Humanizing Storytelling for Business & Brands: Evolution theme #1
“There can be no vulnerability without risk; there can be no community without vulnerability; there can be no peace, and ultimately no life, without community.” – M. Scott Peck
The traditional stats such as the number of employees, office locations and number of years in business used to be the lead-in, if not the main points in a corporate introduction and story. Phrases such as “In business since..” or “the largest manufacturer of…” was often believed to provide credibility by its very declaration. Thereby commanding respect from others. Employees were usually referred to as a number or in general and in aggregate form. The typical exceptions for highlighting an employee by name was reserved for the prominent leaders that businesses felt should be of interest to investors and the public.
Today, not only is greater transparency expected of corporations, but also a direct connection to those employees behind the scenes – not just the leadership. This direct connection gives people the opportunity to learn more about a business/brand. And when employees are given the opportunity to serve as brand ambassadors, this form of employee engagement produces exponential wins. Employees feel greater satisfaction and reward from the recognition, opportunity and responsibility. According to a recent report by PayScale, in the United States, the median tenure for a worker at one job is only 4.6 years. When reviewing their top 20 List of Fortune 500 Companies with the least loyal employees, all but the exception of Google and Amazon, are relatively faceless, emotionally disconnected brands. There are countless studies which prove that strong employee engagement is good for business culture, bottom line and relationship building between brands and people. When corporations celebrate the people within – employee retention and recruiting becomes less challenging, and the connections formed between business and people become human thereby social and meaningful.
A great example of how corporations are evolving their story from size and strength towards stories that showcase their employees and culture is GE’s Stump the Scientist. A bi-weekly series that allows readers to submit questions to GE’s science minds.
If stories rely on sharing to live on, then ask yourself which GE story would you prefer to hear or share with others? Choice a) the one about “General Electric – a multinational conglomerate corporation formed in 1892 with over 305,000 employees or b) one about GE’s Chief Scientist, Jim Bray, and the unanswered questions he faced on the latest episode of “Stump the Scientist?” Judging from the growing audience and interest in GE’s Global Research – option “B” succeeds in providing a truly meaningful, human, and share-worthy brand story.
Anneliza Humlen
Check back next week for a dedicated post on Theme 2) From: Mass Media Push > To: Engaging Relationships.
Please join me for @The Social CMO #MMChat on Monday Sept. 16 8 pm EST. where I will be tweeting about the seven ways to Humanize Brand stories as part of my tweet-chat topic of “Creating Share-worthy and Sustainable Brand Stories.’ – Hope you can make it! ~ AL
Special thanks to 4nitsirk for Employee of the Month Photo and duncan for featured photo of “Story”