UPDATED: Corporate Storytelling: defining and leveraging your WHY.
Recently, I’d launched a number of web-based dialogues, inviting entrepreneurs and business owners seeking insights to ask questions related to business and marketing. I would do my best to answer those queries based on my experience at the highest levels of corporate strategy and branding.
In this session, over 100 showed up to learn about Corporate Storytelling, which has become a popular buzz word in boardrooms. However, few companies are deploying it effectively as a means for differentiation. Still others have learned how to define and leverage their ‘why’ for better client interactions and more focused strategy. That’s right, you should be able to elevate your decision making and employee engagement once you’ve defined your why. Let’s see where the conversation goes…
What do you mean by corporate storytelling? -Paul
Corporate storytelling is the combination of your origin story (why you went into this business), your founding principles (what you stand for while being in business), your background and that of your team, what you give back to the community, and feedback from your most satisfied customers.
Together, these elements paint a broader picture of how you operate in the world when compared simply with your product and how it performs.
Why is storytelling becoming popular? What benefits does it have? -Brandon
Both great questions @Brandon. Its popularity is being driven by two main forces.
First, an interesting dynamic created by the increased awareness for marketing tactics by the average consumer. They’ve become savvy enough to see overly-slick sales strategies filled with hyperbole. They demand more authenticity from brands. Corporate storytelling is a direct response to that demand. Telling the consumer who you are, what you care about, and why you do what you do frames their choice in a competitive marketplace.
And there’s the second force: there is an enormous amount of choice in marketplace. Brands can no longer standout on price or innovation alone. That is of course, unless the innovation creates a significant new wrinkle in the market.
Don’t you think the product matters more than “why” you make it? -Idris
Yes and no. Product performance is vitally important. However, if your corporate ethos stands in jarring contrast to the principles of your target customer, they will justify selecting your competitor -even if that competitor delivers substandard results, comparatively.
The binary selection processes of ‘does it work, or not’ and ‘is it the best, or not’ is almost always complemented with a human dynamic that asks ‘how do I feel about this selection?’
(from About Us at americanreserveshop.com)
The way we do business is changing. More importantly, the way we select who we do business with has changed.
When given the choice -aware of, perhaps?- most of us make calculated product selections. When we‘re able to stop and ask, ‘who will gain from this transaction?’, or more times, ‘who is hurt by this purchase?’ we tend to make choices with more impact.
Often, the real question is ‘what does making this purchase say about me?’ Thereby the purchase becomes an act of self-expression.
Conscientious consumerism has evolved from choice and awareness in the global marketplace and it is part of a shifting concept of brand loyalty. Consumers are proving it with their wallets, choosing alternative brands and access points for their purchases.
The brands that can best meet a need in the marketplace and help their consumer to express intelligence, compassion, and style will attract and keep those consumers.
Can’t all product based companies simplify “why” they produce their product to one word, “demand”? -Jesa
Of course @Jesa, there must be a need for your product or service. However, the moment that an alternative to that product enters the marketplace, you must invest in elements of differentiation.
Corporate storytelling can help to swing a consumer’s preference when faced with brand parity, or the assumption that two products or brands have relative equivalency therefore inflating the relevance of price.
Be the best or have the lowest price feels like a binary choice in a variable world. Always striving to be the best and telling the best story sounds like a sure way to win consumer confidence and invoke trust.
What is the best way to engage clients in your opinion? -Melody
Frequently and with authenticity @Melody! If you truly believe in your brand and you’re driven to help your customer, let them know. If you’re hesitant to tell your story, you must ask yourself why. Consumers today are savvy and can sense a lack of confidence and nothing is more unattractive in business.
Own your solution. Own your gaps and where you’re still learning. You will attract more customers will a relatable message.
What makes a good story, especially in the corporate world? Other than Apple, who else do you think are great at corporate storytelling? -Shipla
Hi @Shipla. Great question. Brands must prove that, although important, profits are not the only reason to be in business. In many cases, shareholder primacy is failing as a primary justification for business decisions. Brands who can deliver an evolved value proposition through corporate storytelling are showing consumes why they should reconsider every dollar that they spend.
