StoryJuiceBook FullBook Final

Story Juice
How Ideas Spread and Brands Grow
Julie Fuoti & Lisa Johnson
Story Juice
How Ideas Spread and Brands Grow
WRITTEN BY JULIE FUOTI & LISA JOHNSON
ILLUSTRATIONS BY CASSIE HUCK
SPECIAL THANKS TO MATT STEVENSON & TERRY ANDREWS FOR MAKING IT HAPPEN
Copyright 2012 the Grapevine Group. All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means without permission in writing from the authors.
Follow Us: @spreadthestory Visit Us at www.storyjuicing.com
Sto ry Juice |'stre joos| (noun)

The (often missing) ingredient that makes data sing, captivates audiences to cheer, drives brand buzz and makes people feel something. Story Juice taps into emotions, making information interesting, memorable and easy to share.
Contents v 1
Chapter 1: The Power of Story
11
Foreward: By Dale Bornstein, Ketchum
Chapter 2: Why Story Works
22
Chapter 3: What Makes a Good Story
35
Chapter 4: What Makes a Good Story the Right Story
48 74
Glossary About Us
70
Chapter 5: What the Right Story Can Do for a Brand
58
Endnotes
Chapter 6: Stories that Spread
Chapter 7: Greenlight Your Brand
80 85
The Grapevine Group
83
Acknowledgements
84
Foreword
You know it when you hear it. That great story or idea. The one thats got juice energy, excitement, possibility. The one that, on its own, has the ability to get up, walk around the room, shake hands with everyone and, then travel on. The kind of story that marketers know they need to tell if they are hoping to meaningfully connect with their audiences and then inspire those audiences to share and tell. Easier described than done. Whether Im at a party or in a board room, I am always struck by the power of a great story and its storyteller. As a senior partner at Ketchum I have spent my career honing the skills needed to shape and tell the full story in ways that earn attention, build trust, and spur influencers, media, clients and colleagues to take action. But the world has changed (now thats an understatement.) How we share information and relate to one another has shifted seismically. As a mother, I think about the impact this will have on my sixyear old. For example, when I was growing up, making friends meant one thing. Its anyones guess as to what being a friend or liking someone will mean to my son.
Story Juice Foreword
As a marketer, I think about the impact this is having on brands and their ability to engage with their customers. Its a bit of a perfect storm: Consumers are increasingly exhausted by the daily tsunami of information. There are no longer clear boundaries between personal and professional lives. People dont just multi-task they multi-mind. (We did some research a few years ago at Ketchum and validated this trend, which we coined multi-minding. Its that experience that happens every few minutes when youre simultaneously thinking about whats for dinner, whos picking up the kids, and did your son submit his college application on time?) The competition for consumers minds, hearts and wallets is fierce and egged on by a sluggish economy. The customer/brand relationship is a two-way contract: customers want brands to listen, be authentic and tell a full story; in return, they will engage and act. And finally, the marketing landscape has shifted; the lines across disciplines have blurred and we have only scratched the surface of the coming social channels and new technologies. Yet, two immutable truths give us hope for accelerating brand growth in the midst of this storm: humans will always seek social connections and story will always be a timeless conduit. If brands want to compete and succeed, they will need to move the story front and center not only telling it but living it. No longer is the story what comes after strategy. Brand strategy needs to start and end by considering how the brand will tell its full story. In this era of You Tube, Facebook and viral pass along, marketers who want their businesses to grow and their stories to spread have no choice but to become master storytellers.
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Story Juice Foreword
Enter Julie Fuoti and Lisa Johnson, founders of the Grapevine Group and the authors of, Story Juice: How Ideas Spread and Brands Grow. I dont want to ruin a good story by giving it all away upfront, but heres what I can share. When brands and businesses add a missing story ingredient the authors have dubbed Story Juice its transformative. It goes back to my not-so-random opening observation about a great story it has juice (excitement, energy, movement and possibility). At Ketchum we pride ourselves on being strong storytellers, but even the best can benefit from some added juice. Collaborating with the Grapevine Group has helped us (and others highlighted in this book) better harness the power of stories to create greater business impact for our clients brands. How did I connect with the Grapevine Group? As you might imagine, theres a good story behind that too. But for now, lets just say our paths crossed at exactly the right time. Hopefully, this book is crossing your path at just the right time. If brand growth is a business imperative on your 2012 to do list, then turn the page and start your own Story Juice journey. Dale Bornstein, Ketchum
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CHAPTER ONE
The Power of Story

he best leaders... almost without exception T
and at every level, are master users of stories and symbols.
OM PETERS T Author, Businessman
The Powers of Storytellers

Storytellers know how to accelerate brand growth and spread ideas because of their ability to: 1.Motivate people to pay attention 2.Inspire people to action 3. ring data to life and make it relevant to peoples B daily lives 4.Make information memorable, repeatable, and easy to spread. 5.Shape new beliefs and change minds 6.Raise money 7.Gather and unite an authentic community
Story Juice
The Power of Story
The Story of AquaJogger

In 1990, Lisa was a recent college grad who was hired to work in customer service for a quirky little water fitness company called AquaJogger. Almost every call Lisa answered started the same way:
(Lisa) (Caller)
G ood Morning, AquaJogger. How can I help you? I sthisreallytheplacethatmakesthoseblue foam belts?Wow! I have worked so hard to find you. I have spent three weeks tracking down this 800 number. I met/heard about thisguy/girlwhowassufferingfroma(fillin the blank) injury. He/she started using your product with quite miraculous results. Now they are active/competing/walking again just liketheydidbeforetheygothurt.
Every caller essentially told a story about someone who transformed from injured to active. The story alone was what motivated the caller to spend an inordinate amount of time tracking down the phone number to place an order. Lisa took credit card after credit card, each time ringing up $50 for the foam flotation device. Despite an utter lack of marketing budget, the story effectively closed the deal before the customer even picked up the phone to place the order. Lisa began to wonder what this amazing product could do for her, so she became a certified instructor and started teaching classes after work. Unfortunately, while her classes were taking off, the AquaJogger company was not. Suddenly, most of the staff got laid off and money was tight. Seizing the opportunity, Lisa walked past the Presidents office one day and asked why the product was only sold in a handful of stores and two mail-order catalogs. Wouldnt it be better if more accounts sold the product?
STORIES MOTIVATE PEOPLE TO PAY ATTENTION AND ULTIMATELY TAKE ACTION
Story Juice
The Power of Story
While the President agreed with Lisas assessment, there was no money to package the product and catalogues didnt know about AquaJogger, much less understand why they should carry it. Lisa took the opportunity to collect about $5 in dimes and quarters, went to the library and found a book called Catalog of Catalogs. She photocopied until her change ran out. Since the company had virtually no marketing materials (except for a bare bones one-sheet), she pulled out a piece of letterhead and began with the only asset she had stories of how real people were using the product to transform their lives. She created a series of letters and sent them off to catalog buyers. By the end of the year, two catalogs had turned into 40, and retail buyers were calling to ask What is an AquaJogger? During her nightly water fitness classes, Lisa saw another opportunity. Although her fitness classes were filled primarily with women, the AquaJogger belt was shaped to fit a mans trunk, instead of a womans smaller waist and curvy hips. Lisa talked to Carey Kerns, a PR professional who worked with AquaJogger, about her desire to reshape the belt so it would better fit womens bodies. Carey saw an opportunity to parlay a product improvement into press coverage, so she encouraged Lisa to go ahead. Inspired, Lisa engaged the help of Steve, the shipping manager, who brought in his band saw to create new prototypes. Together, using a sharpie marker and Lisas students as testers, the duo designed a slimmer, more balanced belt that comfortably hugged a womans curves. They called it the AquaJogger FIT. Excited by the new AquaJogger FIT for women, Lisa brought the idea to management. She was immediately shut down. Sales were up, but there was no budget to invest in a women-only product. At the time, there were few (if any) products made specifically for women, and many leaders feared that focusing on women would feminize their brands and alienate male customers. Never one to quit, Lisa turned to the people who had helped her before the catalog buyers. Two of them were smart women, and Lisa recounted stories from her class, explaining how the popular new FIT prototypes were increasing comfort and improving her students posture. With the promise of a six-month exclusive, both
4
STORIES SHAPE BELIEFS AND CHANGE MINDS
Story Juice
The Power of Story
buyers committed to purchase 50% of the first run, essentially covering all the hard costs of production. The AquaJogger FIT belt debuted in USA Today, and during the next few years, over 1,200 newspapers and 65 magazines carried the story of this innovative new product.
Stories dont just work for small companies with shoestring budgets; they can also change national agendas.
In 2005, Ed Bradley of 60 Minutes interviewed 16-year-old Harlem resident Sean Seale, who was a struggling high school sophomore.(1) http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=5914292n Ed Bradley: Sean Seale: Ed Bradley: Sean Seale: Ed Bradley: Sean Seale: Ed Bradley: Sean Seale: hat do you see yourself doing after high W school? ighschoolrightnow.TotellyouthetruthI H amsayingtohellwithit. owhenyouare21wherewillyoube? S dontknowifIwillbeherewhenIam21. I herewouldyoube? W couldbedead. I sthatokwithyou? I a. Y
Fast forward to 2009. Anderson Cooper is doing a follow-up interview with Sean, a graduate from one of Harlem Children Zones charter schools.
STORIES ARE MEMORABLE, REPEATABLE AND EASY TO SPREAD

5
Story Juice
The Power of Story
Anderson Cooper:
henyoulookbackatthewayyou W were back then, when you were 16, whatdoyousee? seeahard,lostkid. I o you know what you want to do D downtheroad? ight now I want to get into college. R FirstI willgetmy degree... next path ismyjobmycareer.Thatismygoal rightnow,togetmydegree.
Sean Seale: Anderson Cooper: Sean Seale:
This is one of hundreds of stories that recount how the Harlem Childrens Zone (HCZ) has changed lives. Harlem Childrens Zone has helped put historically low-achieving students in New York on academic par with their grammar school peers. HCZ is an organization built on story and shepherded by a master storyteller, Geoffrey Canada. Canada is the passionate visionary who had 650 kids in college in September 2010, according to a report by ABC World News anchor Diane Sawyer.(2) Canada has raised over $100 million dollars to fund an integrated, comprehensive network of schools and social services designed to engross residents in an ever-expanding area of Harlem in New York City. His promise is compelling: If your child comes to this school, we will guarantee that we will get your child into college. We will be with your child from the moment they enter our school until the moment they graduate from college. To deliver on this promise, (then)Canada manages an annual budget of (then) 35 million. In 2004, the New York Times Magazine described HCZ as combin(ing) educational, social and medical services. It starts at birth and follows children to college. It meshes those services into an interlocking web, and then it drops that web over an entire neighborhood. The objective is to create a safety net woven so tightly that children in the neighborhood just cant slip through.(3) In 2011, HCZ broke ground for a $42 million charter
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Story Juice
The Power of Story
school designed to serve up to 1,300 students each year. Funding sources are both public and private: Funding for the school building was made possible, in part, by a $60 million grant from the New York City Department of Educations Charter Facilities Matching Grant Program, a $20 million gift from Goldman Sachs Gives and a $6 million gift from Google, Inc.The buildings developer, Civic Builders, donated its $5 million development fee and the law firm Shearman & Sterling LLP provided pro bono legal services. (4) How has Canada achieved the seemingly impossible? He tells stories that evoke emotion and supports them with measurable data. During a 2011 speech at Dartmouth College,(5) Canada used a surprising comparison to help the audience see how the $5,000 academic expense to support a child for one year in HCZ is an investment in the future. Weve decided were not going to educate some folk, and when those folk cant get jobs and break the law well put them in jail. Weve created a country that is locking up more people than any country on the face of the Earth. Incarceration of young Americans costs the country billions of dollars. It costs $37,000 per year to keep an inmate in prison. This money would be better invested in childrens early education. Geoffrey Canada and other leaders like him recognize that we must compel an audience to feel something before we can change minds, shape beliefs, and inspire action. Perhaps equally important is their understanding that to coax someone to act, they have to recall the story. It must be memorable. Today, more than a decade later, Geoffrey Canadas story continues to drive change in the form of 20 Promise Neighborhoods across the country, modeled after HCZ and being developed by the Obama Administration. Scientific research(6) proves that emotion controls the strength of a memory and the likelihood of its recall. When we hear a story about a real person and his or her experience, the main character becomes our emotional surrogate and his or her experiences, challenges, triumphs
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STORIES BRING DATA TO LIFE, RAISE MONEY AND UNITE COMMUNITIES
Story Juice
The Power of Story
and lessons learned play out like a memorable mini-movie in our brains. Quoting statistics and data, by contrast, does not make most of us feel anything. Thats a problem. Because today, according to Mashable, the worlds information is doubling every two years.(7) Ballooning data can add to the overwhelming information fatigueand content suffocation people struggle with on a daily basis.(8) The parallel opportunity lies in using story to help organize and make sense of the data. Stories are a powerful ally that give data traction by making our audience pay attention and remember. When we begin to ask why a person would pay attention and engage with information about our products, services and ideas, we begin to create Story Juice. We can think of story, or even story slices (using narrative elements such as metaphor, analogies, character, conflict and more) as an ingredient that brings information to life and accelerates desired outcomes. When you add Story Juice to a PowerPoint presentation, instructions on the back of a box, a new initiative, or an advertising message, it injects dry, potentially forgettable data with soul, which in turn increases impact and drives tangible results. Story Juice is often the missing ingredient when our products, services, and ideas fall flat. Next time you need someones attention in order for them to take action, consider adding Story Juice to: 1. Capture our attention 2. Demonstrate relevance in our lives 3. Drive emotion that makes information interesting and therefore memorable 4. Position the information as an answer to our unfulfilled desires Stories shift our thinking from what is true to what is truly possible. They innovate. They paint a picture of a finish line that we can cross together, and they inspire us to see how we can participate in the narrative to make it happen. Stories of women struggling with the fit of the AquaJogger belt inspired Lisa to get her sharpie out and design something better. Its what leaders like
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Story Juice
The Power of Story
Al Gore (An Inconvenient Truth), Nancy Brinker (The Susan G. Komen fund) and the late Steve Jobs (Apple) use to change the world. Geoffrey Canada led by setting a simple, powerful vision (If your child comes to this school, we will guarantee he or she goes to college) that convinced his audience with a sense of possibility. Stories sell and influence people to act. Lisa used the stories of womens struggles to get her customers to offset the financial risks of launching a new line of products for women. Geoffrey Canada used stories to attract more than $100 million in donations toward his cause. Stories translate data into outcomes and arrange them in narrative form that peoples brains are wired to remember. If we remember something, we can pass it along. Data does not go viral. Stories do. Remember when Ross Perot, in his bid to lead the country, pulled out his graphs and tried to teach a nation? He was laughed off the national stage. But the idea that theres something unexpected going on up in Harlem made headlines from 60 Minutes to The Oprah Winfrey Show. Stories equip leaders to drive change in the face of the impossible. Lisa was an entry-level employee, but her passion to create change was driven by watching her students struggle in class. Geoffrey Canada grew up in intractable poverty. His personal story was so powerful that it inspired the award-winning documentary film Waiting for Superman. The film opens with Canada narrating: One of the saddest days of my life was when my mother told me Superman did not exist. Even in the depths of the ghetto he always shows up and he saves all the people (When my mother told me he wasnt real) she thought I was crying because he wasnt real like Santa Claus is not real. I was crying because there was no one coming with enough power to save us. Canada inspires us to believe that we, too, might overcome our feelings of powerlessness in order to turn despair into success.
Story Juice
The Power of Story
Lisas no budget stories drove 1,200 newspaper articles and 65 magazine stories. And Canadas efforts have inspired millions. After hearing Canada speak in 2011 at the University of Tennessee in Chatanooga, a local article quoted UTC alumni and first-grade teacher Lindsey Rieman: His speech was one that reminds me why I go to teach everyday, and makes me want to be that much better to help my students succeed.(9) Story Juice is a book about storytelling and its application in todays ever-expanding marketplace, where everyone from small businesses to executives to politicians need to lead, sell and market products, ideas and services through multiple media outlets. Cutting-edge research is providing irrefutable proof that our brains light up when a story is told, and that narratives actually motivate the brain to pay attention. Contrast that with the effect of data overload on our brains and the tendency for them to shut down decision making when they get overwhelmed.(10) Applying storytelling tools to the practices of leadership, innovation, sales and marketing is paramount to success. We want Story Juice not only to demonstrate WHY story matters; we want it to teach you HOW to harness the power of story to change minds, shape beliefs, and inspire action.
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CHAPTER TWO
Why Story Works

