J. 2011. Corporate communication: A guide to theory and practice (3rd ed.). London: SAGE Publications.
• Ferguson, S. D. 1999. Communication planning: An integrated approach. Thousand Oaks: Sage.
• Flocabulary 2011. Five Things (Elements of a Short Story). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c6I24S72Jps. Accessed: 27 January 2016.
• Glowski, A. 2016. 5 Critical Tips For Identifying Your Target Audience. URL: http://technori.com/2013/02/3122-5-critical-tips-for-identifying-your-target-audience/. Accessed: 27 January 2016.
• Goodall, H. L., Goodall, S., Schiefelbein, J., & Goodall, H. L. (2010). Business and professional communication in the global workplace (3rd ed.). Boston: Wadsworth Cengage Learning.
• Jacobson, D. 2014. Transforming Culture By Storytelling. URL: http://www.globoforce.com/gfblog/2014/transforming-company-culture-through-storytelling/. Accessed: 28 January 2016.
• Klettke, J. 2014. 3 Fatal Flaws of Failed Brand Storytelling. URL: http://www.iacquire.com/blog/brand-storytelling. Accessed: 27 January 2016.
• Koskie, C. 2015. 5 Examples Of Great Brand Storytelling. URL: http://www.momentology.com/7872-great-brand-storytelling/. Accessed: 27 January 2016.
• Podnar, K. 2015. Corporate communication: A marketing viewpoint. Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group.
• Rick, T. 2012. Communicate the vision through storytelling. URL:
  http://www.torbenrick.eu/blog/strategy/communicate-the-vision-through-storytelling/. Accessed: 28 January 2016.
• Rick, T. 2013. Use storytelling to communicate corporate values. URL:
  http://www.torbenrick.eu/blog/culture/use-storytelling-to-communicate-your-companys-. Accessed: 28 January 2016.
• Weight, D. 2012, March 29. Determining Your Target Audience for Advertising and Marketing. URL: http://www.rjmichaels.com/index.php/blog/determining-your-target-audience. Accessed: 27 January 2016.
•