Southwest Air does a great job at telling you what defines their goals and values. PayPal and Ford Motor Company come to mind as brands that have elegant reasons for being in business that guide their decision-making paradigm. PayPal wants to connect people and free them from the physical aspects of currency. Ford aims to carry on a legacy of innovation in design and development.
In the apparel world, my new home, I love Red Wing Shoe Company and TOMS for their authenticity and altruism, respectively.
Check out our story for creating American Reserve Clothing Co.
What inspired your philosophy? -Anthony
Thank you for asking @Anthony. My philosophy has evolved along with my understanding of just how interrelated we all are. Individualism is an ideal that, in my experience, can generate professional success and modest gains, but leaves those successes somewhat hollow and empty.
I’d like to believe that there is only one thing in life that we do alone and that is to decide. We can decide our direction, we can decide our effort, and we can decide our attitude. For everything else, we are reliant on community.
Desmond Tutu would point out that you and I can communicate right now because someone cared for us enough to teach us how. We are able to walk down the street because someone created the clothes that we wear, someone else paid us for our time and services so that we could buy those clothes, and a collection of others created the street that we walk along. And so on.
Once you’re able to connect your product and your company culture to your customers in ways that go beyond a simple transaction, you transform the relationship and your team will see the benefits for yourselves.
These are bonus submissions to the Q&A conducted following the publish date of the original article. Enjoy…
How has “finding your ‘why’” helped you in business? -Nicz
Thank you for asking @Nicz. I talk a bit about my personal philosophy in my responseto @Anthony, but I can offer some additional details about outcomes.
Once I learned what my ‘why’ is, I saw a fundamental change in my business dealings and relationships. I believe that my purpose is to help others find knowledge -to find it for themselves, to help them find purpose and joy in what they do, and to continue my own journey of growth.
When I was younger (and more foolish, perhaps), my ego was in the driver’s seat. I would find a need to impress others with how prepared or intelligent I was. I felt compelled to have the last word and the most dynamic opinion. Once I realized that my why was to set others up for success, I softened considerably. I became less irritable and more accepting. I prompted others to respond -even when I knew the answer. I saw others grow and flourish instead of being outshined. Of course, when decisions were needed, or an answer was hard to come by, I offered my best to the team.
I’ve also worked in sales and business settings my entire career. These are environments with pervasive, low-grade anxiety. I used to think of it as a productive element that rooted out the least dedicated and focused. Survival of the fittest, or so it seemed. Once I realized that the team who was responsible for the goals, were more important than the goals themselves (also, very important!), we began to open up dialogue to find out what made each individual tick. They felt appreciated and worked harder for it.
Empathy, I found, does not mean a lack of accountability. Not at all. Being willing to truly care for someone’s success and to help them achieve it requires both.
Finding my why has made me a better team member, friend, brother, and son. And I feel more successful than ever.
Engaging your own team would just be good management by definition, right? -Heenal
Of course it would be @Heenal! However, the definition of a thing and how it is applied daily are often at odds.
You and I know of work environments where team members are desperate for more information; to know the bigger picture or the company goals, and more importantly: where they fit into them. They ask themselves: what does success look like and how will we gauge it daily/weekly/monthly?
There is a great story that was once shared with me about corporate culture in the medical device industry. A CEO invited every employee -and I mean every employee- to meet the patients who would benefit from their technology. They were able to ask questions about how this solution would positively impact even the simplest of daily activities. They saw the patients’ frustrations with crucial aspects of life that the employees had taken for granted.
The team was inspired! They now saw the faces of real people who would be affected by their labor. Suddenly, deadlines were missed less frequently, meetings started and ended on time, and even the floors were buffed a little brighter.
It is amazing what people, empowered with knowledge, are capable of. Too often, leaders make the assumption that employees have the information or perspective that they need to be, and feel successful. Communicate frequently and authenticity the bigger picture and your ultimate goals and watch how your team will rise to meet them.
I hope that you’ve enjoyed reading along with this Q&A and that you’ll allow me to bend your ear for a few more going forward. I want to hear your feedback and I am eager to learn from each of you. Please don’t hesitate to reach out.
The views expressed in replies are my own, but have been influenced by years of collaboration with amazing people along with a willingness to fail and to learn.
Cliff Carey
founder, American Reserve Clothing Co. Inc.
“May your story be well-clothed and written in vibrant ink on smudged and dogeared pages.”