umans are not ideally set up to understand H
logic. They are ideally set up to understand stories.
ROGER C. SHANK Cognitive Scientist
In this chapter: The Brain Science Behind Storytelling Techniques.
For tools to apply this to your brand, visit us at www.storyjuicing.com/HowTo
Your Brain on Story

Have you ever experienced death by PowerPoint? You know, that feeling that creeps over you when the Research Department schedules a 3 p.m. meeting, lures you into the conference room with a plate of cookies, and promptly turns off the lights. What follows next is a big thud. Its the sound of a 50-page document hitting the podium. You think, I cant stay awake for this. Youre right! We are not wired to pay attention to graphs, charts and bullet points. Through neuroimaging technology, we can now see how our brains light up and pay attention to certain stimuli. But brains do not respond dramatically when presented with reams of data. They only light up when they detect a story is being told, particularly if it evokes emotion.(1) Years of evolution have hardwired our brains to think in story terms, and we respond to them innately. A good story achieves multiple objectives simultaneously:(2) Organizes and simplifies content in a way that provides context and relevance Evokes emotion and visualization, which heightens its memorability Creates a sense of trust between the teller and the listener that can inspire an action, such as buying a product
Story Juice
Why Story Works
Motivating an audience with stories to buy or act in a certain way is contingent upon two things: the story must be memorable the audience must feel an emotional connection to the main character, quest or storyline In short, people act when they feel something.
Organizing Facts and Data with Story

Now lets take a closer look at how story achieves those multiple objectives. Our storys first job is to organize our data and rationale in a way that enables people to remember it and to retrieve the memory. Brain research shows that we organize new information by relating it to what we already know through experience and prior knowledge.(3) In story language, we call this context and relevance. Picture your brain as a filing cabinet and stories as the folders that contain and organize all the stored data. The listener needs a system for filing data with similar, familiar items, and uses stories to do so. Think of it this way: if we told you, Buy three pieces of bread, some turkey, ham, pickles, bacon, chips, mayonnaise, lettuce, and soda, youre very likely to forget at least one or two items. But if we said, Lets make ham and turkey club sandwiches for lunch and serve them with chips and pickles, suddenly our brains can quickly organize the long list of ingredients under the familiar story slice, making ham and turkey clubs for lunch. Even our language packages information in ways our brains are built to understand. Research shows that as early as the age of 3, we develop an innate recognition and ability to use grammar and syntax. As we grow, the mind works behind the scenes to hear sentences as mini-stories that guide our understanding of the world throughout our whole lives. (4) Stories often draw on powerful analogies, or metaphors, that allow people to learn by simplifying complex information and organizing it against familiar knowledge and principles.
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Simple is Better
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lAl28d6tbko Long before Tom Dickson asked the viral question Will it Blend?, American Standard discovered how the power of metaphor could save the day in a tricky conversation. In 2005, the plumbing giant American Standard introduced Champion toilets, an impressive, high-performance line made with new flushing technology. A true breakthrough, these toilets have the industrys widest 2 and 3/8 trapway, a 4 flush valve, and will move a mass 70% larger than the industry standard. They also, achieved the highest bulk removal rating of 1,000 grams. It was an exciting breakthrough, but also a colossal sales and PR challenge. Getting people excited about these stats without any context (and an unfortunate lack of appealing visuals available) waswell you get the idea. The company solved this communication conundrum by tapping into research methods used in a New Jersey test facility. While creating this high-performance potty, engineers used products including oatmeal, rags and even golf balls to push their flushing capacity to the limit. Using the powerful image of a toilet bowl filled with a bucket of 18 golf balls, American Standard created a short video that showed the technically advanced Champion flushing the balls with ease. Suddenly, American Standard was telling an inspiring, visual story that had people talking instead of squirming. Wired Magazine (5) and the New York Times (6) even picked up the story. American Standards golf ball metaphor set an enduring standard for discussing flushing performance. The story continued to attract hundreds of thousands more viewers on YouTube and through the long tail of online media. The lesson? Stories draw upon our common human experience and store information in familiar places using familiar patterns. They allow our brains to formulate and understand unfamiliar data in a way that makes sense.
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Story Juice
Why Story Works
Evoking Emotion & Visualization

There are many different types of stories: narratives, articles and scientific reports, just to name a few. Narratives stand out for their ability to evoke emotion. When we tell a story that causes someone to feel something, the brain lights up in an effort to create mental associations. In fact, the one-two punch of emotion and visualization creates stronger memories than images alone. In short, emotional engagement drives memory.(7) Studies show that stories are up to 22 times more memorable than straight facts.(8) Neurologists suggest that stories may serve as the memorys fundamental building blocks, since the brain prefers novelty, involvement, visuals, and an emotional jolt. Because stories engage the mind, heart, physical being and human spirit, they address these preferences and motivate the brain to pay attention. We remember what we feel and visualize as a result. Stories without emotion are less interesting or relatable. Imagine trying to convince someone to hand you $10. You might say, Please donate $10 to the American Cancer Society. Now imagine making the request by saying, Hi, Im Lynn. My daughter, Elizabeth, was only 5 when we lost her to a brain tumor. Im asking you for a $10 donation to the American Cancer Society to try to help other mothers and daughters like us. The second version has intent, or motive. Suddenly, the context permits the listener to understand why he is being asked for money, and he feels an emotional connection in response. That feeling, in turn, sparks memory (and giving).
STUDIES SHOW THAT STORIES ARE UP TO 22 TIMES MORE MEMORABLE THAN STRAIGHT FACTS
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Why Story Works
The second story example also had greater detail than the first. We remember things better when there is a density of sensory data(9). For example, when you compare peoples memories of words to that of a picture, people remember pictures better. An image tied to colors, emotions, and other familiar events will create even stronger memories. Combining words and visuals is a more powerful way to help someone remember new information or ideas. Adding emotion to this mix is the key to being unforgettable.
Building Trust with Story to Inspire Action

People tend to remember (and actually trust) products when they are woven into stories. And when others share their experiences with a person, product, idea or service, it infuses the story with the long-revered idea of endorsement. Thats why brands often aspire to have not only paid celebrity endorsers, but also citizen experts or bloggers to engage with their brands. Remixed stories increase a current or potential customers feeling of confidence and credibility in a brand. Post, comment, vote, re-tweet. People perceive marketing messages as more credible when they are involved in the process and not just passively reading the copy. The message can convey someone elses story or experience, but if we build on it, comment, vote, contribute, retweet or retell it, that sense of participation increases our personal belief in the message or product.
PEOPLE TEND TO REMEMBER (AND ACTUALLY TRUST) PRODUCTS WHEN THEY ARE WOVEN INTO STORIES
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Why Story Works
When you scale trust, you gain community. Communities can work against a common belief system to inspire action. In 1980, a woman on her deathbed begged her sister to tell her story, so other women would not suffer as she had. That dying woman was Susan Komen, and the woman she begged was Nancy Brinker. While the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation is now famous for spurring a movement against breast cancer, others can learn from their success. Like Geoffrey Canada of HCZ, the story of one heroic person is the most memorable. Whats more, this narrative often spurs other like-minded individuals to share their stories, and create what the marketing community informally calls buzz.
Marry Emotion and Action

As weve just seen, stories evoke emotion, which build memories. But emotion alone is not enough to inspire action or to ensure an idea gains traction. Emotion without a plan for our brains to enact simply becomes joy, fear, anguish, or another heightened emotion. Our brains also require a clear path by which to channel our emotions. Emotion motivates. Action requires the ability to see a clear path from where we currently stand to where we could be in the future. Action requires possibility. Story marries possibility with a clear path to action, and wraps it in a package that our brains are innately wired to understand.
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The Elephant and the Rider

Using stories to persuade people into action often requires motivating them to change their minds and head in a new direction. In their book, Switch, Chip and Dan Heath explored how emotions can drive people to embrace change, rather than fight it. Researchers have established that the human brain operates like two independent systems, each with very different personalities. The Heaths reference work done by University of Virginia psychologist Jonathan Haidt, describes our emotional side as an Elephant and our rational side as its Rider: Perched atop the Elephant, the Rider holds the reins and seems to be the leader. But the Riders control is precarious because the Rider is so small relative to the Elephant. Anytime the six-ton Elephant and the Rider disagree about which direction to go, the Rider is going to lose. Hes completely overmatched. Most of us are all too familiar with situations in which our Elephant overpowers our Rider. Youve experienced this if youve ever slept in, overeaten, dialed up your ex at midnight, procrastinated, tried to quit smoking and failed, skipped the gym, gotten angry and said something you regretted, abandoned your Spanish or piano lesson, refused to speak up in a meeting because you were scared and so on. The Heath brothers argue that to engender change, you have to engage both the emotional elephant and the rational rider: If youre contemplating a change, the Elephant is the one who gets things done. To make progress toward a goal requires the energy and drive of the Elephant The Rider tends to overanalyze and overthink things. Chances are, you know people with Rider problems your colleague who can brainstorm about new ideas for hours but cant ever seem to make a decision. If you want to change things, youve got to appeal to both a reluctant Elephant and a wheel-spinning Rider can both ensure that nothing changes. But when Elephants and Riders move together, change can come easily.(10)
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Why Story Works
The Jungle of Jargon, Data and Options

