Story: too much marketing?
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raf stevens
Mar 11, 2011, 5:11:10 AM3/11/11
to The New Trade (crowdsourced book)
Here is another very valid question that should not remain unanswered:
- Is storytelling in a business context today not mostly used as a
manipulative corporate communication tool? Should we reclaim the very
term storytelling from its instrumental and manipulative use in
marketing –be it corporate or social– to one of engaging with and
understanding the world?
My thoughts on this one:
Storytelling IS being reclaimed.. through the MANY platforms on which
people can tell their stories through multiple mediums. These are the
“dwellings” in which we are LIVING our stories. This is us being our
story… and some have got it better than others. A wise man once said:
“You are your story”.
We cannot blame the marketers for steering us in directions that are
fantasy or false… ultimately we choose to believe those stories as
consumers… or not.
Like to hear your thoughts.
Raf
- Is storytelling in a business context today not mostly used as a
manipulative corporate communication tool? Should we reclaim the very
term storytelling from its instrumental and manipulative use in
marketing –be it corporate or social– to one of engaging with and
understanding the world?
My thoughts on this one:
Storytelling IS being reclaimed.. through the MANY platforms on which
people can tell their stories through multiple mediums. These are the
“dwellings” in which we are LIVING our stories. This is us being our
story… and some have got it better than others. A wise man once said:
“You are your story”.
We cannot blame the marketers for steering us in directions that are
fantasy or false… ultimately we choose to believe those stories as
consumers… or not.
Like to hear your thoughts.
Raf
Gianluigi Cuccureddu
Mar 11, 2011, 5:43:37 AM3/11/11
to The New Trade (crowdsourced book)
Agree,
It was also partially die to the B2C driven flow, a one way
communication that caused this. Now with P2P/C2C storytelling, the
game changed for brands and this is positive for Storytelling as a
concept.
It was also partially die to the B2C driven flow, a one way
communication that caused this. Now with P2P/C2C storytelling, the
game changed for brands and this is positive for Storytelling as a
concept.
raf stevens
Mar 11, 2011, 5:47:57 AM3/11/11
to The New Trade (crowdsourced book)
Yes!
Anyway, the very essence of storytelling brings questions to my mind.
Let me share a few with you and even answer some of them.
- Is storytelling “for real”, or is it just a marketing tool?
- Can stories be “crafted”, or are real stories always “personal
stories”?
- How do we acknowledge real stories and filter out the b***s**t?
Having said all that, I do believe that crafted stories have their
place in the world, as they always have. Long ago, for telling crafted
stories you had to memorize long epics and travel from town to town to
tell them in person, it was difficult for crafted storytelling to get
out of balance; but things are far out of balance now. I’m not sure
how to set that balance right again, but I do have two suggestions.
The first is that people who find they tell stories well and want to
do so professionally should do the hard work to get it right. They
should respect stories, make them their own, and work with integrity,
passion and care.
Secondly, professional storytellers (and others working with narrative
in other ways) should never allow themselves to believe that any
crafted story is better or more entitled to be a “real story” than
anyone’s raw personal story. Storytellers should radiate respect for
raw stories of personal experience. It would be wonderful if all the
professional storytellers out there could think about making it part
of their responsibility to find more ways to help people tell their
own stories. I applaud everyone who gives adult education classes
about writing memoirs or putting together family stories, and I’m
excited when I see people sharing personal stories online, and I am
encouraged by projects like StoryCorps and books like Gig: Americans
Talk about Their Jobs (of which there are far too few) that help raw
stories of personal experience get to where they need to go. I hope
more people will get involved in such things in the future; maybe then
the balance can be restored.
Raf
On 11 mar, 11:43, Gianluigi Cuccureddu <gianlu...@agoramedia.co.uk>
wrote:
Anyway, the very essence of storytelling brings questions to my mind.
Let me share a few with you and even answer some of them.
- Is storytelling “for real”, or is it just a marketing tool?
- Can stories be “crafted”, or are real stories always “personal
stories”?
- How do we acknowledge real stories and filter out the b***s**t?
Having said all that, I do believe that crafted stories have their
place in the world, as they always have. Long ago, for telling crafted
stories you had to memorize long epics and travel from town to town to
tell them in person, it was difficult for crafted storytelling to get
out of balance; but things are far out of balance now. I’m not sure
how to set that balance right again, but I do have two suggestions.
The first is that people who find they tell stories well and want to
do so professionally should do the hard work to get it right. They
should respect stories, make them their own, and work with integrity,
passion and care.
Secondly, professional storytellers (and others working with narrative
in other ways) should never allow themselves to believe that any
crafted story is better or more entitled to be a “real story” than
anyone’s raw personal story. Storytellers should radiate respect for
raw stories of personal experience. It would be wonderful if all the
professional storytellers out there could think about making it part
of their responsibility to find more ways to help people tell their
own stories. I applaud everyone who gives adult education classes
about writing memoirs or putting together family stories, and I’m
excited when I see people sharing personal stories online, and I am
encouraged by projects like StoryCorps and books like Gig: Americans
Talk about Their Jobs (of which there are far too few) that help raw
stories of personal experience get to where they need to go. I hope
more people will get involved in such things in the future; maybe then
the balance can be restored.
Raf
On 11 mar, 11:43, Gianluigi Cuccureddu <gianlu...@agoramedia.co.uk>
wrote:
rafstevens
Mar 11, 2011, 5:52:59 AM3/11/11
to the-new-trade-c...@googlegroups.com
I believe this article will interest you:
Groeten, Raf Stevens __________________________________ CORPORATE STORYTELLER Vroonbaan 67 I 1880 Nieuwenrode I Belgium M: +32 486 85 15 81 E: rafst...@me.com I: www.corporatestoryteller.be
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