How does this analogy relate to the art of storytelling? Well, think of when we ask a customer or our boss to travel down a path with us to greenlight a project, buy a product or service, or simply get on board with our ideas. We may have the most compelling business results or the analysis necessary to prove our superiority over a competitor. In fact, today marketers try to understand the importance of justifying decisions with hard data. Does that advertising campaign work? Will more customers respond to this offer better than the other? When it comes time to present the data, we rely on rationale and PowerPoint to propose or defend our argument. The problem is that data and charts typically speak to the rational side of our brains. As we introduce new data with jargon and generate options hoping to drive our audience to the right conclusion, we run the risk of overwhelming our listener and causing confusion. Remember, our brains are not wired to absorb large amounts of data at one time. In order to persuade our audience to get on board, the answer is not to avoid the data, but to learn how to use visualization and emotion to help us plow through the jungle of jargon, data and options to clear a path. Our audience needs to both understand why they must go there (rationale) and also want to go there with us (emotion). Thats where story comes in. Stories engage our emotions and organize our data with context and relevance. They provide a bridge from one data pool to the next. John Medina, author of Brain Rules(11), points to research that suggests that an audience has about a 10- minute attention span. Our brains dont pay attention to boring things, and attention typically begins a serious decline at the 10-minute mark. Medina suggests presenters use emotionally relevant activities such as telling a story, showing a video, or doing a live presentation to reboot the audience and help make sense of the data. With enough bridges, we can motivate an audience to cross an ocean of data with us.
STORIES ENGAGE OUR EMOTIONS AND ORGANIZE OUR DATA WITH CONTEXT AND RELEVANCE.
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Why Story Works
The opening story is the most important. Medina calls the first 30 seconds of any presentation, cognitive hallowed ground. In other words, we have roughly 30 seconds to capture our audiences attention. We call this the master story and it should present a map that both explains the path we will take together and evokes emotion to motivate our audience to start down the path with us. For example, if someone was to email you 100 folders and ask you to convert them into a new hospital database without any further directions, the results would inevitably be chaotic. The task would be overwhelming and you would start looking for a reason to procrastinate or simply ignore it all together. No organization. No emotion. No good. Instead, consider the same task with the addition of a master story. In a hospital, the difference between life and death can often be the difference between finding the correct information quickly vs. slowly. Last week, a 10-year-old boy was given a lifesaving blood transfusion in emergency surgery because his medical record was instantly accessible through our patient database. We need to convert our paper medical files into digital database files. All the red folders contain information about patients, so they can be entered alphabetically under the patient tab. The blue folders contain information about drug inventories and should be entered by date under the tab labelled real time inventory reports. Lastly, the yellow folders contain information about our medical staff, so they can be filed alphabetically by last name under the personnel tab. Remember, a life may depend on your accuracy. Suddenly, we have precise information about the importance of the task and how to approach it. Used prior to a presentation, stories lay out the path ahead and motivate us to engage with the data, choices and recommendations presented.
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Why Story Works
Going further, we can use the power of metaphor (think American Standards 18 golf balls) to help the listener understand the datas magnitude or urgency in order to inject emotion into the discussion. When emotion and visualization work together, the results are quite powerful. Consider a story we recently heard at W.L. Gore & Associates, makers of Gore-Tex fabric and a highly innovative company that has used its proprietary fabric to revolutionize multiple industries. Adding Gore technology to a manufacturing process, whether youre waterproofing a jacket or coating a heart stent, increases costs, due to the testing and quality standards. To balance that expenditure, Gore invests part of its marketing budget to demonstrate how the technology enhances peoples lives and supports a better experience. However, as the company expanded into new categories, storysharing between operating divisions had stalled. Recently, a female employee had come to the Gore workshop while she was visiting from their British affiliate. She told the story of a husband and his wife, both Gore associates in Europe, who had given birth to a premature baby. The baby was in ICU and was not doing well. The distraught couple was willing to try anything to save their child. One final surgery was their only hope, and the doctor came in to discuss the procedure with the couple. He explained how the team of doctors would be trying a new, experimental procedure where they wrapped the heart in fabric. In fact, he went on to say that the Gore technology used for this medical device was based on a similar raw material used for Gore-Tex jackets. Stunned, the couple told the doctor they both worked for Gore. Many months later, the baby is healthy and thriving. This story not only transformed our workshop audience, it suddenly made the marketing group feel as if they were part of something bigger. It also gave them a powerful metaphor to consider when describing the value the Gore-Tex brand brings to any process. Only the highest-quality ingredient can make fabric that will wrap a babys heart
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CHAPTER THREE
What Makes a Good Story

film is or should be more like music A
than like fiction. It should be a progression of moods and feelings. The theme, whats behind the emotion, the meaning, all that comes later.
TANLEY KUBRICK S Movie Director
In this chapter: Character, Conflict, and the Land of Desire.
It has been said that nothing happens until people feel something. No products are sold, no money is given, no votes are cast, no vision is executed and no tweets are spread. In business, we often forget that feeling emotion is the catalyst and precursor to a person taking action, whether the intended action is to buy a product, engage with a service, or rally a team. Too often we spout dry, rational data on why you should take action rather than evoking emotion that causes the audience to feel compelled to take action. In a world where we need our customers and colleagues to act upon our ideas and suggestions, tapping into emotion is the simplest and surest way to inspire this outcome. In this chapter, well examine greenlight stories the powerful storylines most adept at evoking emotions that drive action. The book Moneyball by Michael Lewis tells the story of Billy Beane, General Manager of the Oakland As baseball team, and spawned a movie starring Brad Pitt. Moneyball is the story of how Beane, a guy with a deep desire to win a World Championship, loses his three best players at the end of a season and must rebuild his team with far less money than teams with deeper pockets. As the story progresses, not only does Beane find a way to identify undervalued baseball talent, but he follows a series of losses at the beginning of the season with an unprecedented winning streak by seasons end. His unconventional recruiting strategy is supported by reams of data crunched by his geeky General Manager, young Peter Brand. He sums up all the data into one clarion call to action: recruit players who can get on base! Billy finds a way to implement his intriguing hypothesis despite the obstacles many
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of which come from his internal staff. The dramatic reversal of fortunes from league losers to B-talent-fueled winners got movie audiences up on their feet and cheering even those who have never set foot in a baseball stadium. Some narratives simply generate emotion better than others. The Moneyball story is what we call a change of condition or greenlight story. We borrowed the term greenlight from the movie industry, which uses the phrase when a project gets funding and has the approval to move forward, as in, my movie just got greenlit. It also evokes the classic Go symbol of a traffic light. Greenlight means action. Brand storytellers who want to provoke an action (such as buying or recommending) from their customers often apply change of condition narratives in marketing and advertising. A greenlight story is the classic before-and-after scenario that evokes powerful emotion and inspires action. In fact, research shows that greenlight narratives are the most common content genre that motivates people to spontaneously applaud during a presentation (and a movie!). (1) The critical element in a greenlight story is a dramatic change in circumstances. For example, from homeless to Harvard. From pristine vacation destination to Tsunami-devastated pile of rubble, or from a middle-aged woman in practical shoes to a multi-million-dollar-earning superstar. In general terms, think of the pattern as From________ To________. Watch what happened when Susan Boyle auditioned on the reality television show Britains Got Talent. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxPZh4AnWyk While the television show on which she appeared certainly provided an environment for a few million to hear her sing, that alone does not explain the more-than 100 million views the clip received on YouTube just days after the show aired, and the multi-milliondollar brand Boyle has become. After all, many great singers have been featured on this show and others like it. What makes Susan Boyle stand out is her dramatic transformation during the audition and the change of condition elements in her greenlight story.
THE CRITICAL ELEMENT IN A GREENLIGHT STORY IS A DRAMATIC CHANGE IN CIRCUMSTANCES.
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What Makes it a Greenlight Story?

Greenlight stories have a consistent pattern: The main character is called the Hero. Ideally, the hero shares similar traits and unfulfilled desires with the audience to whom our story is directed. Our hero encounters a Catalyst, setting her on a path that will ultimately transform her or her situation. Conflict ensues, and our hero navigates the challenges. Our hero reaches the Turning Point (or finish line) of the story where the final transformation takes place. The last phase we call the Lesson Learned, where, not only does the Hero appear transformed, but both the hero and the audience learn a fundamental truth about life and what it means to be human. When we encounter a greenlight story, we witness a change of condition or a From/To situation. In the case of Susan Boyle, we realize we have just watched a caterpillar transform into a butterfly from plain Jane to gifted songstress. We also watched a crowd of jeering critics turn into an auditorium of raving fans. These two simultaneous transformations captivate us, make us cheer and, in the end, teach us a lesson: you cannot judge a book by its cover. Whats more, we learn that if Susan can achieve her dreams, theres hope for all of us. Stories are so powerful because they help us see life from a big picture vantage point, and the storys hero connects us emotionally to the journey as it unfolds. As an audience, we personalize and internalize the lesson of the story. The more alignment we feel with the main characters hopes, dreams and situation, the more emotion we attach to the story and the source it came from. This is how emotional connections to brands form and loyalty grows.
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Who is the Hero?

A greenlight story features a single hero rather than a group of heroes, or society at large. A greenlight story may have multiple characters, but the story is told from the vantage point of one hero who acts as the surrogate for the audience. This is the first, most important, and most overlooked point of difference between a greenlight story and other stories. Most people grew up listening to and telling stories. Yet the business environment often causes us to think and act differently than whats in our nature. For the most part, we have scrubbed storytelling out of our business day. And when we do tell a story, we often tell it in a way that is less powerful than the casual stories we share naturally around the dinner table. The typical business story shies away from focusing on a single person as the main character and sharing enough of his or her personality quirks to help us feel a connection. We are uncomfortable disclosing people as individuals. Sometimes we worry about confidentiality or liability. For example, if I tell Janes story and say it was Jane, what if she gets mad at me? Yet, this is precisely what creates a connection with our audience the fact that they are just like Jane. Research shows that audiences connect most deeply with a specific person someone to whom they relate and with whom they empathize.(2) Sales and marketing executives, however, often make one of three common mistakes. Either they tell a general story about a group of people; they introduce a main character who is a bland, uncompelling composite; or in their zeal to express brand superiority, make the mistake of placing the brand or product in the role of the hero. Unfortunately, audiences do not connect with a product or a service; They connect with people. The first step in telling a greenlight story is to identify the most important audience member you want to persuade, and then to tell a (preferably true) story about a hero who feels relatable (even loveable) and shares a similar, unfulfilled desire with that key person you want to engage.
UNFORTUNATELY, AUDIENCES DO NOT CONNECT WITH A PRODUCT OR A SERVICE; THEY CONNECT WITH PEOPLE.
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Relatable Characters
With hits like The Fresh Prince of BelAir and Roseanne on her resume, director Ellen Gittelsohn is the go-to person for a gut-bustingly funny, 30-minute sitcom. Despite all Ellens experience, she sums up her secret sauce with one simple ingredient: the characters or heroes of the show. When we asked Ellen the difference between a one-season wonder and a multi-season run, she said, You really have to spend your first few episodes introducing the characters and getting to know them. Success is in developing characters that you want to invite into your living room week after week. We engage with invite into your living room characters because they are quirky, interesting or even kinda weird just like us. Their perspectives (and / or situations) resonate with ours and their actions and reactions make us consider what we would do in the same scenario. But characters are not limited to people. In fact, some of the most viewed online characters are animals. Take, for example, The Ultimate Dog Tease: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGeKSiCQkPw With a clever voice-over script, the clip shows a dog engaging in a conversation with its owner. The owner teases the dog by describing a series of canine fantasy treats, only to reveal he ate one himself and fed the other to the cat. The dogs comments (youre kidding me) quickly entered mainstream conversation as the video went viral. Personifying animals with distinct voices and putting them in conversations is funny enough to transport us from our desks at the 3 pm daydream juncture and become one of the mostviewed YouTube videos of 2011. Giving a dog a human voice and personality is a great example of one of the most powerful tools storytellers use to make their content memorable juxtaposition. Essentially, juxtaposition is the unexpected combination of two dissimilar things, and many great film characters are built around this premise. Sometimes, the juxtapositon is fueled by a contrasting environment, such as a country bumpkin feeling like a
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fish out of water in a big city. Juxtaposition can also be expressed in the duality of the character itself, such as a plain woman who has a crazy laugh or the nerdy guy who is a steamy, hot lover.
Juxtaposition Turns up the Emotional Thermostat

Fascinating characters act not only as our surrogate for experiencing the story, but they often are the reason we emotionally engage in the storyline and remember it later. The more emotion we feel, the more we remember and take action. For example, Susan Boyles story would not have been quite so memorable if she had been a stunning woman with a polished style. The contrast between her humble beginnings and her velvet voice is what we find unforgettable. Characters with high levels of juxtaposition tend to break through the clutter they pique our interest and create a story that is more likely to spread on its own power.
Using Juxtaposition and Arousal to Build Conflict (Tension)

Interesting brands must ultimately have more than fascinating characters. Interesting brands live out conflict. Its why we remain interested in their story and the greater the tension in the story, the greater our interest. In the Susan Boyle example, we watch the audience experience disbelief and annoyance when this 47-year-old overweight woman walks on the stage in sensible shoes and outdated clothing. We share the audiences frustration at having to sit through another boring audition. Yet the moment Susan frees her voice, we watch the faces of the jaded judges and audience transform, enraptured by Susans transition from plain Jane to songbird extraordinaire. The journey is made that much more significant thanks to a few simple questions posed by Simon Cowell, the shows notoriously cynical judge. He asks, What is your dream, Susan? When she answers that she wants to be a professional singer like Elaine Page, the bar is so high we scoff at her audacity. Until she sings. And
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INTERESTING BRANDS LIVE OUT CONFLICT. ITS WHY WE REMAIN INTERESTED IN THEIR STORY AND THE GREATER THE TENSION IN THE STORY, THE GREATER OUR INTEREST
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then we start to believe. In fact, the experience taps into one of our deepest emotions to achieve our dreams. And suddenly, we are one with the audience and the judges as they rise to their feet and applaud. This amazing transformation inspired massive action. First, the television audience jumped to their feet and the judges unanimously voted Susan through to the next round of competition. Next, millions of people watched the audition on YouTube and forwarded it to their friends. Finally, a record-breaking number of fans from all over the world pulled out their wallets and purchased Susans first album. Greenlight stories like Susan Boyles dont just generate buzz and excitement; they also build brands and sell products.
A Lesson Learned that Fills an Unfulfilled Desire

A good story generally ends when the main character learns a lesson. The audience relates to the main character and recognizes something that creates a connection with the story. While we may not all want to be world-class singers, we can all relate to Susan Boyles desire to achieve the life she was born to live. A good story makes an emotional connection with its audience when people can say thats me! Take, for example, Anita Renfroes now timeless version of the William Tell Overture. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CXgoJ0f5EsQ Anita has put to music what moms say in a 24-hour period and condensed it into a little under three minutes. When moms watch, they immediately recognize themselves in the pleas to brush your teeth and turn off your phone. Its one reason why Kraft Foods launched a webisode series with Anita entitled, You Gotta LOL to align their products with her fresh content. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPrNFyRYG7U Kraft Foods, maker of Triscuits, Jell-O, Oreos and hundreds of other family-oriented products understands people at an emotional level. We buy certain foods when we want to care for our family and friends.
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Understanding the right emotional landscape for your brand can yield great results. Likewise, pulling the wrong emotional lever can backfire. For example, women buy food when we want to care for our family. Women buy lingerie when we want to feel sexy or wear make-up when we want to attract others. Mixing emotions, such as linking a lingerie brand to the emotions associated with providing for your children would not only elicit confusion, it would also create a significant yuck factor. Consider a company that got this emotional connection all wrong Mars. In 2009, the company launched its first new chocolate bar in 20 years, calling it the Fling. Initially launched in California and online, the company hoped women nationwide would soon be having Flings. Yet, most of us have never heard of it, and for good reason. Aimed at women, this pink, foil-wrapped bar was touted to be only 85 calories and was described as a chocolate finger. The call to action and ad copy went so far as to say, Pleasure Yourself. The packaging stated, Naughty. But not that naughty. Visit the Mars website today. The Fling is nowhere to be found. What went wrong? There was no problem with the product. It was backed by one of the largest manufacturing and distribution networks in the world. The mistake was the emotional ground in which Mars planted its story. The blatant use of innuendo and sexuality to appeal to women simply flopped. But didnt we just say juxtaposition was good? Juxtaposition works when the contrast lies within an emotional landscape that people find believable, relevant and positive. Despite all the cynicism in the press today, what really engages people is an inspiring sense of contrast and tension. A mainstream company (best know for classic treats including Snickers and M&Ms) juxtaposing candy with sex in an industry often associated with children was creepy, not groundbreaking. It felt like your fun and reliable Uncle Mars just told you a cringe-worthy dirty joke at the family BBQ. Unexpected and icky. (3) Learning to explicitly plan for the emotional landscape in which we want a brand to reside is critical to the stories we tell about that brand. We call this emotional landscape the Land of Desire.
PULLING THE WRONG EMOTIONAL LEVER CAN BACKFIRE
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The Land of Desire depicts four lands that represent the most commonly-sought high ground brands use to make emotional connections with people. In each land, you will see brand examples that win by appealing to one of our four most basic needs: The need to connect with one another (The Land of Love, Connection & Belonging) The need to control our destiny and achieve our full potential (The Magical Mountains of Identity) The need to protect ourselves and our loved ones (The Kingdom of Safety & Security) The need to be free and independent (The Independent Islands of Freedom, Choice & Autonomy)
Sparking Emotion in the Land of Desire

Underlying emotional needs, or cravings, are peoples deepest desires that manifest themselves as human emotions. When people have strong cravings, they will often go to extreme measures to fulfill them. Brand stories rooted in one of these emotional lands tap into our innermost desires and compel us to take action. The Homeland of Love, Connection & Belonging Our need to feel loved, valued and understood often leads us to seek out people who are similar to us. People with whom we share values and who affirm our feelings connect us to our tribes. Brands and companies that win by connecting people to one another often reside here. Consider the diaper business, where celebrating a mothers love for her child is the basis of a lifetime connection. Food brands are also often found here, as they fulfill our craving to care for our families and friends with healthy, delicious food. Other brands, like De Beers (A Diamond is Forever) evoke the timeless value of creating lasting bonds with romantic partners.
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The Kingdom of Stability People at many different times or stages of their life depend on brands that live in the Kingdom of Stability. In this land, people desire safety and security and will often go to great lengths to protect themselves and those they love from real or perceived threats. Brands including OnStar, Allstate and Norton leverage our fears of being stranded on a dark road, flooded, or pillaged by identity thieves to drive enormous brand loyalty. They protect and fortify their customers by providing products and services that help them sleep better at night. The Magical Mountains of Purpose and Identity We all crave recognition and equate our self-worth with our achievements. The desire to fulfill our true destiny and to create a legacy that will leave a lasting contribution is universal at certain life stages. In the Mountains of Purpose and Identity, companies often leverage inspirational stories, people and journeys to demonstrate how their brands have helped people like you and me to achieve the seemingly impossible. Brands like Nike (Just Do It) and beauty brands aim to inspire with aspirational messages and imagery that show how we can lead a better life with products designed to help us look and feel great. LOreals memorable campaign, Because Im worth it epitomizes this emotional high ground.
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The Independent Islands of Freedom, Autonomy and Choice No brand epitomizes the Islands of Freedom better than HarleyDavidson. Whether were biker babes or suits, we recognize our inner renegade and celebrate our love of the anti-establishment when engaging with brands from the Independent Islands. Often when David brands fight Goliath, they choose to live in the Islands the same way 7UP chose to be the Uncola and Volkswagen appealed to people living their lives with abandon in the Drivers Wanted campaign. The little guy against the big establishment resonates across all ages and stages. To find a brands emotional high ground and plant our story, we must first understand the unfulfilled desire the brand serves. We must ask ourselves: 1. In which land does our brand genuinely spark the most emotional response? 2. Where does our competition live and should we live in the same land or a different land? 3. What would it look like to gain more emotional territory in our native land?
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CHAPTER FOUR
What Makes a Good Story the Right Brand Story?

realized the impor tance of having a stor y today I
is what really separates companies. People dont just wear our shoes, they tell our story.
LAKE MYCOSKIE B CEO,Toms Shoes
In this chapter: Creating a Brand Story, the Role your Brand Plays and Considering your Competition.
Nearly three-quarters of the Earths surface is covered by water. In the Land of Desire, the world of products and services is dominated by the Sea of Sameness. Brands struggle to stay afloat in the Sea, failing to connect emotionally with their audiences. They may offer benefits, but they are not memorable and fall out of our consideration set before we are ready to make a decision. Picture the sea of brands swirling before a tired mom, standing in the cold remedy aisle at 10 p.m. as she tries to find the right cough syrup for a sleepless child. Or imagine an entrepreneur weighing which printer features will best serve the needs and budget of his start-up business. We know were searching in the Sea of Sameness when we shake our heads and think, It shouldnt be this hard. Brands connect emotionally with an audience in order to establish a long-term relationship through story. Yet, established brands often have to craft a story despite carrying heavy baggage whether that refers to brand equity (IBM), a founders legacy (Walt Disney), or even a past tragedy (Tylenol). Unlike immigrants, brands cannot choose to move to a different territory to escape economic conditions, competitive threats or even the weather. Brands are born in a territory, and will always be native to that territory. If a brand loses its way and falls into the Sea of Sameness, they can rise out of the water by returning to the
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emotional ground that played a powerful role in their initial success. Its why a brand must excavate its own story. Take Meredith Corporation, for example. For years, Meredith published some of Americas best-loved magazines titles including Better Homes and Gardens and Parents. Magazine companies typically make money by selling more subscriptions and keeping their readers engaged with meaningful content. Merediths lucrative business model always meant selling advertising to brands that wanted to reach the 75 million American women the magazines served with helpful recipes, tips and ideas for their homes and families. Meredith was a longtime citizen in the Homeland of Love, Connection and Belonging. However, as many magazine readers migrated to the computer screen, it became clear that the Meredith story was no longer the right story for many advertisers. New digital brands such as Google began to eat into Merediths bread and butter (home and food advertising dollars), as those women started using new forms of online technology. Marketers began demanding further price concessions to keep placing pages in the magazines, instead of online. Looking for new ways to generate revenue, Meredith focused on finding new advertisers. While the company boasted the largest audience of women in the industry, many companies that did not currently advertise in Meredith magazines were image advertisers top-dollar beauty and fashion brands. Most beauty and fashion brands (think Dior, Vera Wang, even Maybelline) inhabit the Magical Mountains of Identity. Their businesses have always relied on womens aspirations to be all they can be. Magazines with influential editors such as Vogues Anna Wintour and celebrity buzz-machines like People magazine were natural fits for these advertisers. In this category, the company you keep is an important consideration. Unfortunately for Meredith, the content that was so appealing to their magazine readers (that practical, how-to, homey approach to food and family) was unappealing to brands that wanted to rub elbows with beauty and fashion influencers. Brands aimed to be seen among Vogues editorial spreads and Peoples celebrities, not next to a recipe for cheesecake. One influential media buyer, when
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THE COMPANY YOU KEEP IS AN IMPORTANT CONSIDERATION.
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approached by Meredith to put her brand in the pages of the magazines, politely declined, explaining that Meredith magazines were slightly dusty. How do you convince big, sexy, fashion and beauty companies that worry about their image to advertise in magazines featuring regular people, not just the rich and famous? The term dusty became a rallying cry for the team at Meredith. But Meredith had a conundrum. They could not move to the Magical Mountains and abandon the Homeland of Love, Connection and Belonging. Brands like Better Homes & Gardens and Family Circle were highly influential in the home and family category and still earned the lionshare of revenue from this positioning. However, that influence did not extend to fashion and beauty products. Worse yet, media buyers would demand data showing large numbers of women valued Meredith brands for advice on beauty and fashion if they were ever going to advertise in magazines that were not traditionally fashion- and beauty-oriented. So, the Meredith team began to mine their data and the research showed a startling shift. Accompanying the rise of the web was a shift in the patterns of influence for a large number of women. These women were not reading traditional beauty magazines. They were too busy, often in the midst of raising families and juggling home life with active careers. They were reading Meredith magazines for help in raising those families. Yet, they still were purchasing clothing and lipstick and other beauty products they just did it in a context that fit their lives. These women had turned to different sources for their information; they turned to other women just like themselves. Suddenly, those exclusive experts at other magazines were being joined in the digital world by citizen experts. The rise of bloggers and online conversations among ordinary women was exponential and Meredith could authentically claim to hold more of those women among their reading audience and website visitors than any other publishing house. In fact, Meredith magazines were influencing the new influencers the citizen experts. Digging a bit deeper, the team unearthed more information that would ultimately form the basis of their story. Not only did a lot of women read Meredith magazines, there was a certain type of
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woman who was more inclined than others to engage, participate and influence in this new digital universe. The press had already identified and named her in previous news stories the gamma girl. Whereas the alpha girl had ruled for decades in the world of fashion and beauty, her influence was now being matched by ordinary women who were willing to share their tips and ideas, unafraid of voicing an opinion alongside these alphas. In this new world of online communities and fast-paced mobile channels, the gamma girl was the it girl when it came to influencing spending choices. She was the one that blogged try this new drink or quick: grab this new shoe before theyre sold out! And she was the one a large number of women were listening to most attentively. Meredith crafted a story using this data to support it. The main character, the gamma girl, was a study in juxtaposition. Even though she was ordinary, she was influential because she used digital tools that could spread her stories instantly. The influence that a few exclusive alpha women used to drive had shifted to a gammastyle influence, where many ordinary women were discussing and collaborating to set trends and share tips. They werent replacing the alpha influencers, but they were joining the conversation and expanding the web of influence. In other words, if you were a bigspending beauty and fashion advertiser, you needed to pay attention to these ordinary women Meredith reached because they were quickly shifting consumer patterns of influence. What was most interesting was that when told about gamma girls, many of these women charged with managing these businesses saw themselves as gammas, making the Meredith brands relatable and more desirable. Going to market with their gamma girl story, Meredith stayed firmly planted in the Land of Love, Connection and Belonging by talking about the new power of connection as it related to the their traditional customer, mom and her continuing need for beauty and fashion. They connected emotionally with those in control of the marketing budgets for these brands. And for the first time in decades, their beauty and fashion ad revenues grew exponentially. The gamma positioning turned a good story into the right story to help Meredith grow.
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Determining the land in which a brand lives is sometimes quite simple, and you often see industries cluster in the same land. For example, the financial services industry often clusters in the Kingdom of Stability, because the idea of losing all your money is definitely the stuff of nightmares. Some brands, however, settle in foreign territory and achieve greatness by bringing unexpected delight to an unsuspecting category. For example, many technology businesses live in the Independent Islands of Freedom, Independence and Choice. Technology provides access to people who previously had none, untethers workers from their offices, and provides a long tail of choice that opens markets to sellers that previously couldnt afford or find their marketplace. Unlike most tech companies, Apple never chose to reside in the Islands. Apple, an outgrowth of Steve Jobs ego, intellect and vision, owns the premier property at the top of the Magical Mountains of Identity. It proclaims this loudly in its advertising (Im a Mac). It lives this out in its desire to teach (its long-held strategy of equipping schools), and it is constantly delivering and developing new products that allow people to personalize the technology and enhance their own identity (from personalized playlists to content apps), through to its contentious and public refusal to deliver flash on the IOS platform, because the company believes it is not a superior experience.
Considering the Company You Keep

Should we always position a brand amongst its industry tribe? Or are there times when it behooves a business to break new emotional ground, like Apple did? How far can we go without making mistakes like the Fling? Sometimes, its easier to determine where a brand naturally lives by first considering the role the brand plays in the lives of the people it serves.
SOME BRANDS, HOWEVER, SETTLE IN FOREIGN TERRITORY AND ACHIEVE GREATNESS BY BRINGING UNEXPECTED DELIGHT TO AN UNSUSPECTING CATEGORY
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The Role Your Brand Plays

Certain roles tend to naturally thrive in certain lands. Determining which role a brand plays in meeting peoples unfulfilled desire is often a good first indicator of the territory in which a brand will naturally reside. These roles can be determined by product characteristics, benefits and capabilities, or they can be determined by competitive positioning. There are four main roles brands tend to play. Brand as Mentor: A brand that mentors often provides products and services that lead to self improvement, such as Nike (Just Do It) and Home Depot (You Can Do It. We Can Help). This is also rich territory for professional services: advertising agencies, accounting agencies or law firms with specific, disciplinary expertise mentor clients. Brand as Sherpa: These brands tend to do the work that no one else wants to do, and they carve out a point of difference by making the difficult (perceived or real) seem easy. Verizons Can you hear me now campaign personifies what was a very real industry problem with dropped calls, and attaches a man to the solution as the face of the brand. This is a similar strategy Maytag owned years ago with the iconic lonely repairman character. Both put human faces to a problem and position the brand as the sherpa willing to do the heavy lifting. Ingredient brands often take on this role by communicating that their product has made things work better even if you cant see it happening (Intel Inside and GoreTex, for example). Brands that differentiate themselves through service commonly fill this role as FedEx does, when it absolutely, positively has to be there. Brand as Peer: Aspirational, lifestyle and premium-priced brands land here. These brands thrive by showing that they share a common worldview with their audience and describe a life that we all long (and often lust) for. For example, fashion and beauty brands
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often espouse lifestyles that justify spending exorbitant amounts of money on vanity items that could feel like guilty purchases. Infamous taglines including LOreals Because Im worth it position the brand, as an encouraging peer. Apple, too, plays here, with its famous Im a Mac campaign that juxtaposes a cool, hip young guy (Mac) with an overweight, frumpy and outdated man (PC). Brand as Guardian Angel: One of our strongest emotions is fear. Carrying the silver bullet of protection is a powerful brand position. Brands like Allstate (Youre in good hands with Allstate) take the protector role. These brands provide assurance in times of trouble or danger and compel people to pay a premium to sleep well at night, knowing their guardian angel is working hard to protect them. Brands that successfully establish themselves in the Land of Desire do several things other brands do not: they delight, they deliver and they develop.
Delight Land of Desire brands go beyond common expectations to delight their customers. Theyre not satisfied with simply doing a good job and delivering the expected 1-5 on a customers list. Instead, they work hard to go over the top in unexpected categories, teaching their customer to forevermore crave what they never imagined they could have. This is a powerful and proven formula for delivering pleasure. Think of the intuitive brilliance of Apples iPad or Zappos vast shoe selection and unexpected shipping upgrades. Authentic delight cannot be created simply by telling a story; a customer must also experience the story. We call these items that go beyond a customers basic list the Six to Ten.
BRANDS THAT SUCCESSFULLY ESTABLISH THEMSELVES IN THE LAND OF DESIRE DO SEVERAL THINGS OTHER BRANDS DO NOT: THEY DELIGHT, THEY DELIVER AND THEY DEVELOP
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The Six to Ten List

Every category has a list of benefits that products must deliver to be viable competitors. In the automotive industry, attributes like reliability, fuel efficiency, and safety are the top benefits every competitor must deliver to some extent. People can be persuaded that a certain car outperforms the others on one or more of these attributes, but these benefits do not explain why people fall in love with a brand. They do not spark emotion like a brand that delivers on the 6-10. These upper-level attributes go above and beyond what a car must do to deliver what a car could do. For example, several years ago the industry started innovating with technologies that could deliver these 6-10 benefits. Suddenly, cars could call the police without your help when you were injured (OnStar) or ensure you never got lost (GPS systems). Today, technology continues to drive innovation in this category. Yelp recently announced its integration with BMW systems in order to provide drivers with location-specific information and recommendations on shopping, restaurants and more. Contrast the word delight with the word satisfaction. The definition of delight is something that gives great pleasure. There is also an element of surprise in delight that is absent in satisfaction. Brands that delight us have found ways to live out the 6-10. In other words, there are certain 1-5 benefits every brand must deliver in a category. Car manufacturers must deliver safety, fuel efficiency, reliability, comfort and affordability in order to compete. The brands that first delivered GPS and integrated media systems, however, delighted their customers with these unexpected benefits.
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Deliver
Brands often talk about the brand promise. Powerful brand stories are not just told, they are lived out by employees, by the company the brand keeps, by the products a brand develops and by investment choices in its marketing mix.
Develop
Brands that are long-term residents in the Land of Desire must continually develop new ways to delight their customers. They expand their territory within a land and increase their market share and they do this by creating new ways for their brands to deliver on an unfulfilled desire, continuously reinventing products that delight and inspire.
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Better Than Naked

Elite, long distance runners will train up to 100 miles at a time in preparation for races that can last from 4 hours up to 4 days . Between mile 20 and 40, often the most common derailer is not fatigue or injury but chafing or choosing the wrong gear. Clothing that rubs and causes irritation can cripple a long distance runner forcing an early end to months of training. Out of this insight and countless hours spent with athletes, The North Face developed the performance-oriented Better than Naked line of high tech running apparel. These products are not made, they are engineered with the lightest materials, utilize the physiologic make up of runners, and ensure only what is needed makes it on the garment. And the runners benefit. Ironically it wasnt success but failure that fueled the development of this innovative line. In 2010 Kami Semick, an elite ultra-marathon runner ran the Courmayeur Champex, Chamonix (CCC) after failing to complete the UTMB in 2008 due to complications from the high altitude. As a member of The NorthFace global athlete team , the marketing team went to support her. Two races are run at the same time, the Ultra Tour de Mont Blanc (or the UMTB as it is known to insiders) and the CCC. The CCC is 98 km and probably the most competitive 100K(ish) trail race in Europe. These courses are carved through the mountain passes of the Alps as runners navigate the terrain and the altitude traveling between 60 and 100 miles with elevation gain of up to 10,000 meters. In 2009, months prior to the UMTB and on the same course, conditions became so bad that three runners were blown off the side of the mountain. The day before the race had been beautiful, but as race time approached, the weather took a rapid turn for the worse, eventually causing officials to cancel the full UMTB and restart a shorter race the following day. The CCC, however, remained on since runners were competing at lower altitudes. The North Face team was on hand in Chamonix to support their runners and cheer them on as they crossed the finish line. Kami had prepared for the race, strategizing that if she could carry little gear and keep moving, she would be lighter and faster than other racers. Her strategy initially paid off and she quickly
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took the lead. But slowly, she kept getting colder and colder as the weather turned worse. With little gear to change into, she couldnt remove wet layers and replace them with others. As she entered the final mountain passes, conditions turned blizzard-like. Meanwhile, down in the town, The North Face team knew her targeted completion time and eagerly awaited her arrival. Expected at midnight, time passed but no Kami. By 1 a.m. Kami had not crossed the finish line and the group began to consider sending a rescue team. Finally, around 1:30 a.m., Kami crossed the finish line as the third female instead of first, and in terrible condition. She was hypothermic, suffering not only from the weather conditions but also from a lack of the right equipment. She had chosen to travel light and in doing so, had deprived herself of the win she so deserved. She didnt even have on a womens jacket, having chosen a high performance mens jacket that didnt suit her needs. The fact that she had to make the trade off between being warm and traveling fast and light bothered the North Face team and they dedicated themselves to finding a solution. Thus was born the cold weather version of the Better than Naked running line. (An apparel collection that has really gotten traction from choosing a vivid and surprising metaphor for its name.) The line takes into consideration the bodys reaction to nature and the way in which it heats and cools itself, including in extreme conditions such as the CCC. It incorporates physiologic technology (the science behind how our bodies function), and utilizes whisper light fabrics and strategic venting designed to work with the hot and cold zones in the body. There is even a version specifically designed for women and their bodys reactions to extreme conditions thanks to Kami.
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Story Juice
Connecting a brand story to emotional territory is the surest way to accelerate buzz. In a world with an endless number of media channels and where anyone can be a publisher, earning the right to have your story heard means telling a story that is emotionally relevant and memorable. Creating meaningful differentiation for a brand means endorsements from others who help us consider what to buy. Many online retailers employ this strategy. Think about shopping for toys on Amazon and seeing other people who purchased this also bought Technology that puts alternatives in front of people demands that brands work extra hard to drive preference. To drive preference, people must remember the right story for a brand it must be associated with emotion to earn their attention and ultimately gain their endorsement. In other words, our brand stories feed peoples emotional elephants, incenting them down the path to preference and purchase.
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CHAPTER FIVE
What the Right Story Can Do for a Brand

Disneyland is a work of love. We didnt go into Disneyland just with the idea of making money.
ALT DISNEY W Cartoonist
In this chapter: The Root of your Story, Story Spark, and Story as Strategy.
The best brand stories solve business problems and create brand value by opening up new markets and new opportunities planting the seeds of growth. Compelling stories inspire us to think about brands in new and meaningful ways. They spark emotion in audiences and are quickly remembered, retold and desired, which is why the smartest brand investors hunt for story when theyre hungry for a strong return on their investment.
Uncommon threads
Pauline Brown has a resume that stands out. With years of experience developing strategies for companies including Este Lauder and Avon, she never planned on leaving the beauty industry; but when the Carlyle Group (one of the largest private equity groups in the world) came calling, thats exactly the choice she made. Her perspective changed overnight. In the beauty business, she spent her time determining how to leverage opportunities for brands. At the Carlyle Group, her role was to think about what opportunities were worth leveraging. She knew the basics of the business the hurdles that had to be surpassed to create a viable brand. But to an investor, the difference between viability and vibrancy is the difference between an ordinary proposition and an extraordinary return. Suddenly, Pauline found herself evaluating hundreds of brands in search of the secret sauce that would take a brand from viable to vibrant. She describes her approach in the following way:
THE BEST BRAND STORIES SOLVE BUSINESS PROBLEMS AND CREATE BRAND VALUE BY OPENING UP NEW MARKETS AND NEW OPPORTUNITIES PLANTING THE SEEDS OF GROWTH
Story Juice
As a financial investor, I always look at the health of the financial statements but, the financial statements are a measure, not a driver, of success. By far, the biggest driver of a brands success is the quality and fit of its leadership team. High-performance leaders not only have the right training, experience and aptitude to run a particular business, but they are also in synch with the values and culture of the company. They have the ability to connect with and inspire others whether they be employees, suppliers, partners, investors or customers. When Pauline met Cristina Carlino, the owner of Philosophy cosmetics, she knew she had found a compelling story worthy of investing, with an authentic leader capable of telling it. She described the genius of the brand as a true rule-breaker, referring to the tendency of beauty companies to be either rule-makers (market leaders), rule-takers (those that follow the leaders and rise with the tide of the industry) or rule-breakers (the innovators). Carlinos brand was the real deal a bona fide rule-breaker. Pauline shared her story.
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Story Juice
Confident and well spoken, Cristina Carlino is, by all standards, a beautiful woman. But as she tells it, she struggled with bad skin and weight problems throughout her teens and twenties. She spent her early career developing skincare treatments for doctors offices, based on cutting-edge science. But something was missing from that first venture her philosophy. She described the situation to People magazine like this: My problems had nothing to do with my looks. There didnt need to be one more diet, one more hairstyle. There needed to be a contribution from me. While the industrys rule-makers were setting unattainable standards of beauty, featuring flawless models in glamourous settings, this once-aspiring songwriter began to marry her personal story with the science she had developed. She married simple packaging that featured nostalgic shots from Cristinas (and others) childhood with amusing product names like Hope in a Jar, When Hope is not Enough, and Miracle Worker. Unconventional scents (e.g., raspberry sorbet and cinnamon buns) and poetic messages on the package were designed to remind every woman that we are beautiful when we feel beautiful. (From People Magazine) Carlino sees no contradiction in hyping inner beauty while selling the outer kind. Our lives are not just about how we look, she maintains, but cosmetics are a way to help you feel better. To spread the good feelings around, Carlino donates the entire proceeds from several Philosophy products to homeless shelters and other charities.(1)
Pauline was sold. The Carlyle group took a majority stake in the company and spent the next four years helping Carlino and her team develop a brand that ultimately was sold to Coty for a reported $1 billion. Stories sell.
BILLION DOLLAR STORY

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The Philosophy Story

The Philosophy brand exemplified story strategy right from the beginning: It had a character that resonated with its audience in the person of Cristina Carlino. Her authentic ability to express herself from advertising to packaging to charitable giving created a way for consumers to look at the brand and say, thats me. It had conflict. Something was going on. While most of the beauty industry was focused on creating an aspirational fantasy image, Philosophy mirrored womens values of authenticity, self-expression, and creativity. Philosophy beautifully captured the dueling tension women feel between self-confidence (I am proud and accepting of who I am) and self-improvement (I am always trying to be the best version of myself). The juxtaposition of a brand with cutting-edge science rigorous enough for dematologists offices, yet packaged simply with unusual scents and inspiring sayings stood out from the crowd.The brand had science and soul a pair of unexpected traits that created the story spark in the beauty category. In order to develop an authentic, powerful Greenlight story for a company or a brand, we need to be mindful and respectful of its history and the people who lead and represent the brand, both today and historically. Its why we often say we excavate the root story.
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Story Juice
Excavating the Root of Your Story

The typical vineyard has a life expectancy of about 20-25 years before the plants become woody and overgrown. If you do not routinely invest in your plants and graft new varietals on a regular basis, you will need to replant your entire vineyard after about 25 years. Clearly, in the world of brand-building, it would be disastrous to throw out elements including manufacturing lines, packaging, product inventories and essentially recreate the product on a regular basis. In fact, given the pace of technology and innovation today, its fair to say the average industry lifecycle is far shorter than the 2025 years of a vineyard. Brands need to constantly reinvent and reinvigorate themselves in todays marketplace. But like a vineyard, they need to protect their rootstock and make sure new varietals continue to graft to the original plants, absorbing the soil and nutrients that make them unique to that vineyard. Understanding the make-up of your company means excavating the root. When a company needs to reinvigorate its brand whether it has a track record of success or is struggling to stay afloat story architecture can help anchor the brand to its past, while paving the way for growth in the form of new products, services and markets. This process mirrors the way in which vineyards grow. As companies develop new technologies, tools, capabilities, products and services, each unfolding story must be grafted to the original rootstock. If this is not done correctly, suddenly a Cabernet Franc vine will bear either no fruit or a varietal that is not congruent with its rootstock. It will not survive for very long. In Philosophy, we see a company that had a great rootstock embodied in its founder. And we can also see how its technicallyadvanced formulation never achieved its full potential until it found its soul its story. However, whats unique about Philosophys story is that it not only told and lived out its story, but also that its story used a unique root pair (science and soul) to spark attention in an otherwise soul-less industry.
STORY ARCHITECTURE CAN HELP ANCHOR THE BRAND TO ITS PAST WHILE PAVING THE WAY FOR GROWTH IN THE FORM OF NEW PRODUCTS, SERVICES AND MARKETS
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Story Juice
Igniting Your Story Spark

According to David Altschul and Jim Hardison, two of the brilliant principles at Portland-OR based Character, companies and brands that are deeply rooted in story structure and strategy often have two characteristics that spark off one another from friction, or tension. In the case of Susan Boyle, the juxtaposition of her awkward practical shoe look with the richness of her voice cued our brains to pay attention from the moment she started singing. This pair of characteristics works to create tension in the brand story that keeps an audience hooked. Brands without tension are flat and uninteresting. But brands, like people, that embody juxtaposition by pairing two positive but unexpected traits create tension and conflict that capture our attention. Many brand stories are rooted in company history and associated with the founders. Ben and Jerrys drove a memorable culture of non-conformity while still embracing community. Apple is inextricably tied to the innate tension evident in the late Steve Jobs the energetic spark between design and technology. While characteristics are often positive and worthy on their own, the natural tension between two positives drives conflict, interest, excellence and ultimately captivates an audience with its story.
Creating a Narrative that Serves your Brands Purpose

Today, understanding the roots of our brand stories is the first critical step to a rapid response capability. Understanding the story at the root of your brand means creating consistent narratives for many different environments. Much like the root of a healthy apple tree grows branches that bear apples, not pears, narratives that grow out from a strong root bear high-quality fruit. Understanding your brand story is the first and most critical step in using story as a strategic weapon. In the case of American Airlines, the narrative created in response to the Alec Baldwin incident did not help the brand to grow and thrive. Instead, it added turmoil and reinforced the frustration we all feel about air travel today.
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Story Juice
Story is like a tree. What you see above the ground is only part of the story, because there is a vital framework of roots below the surface. Story strategy looks at the whole tree, including the invisible root system. For an organization, these roots include innovations (products and services), culture, and leadership that define the core of the brand. The visible tree is what our customers can see of our brand story. Brand stories are expressed above ground through innovations (new products or services), visible leadership, customer service, and marketing narratives. Story strategy operates as a compass, setting a course for the brand and equipping the entire company to tell narratives that are rooted in the right story. Every company and every brand already owns the roots of its story story strategy is what excavates that root. Weve seen how story can launch and accelerate a brand like Philosophy, separating it from a sea of other brands. Story principles, when applied strategically, can also be used to maintain and accelerate momentum for a brand when things are going well.
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The Care and Feeding of Your Story

In 1959, a new girl hit the streets of New York to a cool reception. She was blonde, curvy and very well dressed. Her name was Barbie, and despite the New York Toy Shows lukewarm response, the public soon loved this new fashion doll and just 10 years later, Mattel, her parent company, had sold over $500 million Barbiebranded products. Like other famous blondes known by a single name (think Marilyn and Madonna), Barbie became a style icon, reflecting the ever-changing whims of the fashion world. She was eleven-and-ahalf inches of inspiration and aspiration for millions of little girls through the mini-skirts of the 60s, the platform shoes of the 70s, and into the next Millennium. In 2009, she turned 50, celebrating with designers, celebrities and the whos who of pop culture. But to write her off as pop culture goddess is to misunderstand the power of her story and its ability to keep growing even as she hits the halfcentury mark. Imagine how daunting it was, then, when Mattel was faced with creating growth as she turned 51. A fashion icon hitting 50 is newsworthy; 51 is tougher. In fact, Mattel launched a new line that year the I Can Be series, hoping to capture the aspirations of a new generation that faced a very different world than the little girls of the 1960s. In celebration of her 51st year, Barbie was reincarnated as a Computer Engineer, conquering Silicon Valley, making headlines such as Revenge of the Nerds: How Barbie Got Her Geek On (Wall Street Journal) and Meet Barbie the Computer Engineer (Wired). And in 2012, she is entering uncharted territory in the Middle East as she becomes an ambassador for a new generation of women who struggle to find their voice in a rapidly evolving culture. As discussed in a 2012 article from USA Today(2), she is on the leading edge of cultural change in the markets of Tehran despite the systems desire to suppress Western influence. Whether you agree with Barbies persona or not, her story is obviously one that crosses cultures, geographies and decades. Barbie lives in the Mountains of Identity and her desire to explore uncharted territory
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(Astronaut Barbie), reach her full potential (Presidential Candidate Barbie) and even surprise people (Nascar Driver Barbie) resonates with women of all ages. What Barbies parent company, Mattel, does brilliantly is to create conflict inherent in the dueling ideas of brains and beauty. Outwardly, Barbie is the well coiffed, fashionably dressed character. While that attracts little girls, what elevates her to iconic status is the symbolism that her story has never been about clothes. Its always been about WHAT she was getting dressed for. This is a brand that knows how to create a story. Their iconic character has not only a rich history, but a vibrant future because Barbies story is kept alive not only by the company, but also by the community of women she has inspired throughout generations. Mattels continuous evolution and celebration of the female spirit is what makes Barbie the never-ending story.
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CHAPTER SIX
Stories that Spread

Storytelling may be what distinguishes social movements from interest groups.
ARSHALL GANZ M Professor, Harvard Kennedy School of Government, via @StoryRoute
In this chapter: Creating Narratives, Social Media Stabilizers, Social Media Accelerators, and Characteristics that Cause Stories to Spread
Recently, American Airlines could have used a good chemist. On December 6th, 2011, actor and comedian Alec Baldwin boarded an American Airlines flight bound for New York. Alec, like many of us, was trying to keep himself distracted as he began his long journey. He pulled out his iPhone and started playing Words with Friends the techies answer to scrabble. Unfortunately, American Airlines had a policy (as most airlines do) about turning off electronic devices once the doors are closed. Alec, however,was not ready to stop playing. What ensued was a volatile argument between Alec and a flight attendant. Alec tweeted: light attendant onAmerican reamed me out 4 playing F WORDSWFRIENDSwhilewesatatthegate,notmoving. #nowonderamericanairisbankrupt Ultimately, Alec was removed from the plane, the passengers were inconvenienced and the flight was delayed. But the story didnt stop there. Alec made an appearance the following night on Saturday Night Live, playing the role of the American Airlines pilot to Seth Myers news anchor, and issued an apology to himself in a video that went viral almost immediately: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xNH2tOuuZvA Had American Airlines understood chemistry, they might have responded differently.
StoryJuice 6 StoriesthatSpread
Why American Airlines Needed a Chemist

In this age of digital immediacy, brands are like molecules. American Airlines spent millions of dollars over many years, working to convince customers to choose their company over the Friendly Skies of United, or airlines like Southwest, where bags fly free. What happened when Alec Baldwin tweeted, however, was what chemists call a reaction. In short, the molecule is put into a new environment, filled with new properties (a celebrity passionate about his game, traffic delays, and devices that make information available to millions in a blink) and either destabilizes or accelerates. When brands enter these new environments, there will be those that win and those that lose. Those that win know to add a narrative to the environment that acts as either a catalyst or a stabilizer. Those that lose either add the wrong narrative or they remain mute. In other words, they de-stabilize their own brand. The Social Catalyst. In social media, great narratives are gold. They are quickly created from a root brand story and they capitalize on change, working to position their brand to benefit from the new conditions in the environment. Witness how Zynga responded shortly after hearing about the incident: Zynga, maker of Words with Friends, created a campaign to Let Alec Play. Baldwin also tweeted out the photo to his nearly 600,000 followers, along with the hash tag #theresalwaysunited. The halo effect Zynga received immediately preceding their IPO was quite positive.
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ynga,whichplanstosellsharesinaninitialpublicoffering, Z isthebiggestmakerofgamesonFacebookInc.Still,its lesswellunderstoodbymanyoftheinvestorstargetedby itsIPOmarketingeffort,currentlyunderway,saidMichael Pachter, an analyst at Wedbush Securities. Baldwins AmericanAirlinesflapmayraiseZyngasprofile,hesaid. hisisphenomenalforZynga,saidPachter,whosbased T in LosAngeles.The problem for Zynga with investors has been that the average portfolio manager doesnt relate to their games.This definitely helps change their perception.(1) The Social Stabilizer. In social media, great narratives are also stabilizers. American Airlines was already operating in a difficult environment; they were in bankruptcy battling rising costs, a declining economy, and an overall lack of customer satisfaction across the entire industry. After the incident occurred, American Airlines posted the following message on Facebook: (American Airlines dealt with an) extremely vocal customer(who)slammedthelavatorydoorsohard,the cockpitcrewhearditandbecamealarmed,evenwiththe cockpitdoorclosedandlocked(andwas)extremelyrude tothecrew,callingtheminappropriatenames. For American Airlines, the incident acted as a match in a dry forest, setting off a chain reaction that further destabilized the brand. What trended in the 48 hours after the incident? #theresalwaysunited.
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(Reprinted from http://storiesthatspread.blogspot.com ) Alec Baldwins Holiday Gift

American Airlines has been given a holiday gift from Alec Baldwin: the seeds of a great story. Every story needs three things: a character (Alec), a conflict (angry flight attendant vs. bad-boy comedian armed with Twitter), and resolution. This last element is up to American Airlines, currently reeling in bankruptcy. How they conclude their story and if they zig instead of zag is their choice. If they can, they have a unique opportunity. Here are three ways that this widely-publicized incident could form the kernel of a great narrative: 1. ire Alec Baldwin as a consultant to oversee the H passenger experience onAmericanAirlines and make him a spokesperson for the airline. In other words, converthimintoabrandevangelist. 2. ffer free gaming apps for one day in honor of the O passionpassengersshowfortheirelectronicdevicesand as an apology for removing them (for safety reasons) duringflights. 3. icenseWords with Friendsanddevelopanin-flightversion L thatcanbeplayedonairlinescreens.LetAlecpromoteit withhisTwitteraccount. The key to any of these, however, is to act quickly. These windows of opportunity arise rarely. Lets hope American Airlines can make Story Juice out of the lemons it created.
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The rise of social media means that brands enter thousands of new environments at a lightning-fast pace every day. The key to leveraging these environments for growth is knowing how to quickly create a narrative that not only acts as a catalyst or a stabilizer, but also reinforces the root of a brands story and accelerates brand growth, loyalty and audience engagement. Creating narratives that stabilize a situation is as much about finding opportunities as it is about managing risks. American Airlines could have launched a powerful narrative in response to Alec Baldwin that stabilized the environment, while taking advantage of the awareness the incident created. Done well, the narrative could have built buzz and renewed loyalty for the brand.
Creating Narratives Built to Spread

Equipping brand stories to spread on their own power is paramount to growth in todays market. The proliferation of media channels and platforms makes it nearly impossible for a brand to purchase enough advertising to successfully pinpoint their consumers. Instead, brands must strategically plant the seeds of a good story that will quickly be shared and distributed, either through online communities or in person. The social media landscape has forever changed the way in which brands must tell narratives and the speed at which they must be prepared to tell them. We used to push our narratives through a communication structure that catapulted our messages into the marketplace like music from a horn. We now live in a world where our brand narratives have to travel and thrive in a communication structure that looks like a beehive. The interconnected nature of the digital landscape creates a hive where people can work together to bring bits and pieces of stories and information back to a common area to discuss, share and feed on others comments. We refer to the stories brought back to the hive as Story Slices. They are pieces of the larger brand story that, through the use of story principles, forge emotional connections
CREATING NARRATIVES THAT STABILIZE A SITUATION IS AS MUCH ABOUT FINDING OPPORTUNITIES AS IT IS ABOUT MANAGINGRISKS
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with their audiences to ensure they remember the stories and pass them along. Well-crafted Story Slices that spread rapidly through communities build brand buzz, loyalty and affinity. While stories are passed along in all forms (writing, speech, drawings, photographs, etc.) the web is perhaps the most powerful tool for spreading stories. The web enables people to find others and form connections based on shared interest, rather than proximity, timing or social status. People with shared interests can now exchange opinions, ideas and stories even if they dont know each other and have never met. This creates a warp-speed distribution scale that marketers budgets could not otherwise afford. And while this might seem like a blinding glimpse of the obvious, few marketers understand how to create a story strategy that supports their social media efforts. Jane Tiltons story demonstrates how a great narrative can be built to spread. It also shows how entering an ongoing conversation, whether knowingly or not, can ignite content.
WELL-CRAFTED STORY SLICES THAT SPREAD RAPIDLYTHROUGH COMMUNITIES BUILDBRANDBUZZ, LOYALTYAND AFFINITY.
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Jane takes the bus to work every day in Hartford, CT wheresheworksforalargeinsurancecompany.Herbus route never varies, and over the years, shes gotten to know her fellow bus riders well.About a year ago, Jane noticedanunusualsight ather bus stopdowntown. She noticedayoungmanwearingheadphoneswhowaswho dancing,joyouslyoblivioustobeingwatched.Infact,some dayshegotsocaughtupinthemusicthatthebuswould departandleavehimengrossedinhisownworld,waiting forthenextbus.Youcouldnthearhismusic,buthewas socaughtupinitthatyoucouldalmosthumtoyourself. Attheveryleast,itcaughtJanesattentionandmadeher smile. Each day at the bus stop, Jane and her fellow bus riderscommentedontheyoungcollegestudentdancing away.Andeachday,inevitably,oneofthebusriderswould comment,Someoneshouldreallyfilmthatguyandputit onYouTube. Lastspring,Janedidjustthat.Shepulledouthercamera andstartedfilming. Hereswhatsheshot. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qHbzvIvNgTo Forawhile,Janeonlysharedtherawfootagewithafew friends.Everyonethoughtitwasinteresting,buttheydidnt getthesamejoyfromthevideothatJaneandherfellow buspassengershadexperienced.Infact,mostthoughtshe hadsimplyfilmedastreetperformer.ThatgotJanethinking. The beauty of the story was that this kid was simply a college student waiting for the bus. He had no intention ofbeingaperformer.Hedancedoutofthesheerjoyof moving. Sittingdownathercomputer,sherealizedthatsheneeded toputthevideoincontextifitwastospeaktoothersin the saw way the young man had captivated her and her fellowbusriders: You know, I guess we (the bus riders) all thought it so funnypartiallybecausethereweallwere,insuitsandskirts andheelswhilethiskidwasdancinaway. Janesetaboutmakinghervideoherfirsteverattempt at putting one together. She used titles to put the film in context, and found music that seemed to match the movements.Whileshedidntknowifitwastherightmusic, itsynchedbeautifully.SheuploadedthevideotoYouTube
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herfirsteverupload.Shealsoshowedherhusband.His immediate comment was,You should put it on Reddit. Reddit.comisoneofthemanyonlinecommunitieswhere people share and comment on videos, images and other content.Janewasinitiallydoubtfulaboutpostinghervideo toRedditbutwentaheadwiththesuggestion. Much to her surprise, Jane watched as her video began garnering comments and a lively discussion.The hottest topic, however, focused on one element of the video the music. Many commenters felt that clearly Jane had madeahugemistake.Hermusicselectionwaswrong.In fact,theyrecognizedthedanceaspartofaJapaneseanime sub-culturecomiccalledHaruhiSuzumiya,whichincluded achoreographeddancewithspecificmusic.Otherviewers, however, defended Janes choice, suggesting that her selection actually went better than the original pick. A livelydialogueensued,somepeoplewereevencompelled tomakeresponsevideoswiththerightmusic,andviews climbed. Within two weeks, not only had www.jest.com and www.9gag.compickedupthevideo,butsohadCBSand ABConlineaffiliates.Thislittlecamera-shotvideogarnered nearlyahalf-millionviewsintwoweek.Janewasthrilled thatshehadjoinedtheYouTubephenomenon. Janes story demonstrates some of the basic principles of both Greenlight stories and how to build a narrative that spreads in the fast-moving social media channels. The Bit That Doesnt Fit. Story slices almost always feature a character. Characters that catch our attention and capture our emotions typically have a bit that doesnt fit. In Jane Tiltons example, Dancin Boy found a way to entertain himself and bring a bit of joy into an otherwise boring, everyday activity commuting. Heightened Juxtaposition. While conflict is essential to a story, a story slice can be achieved by simply turning up the juxtaposition. Take, for example, the viral videos that command millions of views, such as T-Mobiles Royal Wedding (http://www.youtube. com/watch?v=Kav0FEhtLug) and eTrades talking baby (http:// www.youtube.com/watch?v=lEXZ2hfD3bU). The exaggeration
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or juxtaposition present in both campaigns not only grabs our attention, but prompts us to remember the story slice. Incompleteness. The web is a tool intended to create interaction. Stories that are produced and wrapped up in neat packages, like a 30-second television spot, are a square peg in a round hole on the web. The web begs for open doors through which people can walk, interact and share. In the dancing boy example above, what generated the most interest (albeit by a mistake) was the fact that this was a known dance with prescribed music and the content producer got it wrong. This sparked a lively conversation. Doors can be opened with the opportunity to collaborate, to participate and to help (think of all the videos that are passed along which implore viewers to vote or share for a cause). Janes story also demonstrates a missed opportunity, because her story has stopped growing at about 500,000 views. Why? Her simple story entered a foreign environment. Though the video was shot in Connecticut, it bisected a global phenomenon. In other words, her story compound entered a foreign environment the Japanese anime culture. Video views were driven by the ongoing conversation around the video, its music and its dance choreography. If Janes goal had been to generate millions of views, following the conversation and adding new story slices through dialogue would have stabilized her story and helped her brand to grow. While Janes video is clearly not a brand, it is a good example of how placing a narrative into the social media sphere the beehive can often create opportunities for us to generate tremendous buzz. But, we have to understand the environment in which our story finds itself. American Airlines made the same mistake when it failed to understand the new territory into which Alec Baldwin could take the incident, leaving the company vulnerable to further damage and misinterpretation.
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Summary
A brand is like a molecule. It is designed to do something. It is often thrust into new environments as people carry it throughout the beehive of social media buzzing about and sharing it with one another. At some point, the brand story will find itself in an environment that is either hostile or that represents an opportunity for growth (and sometimes one that is both). Understanding how your brand story is constructed through story strategy equips you to respond to the different and everchanging environments your brand story might enter. Strategic thinking also helps us to create agents, or narratives, that we can add to an environment and use to get our story back on track, while preserving our brand equity. In other words, strategy can stabilize our brand story and help it to grow. The key to success is continually putting your brand story forward, finding new environments, and listening to those environments so you know how and when to add new narratives to the story. Its the best way to keep a brand alive and spreading throughout the hive. When a story arose unexpectedly, both Jane Tilton and American Airlines faced new opportunities. Both stories spread. Stories today that both spread and drive business results are firmly planted in the Land of Desire and leverage our emotions. They are constructed with a strong core story and allow branch narratives to be created that keep the story alive and growing. Understanding how that story is constructed is what allows us to continuously feed our brand and spread our stories. At some point, every brand story will find itself in an environment that is either hostile or that represents an opportunity for growth (and sometimes one that is both). The key to success is continually putting your brand story forward, finding new environments, and listening to those environments so you know how and when to add new narratives to the story.
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Final Thoughts
As story strategists, we often face quizzical looks and politely delivered questions like, Why Story? Isnt story kind of a light premise around which to build a business? Do companies really build an entire foundation around story? We get it. Initially, we were intrigued but not convinced. It wasnt until brain research shed light on the science behind many of the quantum changes in the marketplace that we came to some powerful new conclusions. rains are hardwired for story structures which B meansgame-changingresultscomemorequickly. tories evoke the emotions necessary to proactively S engage people, spur purchases, activate giving, shape opinionsandformthebasisforglobalmovements. ellingastoryformsthebasisofmostsocialinteractions T whichmeansstoryslicesarethebuildingblocksof socialmediacurrency. Most importantly for many of our readers, brands built on story strategy are vibrant, memorable and long lasting regardless of the ever evolving environment. In todays highly competitive marketplace Brands need Story Juice to thrive.
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CHAPTER SEVEN
Greenlight your Brand

The future belongs to the Storytellers.
ULIE FUOTI AND LISA JOHSON J The Grapevine Group
Story Juice is the missing ingredient in brand growth.
GOT JUICE?
1. The brand is on fire. People are buzzing about it, remixing, telling our story and driving the momentum in the marketplace.
8 Yep we got juice 8 Nope feeling a bit dry
2. Our leadership is in demand. When our leaders talk about our brand and company in front of a crowd, people look forward to hearing us talk. We are sought out by the press and customers alike to share our successes.
8 You bet our dancecard is full. 8 Ummmm..
3. Our visibility isnt due to big budgets. Two or three initiatives are top of mind that best express how the brand is living out its story. Theyre innovative and groundbreaking expressions of our deeper story.
8 Absolutely everybody wants to work on these projects 8 Cant think of any at the moment
Story Juice
Answered yes to all of these questions? Contact us
at www.storyjuicing.com and share your stories! Were always looking to drink the juice. Answered no to one or more of these questions? Here are 7 ways to cultivate some juice right now:
1. Excavate the root story and build story structure into the brand
Excavate the brands DNA and build a story framework on which all brand actions and narratives will be built. (Remember the loudest and most authentic way to tell a brand story is through the products and services offered, visible leadership and investments in future projects.)
2. Gather narratives from colleagues and customers that tell the brand story
Utilizing a consistently-formatted Greenlight story can be a powerful and simple way to quickly transfer knowledge and build confidence among colleagues. Memorialize narratives that demonstrate and visualize the brands DNA and create a library. Use video to capture the best stories.
3. Greenlight all internal and external communication

Build interactive components to stories that are pushed across the organization in order to socialize them. For example, if the platform is digital, have a like button or star rating system and comment section so employees can add information, ask questions and interact with these stories.
4. Move from charts and graphs to story-wrapped data

Transforming data, numbers, and bullet points into vivid story-driven visuals and easy-to-repeat metaphors makes data meaningful and actionable.
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Story Juice
5. Train leaders to Greenlight their presentations

Train leaders to be master storytellers that inspire and enroll people in a common vision. Equip rising stars to use story and metaphor to create memorable introductions and leave lasting impressions.
6. Greenlight the innovation process with storydriven tools

Work with senior leaders and cross-functional teams to equip them with tools and techniques designed to accelerate the flow of ideas, money and results across functions and silos. Use story to socialize a new idea, align disparate groups and create a consistent brand vision across the company.
7. Elevate the art of storytelling to a core skillset in your organization

Relying on teams to create and socialize new products and services requires storytelling expertise. Investing in training and growing skillsets is paramount to a story-driven culture.
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Story Juice Glossary

10-MINUTE ATTENTION SPAN
Our brains dont pay attention to boring things. John Medina, author of Brain Rules, points to research that suggests an audience experiences a serious decline in attention at the 10-minute mark.
ACCELERANT
A type of narrative that, when added to the social media environment, increases the speed, velocity and spread of ideas through the social web. Used interchangeably with Social Catalyst.
ALPHA
A person whose influence depends upon exclusivity. His or her ability to lead others is based on a hierarchical structure, whereby influence trickles down to the masses. This type of influencer is discussed in the research report, The Gamma Factor: Women and the New Social Currency (www.gammawomen.com).
CATALYST
The catalyst is an event or moment in time when the primary character is thrust by circumstance into the action. The catalyst can be either good or bad: the start of a war, a crime, winning the lottery, buying a product. The catalyst is the event indicating that our story has started. In applying story strategy to brand marketing, the hero is the customer and the brand is the catalyst.
CHANGE OF CONDITION
The process of transformation that happens with a predictable rhythm (i.e. from rags to riches).
COGNITIVE HALLOWED GROUND

John Medina (Brain Rules) calls the first 30 seconds of any presentation the cognitive hallowed ground. In other words, we have roughly 30 seconds to capture our audiences attention.
CONFLICT
Conflict isnt necessarily bad; it just means something is happening. No conflict, no story. Conflict is often characterized as two opposing forces, such as good vs. evil or man vs. mountain.
DATA
Factual information (such as measurements, statistics, results, sales numbers) used as a basis for reasoning, discussion, or calculation.
EMOTIONAL SURROGATE
The main character or hero of a story who acts as the lens through which we listen to and feel their story.
FINISH LINE
At the conclusion of a narrative, the finish line is the point at which the main character or hero reaches his or her goal, having overcome challenges. This is also the point at which greenlight stories, when done well, elicit applause.
GAMMA
A person whose influence rests on her ability to include others. Her power to lead is directly related to the ability to spread influence outward in all directions. She positions herself in the center of a web of equals, and her connections to people are interactive. The Gamma both influences friends and is supported by them. Gammas tendency to create interactive webs of connection mirrors the egalitarian and viral nature of interaction on the Internet. This type of influencer is discussed in the research report, The Gamma Factor: Women and the New Social Currency (www.gammawomen.com).
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GREENLIGHT DATA
Data that is brought to life through story principles: context, relevance and visualization.
GREENLIGHT STORIES
A greenlight story is the most powerful type of story that gets people to stand up and clap, open their wallets, and change their minds. While it can be told many ways, the essential characteristic of a greenlight story is transformation it shows a change of condition. From rags to riches, from outcast to hero, from plain Jane to supermodel.
HERO
A story is told from the vantage point of one hero who acts as the surrogate for the audience. Hero and Main Character are used interchangeably.
JARGON
Vocabulary peculiar to a particular trade, profession, or group that is often unintelligible, meaningless gibberish or vague in meaning. Jargon is difficult to remember, challenging to understand, and can make it difficult to connect with the speakers message.
JUXTAPOSITION
Juxtaposition is contrast and duality two things put together that dont seem to match. Life is full of contrasts and people are drawn to these differences. Day and night. Male and female. Hot and cold. Good and evil. Love and hate. In storytelling, juxtaposition is the meaningful placement of one element in close proximity to another element, and it is an essential aspect of brands, plots, characters, and settings.
76
LAND OF DESIRE
The Land of Desire is a piece of art created by The Grapevine Group. This visual metaphor depicts four lands that represent the most commonly sought-after high ground brands use to connect emotionally with people. he Hometown of Connection. The need to belong and be T connected to a community of loving relationships. he Magical Mountains of Identity. The need to control our T destiny and achieve our full potential. he Kingdom of Security. The need to protect ourselves and T our loved ones. he Independent Islands of Freedom, Choice & utonomy. T A The need to be free and independent.
LESSON LEARNED
A good story generally ends when the Main Character learns a lesson. The audience relates to the main character and recognizes something in the lesson that creates a personal connection for them to the story.
MAIN CHARACTER
A story is told from the vantage point of one main character who acts as a surrogate for the audience. Main Character and Hero are used interchangeably.
PERSONIFICATION
Association of a non-human (usually inanimate) object with a human characteristic. (Oreo declared itself Milks favorite cookie.)
MASTER JOURNEY
The Master Journey is a story pattern that gives context to the big picture. Brands often make the mistake of talking about themselves rather than considering how their brand plays into their audiences Master Journey. When people read a story and see their own hopes, dreams and journey mirrored back, it creates a powerful connection to the brand.
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MASTER STORY
A story used at the start and finish of a presentation that helps prepare the audience for the meaning of the presentation and brings it full circle in closing. The best master stories help people to understand the big picture and connect with the main character who has faced similar challenges.
NARRATIVE
A narrated story that tends to follow the classic story pattern of a relatable hero who encounters roadblocks and emerges transformed through situation, complication, resolution.
SEA OF SAMENESS
Found in the Land of Desire (see above), the ocean into which companies and brands fall that fail to develop an emotion-based story. In this sea lives YouTube videos, Facebook posts, Tweets and other forgettable social media droplets. Brands with powerful stories that own the hearts and minds of their customers live in one of the four emotion-based Lands in the Land of Desire. Warning: Millions of video views on YouTube should not be confused with emotional high ground that drives business results.
SOCIAL CATALYST
A type of narrative that, when added to the social media environment, increases the speed, velocity and spread of ideas through the social web. Used interchangeably with Accelerant.
SOCIAL STABILIZER
A type of narrative that, when added to the social media environment, restores stability to a brands story and opens the opportunity for positive discussion and growth.
STORY JUICE
The (often missing) ingredient that makes data sing, captivates audiences to cheer, drives brand buzz and makes people feel something. Story Juice taps into emotions, making information interesting, memorable and easy to share.
78
STORY JUICING
The process by which Story Juice is added to the way a brand expresses itself that makes it memorable, influential and spreadable.
STORY SLICES
A short form of story-based communication (such as a tweet, blog post, message or clip); uses principles such as character, conflict, unfulfilled desire, metaphors, juxtaposition, etc.
STORY SPARK
An action, idea, or experience that energizes the story, such as a catalyst, a conflict, a turning point or even the last push to the finish line.
TURNING POINT
The turning point of a story is when the plot changes direction and will ultimately lead to resolution. For example, in a rags-to-riches story, its the point when the hero receives a big break when all seemed lost. Or in a quest story, the point at which the hero moves from the probability of failure to the possibility of success.
UNFULFILLED DESIRE
Held by the Main Character or Hero, the Unfulfilled Desire is what drives the narrative to completion. In order to cross the Finish Line, the Hero must fulfill this deepest desire.
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Endnotes
CHAPTER 1: THE POWER OF STORY
1. 60 Minutes interview with Sean Seale: http://www.cbsnews. com/video/watch/?id=5914292n 2. Jessica Hopper, Geoffrey Canada Lifts Up Harlems Students One Block At A Time, ABC World News with Diane Sawyer, September 24, 2010. 3. Paul Tough, The Harlem Project, The New York Times, June 20, 2004. 4. Mayor Bloomburg Breaks Ground on the New Promise Academy Charter School Building and Community Center at the St. Nicholas Houses, NYC Dept. of Education website: April 6, 2011. 5. Emily Baer, Canada Stresses Value of Education, The Dartmouth, April 26, 2011. 6A. Damasio, A. Descartes Error: Emotion, Reason and the Human Brain. New York: G. Putnams Sons, 1994. 6B. Greenspan, S., and B. Benderly. The Growth of the Mind and the Endangered Origins of Intelligence, New York: Addison-Wesley, 1997. 6C. ewquist, H. The Great Brain Book. New York: Scholastic N Reference, 2004.
StoryJuice Endnotes
7. Josh Catone. How Much Data Will Humans Create & Store This Year (INFOGRAPHIC), Mashable Website: June 27, 2011. Mashable link: http://mashable.com/2011/06/28/data-infographic/
8. IDC iView. IDC Digital Universe Study Extracting Value from Chaos, June 2011. Sponsored by EMC Corporation. The multimedia content can be viewed at: http://www.emc.com/ digital_universe. 9. Geoffrey Canada speaks on education reform, accountability, The University of Tennessee Chattanooga website, February 18, 2011. 10. Jonathan B. Spira, Overload! How Too Much Information is Hazardous to your Organization, New York: Wiley, May 2011.
CHAPTER 2: WHY STORY WORKS

1. Wray Herbert, The Narrative in the Neurons, We Are Only Human Blog, www.psychologicalscience.org. July 14, 2009. 2. Kendall Haven, Story Proof: The Science Behind the Startling Power of Story, pp. 4, Westport, CT, 2007. 3. Bransford, J. and A. Brown, eds. The Ideal Problem Solver (2nd ed.) New York: Freeman, 1993. 4. Pinker, S., The Language Instinct, New York: Perenial Classic, 2000. 5. Daniel McGinn, The King of Thrones: The turbo-flush, hands-free toilet is here! (Wipe that smile off your face) Wired Magazine, March 2005. 6. Claudia H. Deutsch, American Standard Flushes 24 Golf Balls to Test New Kind of Toilet, The New York Times, April 19, 2005. 7. Pinker, S., How the Mind Works, New York: W.W. Norton, 1997. 8. Bruner, J., Actual Minds, Possible Worlds. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1986. 9. Kendall Haven, Story Proof: The Science Behind the Startling Power of Story, pp. 71, Westport, CT, 2007.
81
StoryJuice Endnotes
10. Chip and Dan Heath, Switch: How to Change Things When Change is Hard, pp. 7, New York: Broadway Books, 2010. 11. John Medina, www.brainrules.net Attention, Rule #4: The 10-minute Attention Span.
CHAPTER 3: WHAT MAKES A GOOD STORY

1. Heritage, John and David Greatbatch, Generating Applause: A Study of Rhetoric and Response at Party Political Conferences, American Journal of Sociology, 1986. 2. Chip Heath & Dan Heath, Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die, pp. 165-167, New York: Random House, 2008. 3. Candy Bar From Mars Aims for Women From Venus, NPR: All Things Considered, May 17, 2009. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=104213954
CHAPTER 4: WHAT MAKES A GOOD STORY THE RIGHT STORY FOR A BRAND?
No endnotes
CHAPTER 5: WHAT THE RIGHT STORY CAN DO FOR A BRAND

1. Julie K.L. Dam, Cristina Carlinos Philosophy Cosmetics and Creams Seek to Treat the Surfaceand the Soul, People Magazine, October 18, 1999.
CHAPTER 6: STORIES THAT SPREAD

1. Andy Fixmer and Douglas Macmillan, Zynga Gets Publicity Lift From Word Game-Engrossed 30 Rock Star Baldwin, Bloomberg, December 07, 2011.
CHAPTER 7: GREENLIGHT YOUR BRAND

No endnotes
82
StoryJuice Acknowledgements
Acknowledgements
We are grateful to David Altschul and Jim Hardison, two of the brilliant principals at Portland-OR based Character (www. characterweb.com) whose insights about brand story framework and strategy informed our path. It was from David and Jim that we first understood the value of keeping a brands story alive by identifying the two positive traits that have an inherent energetic relationship and tension. We are also thankful for all the stories and guidance provided by so many friends, colleagues and clients Dale Bornstein, Kelley Skoloda, and Robert Burnside at Ketchum, Liz Braund at The North Face, Cynthia Amon at W.L. Gore, Nancy Weber at Meredith, Jodi Sittig, Joey Lekse-LaMotte and Kim Stewart at Nike, Christina Cranley at Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, Pierre Schaeffer at Marketect, Jared Siegel and Dave Delap at Delap Accounting, Jane Tilton Kelly, and Pauline Brown at Neo Capital Private Equity, and of course, Anne Devereux at LLNS for getting us started. To Cassie Huck, we are indebted to your creative vision behind the Land of Desire and our many illustrations and graphics. You captured our words in vibrant color and painted our thoughts brilliantly. With heartfelt appreciation to Terry Andrews who has managed to spin gold out of hay. And to the team of Abbie Moore at Abbie Moore Design and Steven Blatt at Ambient Light Media for similar magical skills in design, technology and creative oversight. To Matt Stevenson (the scientist behind the molecule) and Cassie Pruett, our own digital natives, many thanks for your constant encouragement to push to the cutting edge. Special thanks to our editors, Cheri Hanson and Kathleen ONeill two masterful writers themselves who understand the power of story and how to use it. Thank you for your generosity in advising, revising and editing our work. And to Peter Caruso II at Prince Lobel and Amber Carter, many thanks for keeping the wheels on the machine!
83
StoryJuice About Us
About Us
Julie and Lisa met seven years ago while collaborating at Meredith Corporation. There, Julie served as Vice President of Marketing for Meredith 360 overseeing integrated marketing assignments across all media channels including digital, broadcast, print, experiential, video and social media. She has spent the past two decades helping global companies like LOreal, Wal-Mart, Chrysler, Procter & Gamble and Unilever create ownable, measurable campaigns that build buzz and drive sales. While reading Lisas book, Dont Think Pink: What Women Really Buy and How to Get Your Share of This Crucial Market, she picked up the phone to see if Lisa could answer some questions she had. Lisa had worked with top companies internationally including Starbucks, HP, Disney, Microsoft, Nike, Motorola, Ketchum, Kodak, Giant Bicycles, and Kohler. Her marketing concepts had appeared in Harvard Business Schools Working Knowledge, the New York Times Magazine, USA Today, Entrepreneur Magazine, and on NPRs Marketplace and All Things Considered. Julie wanted to know what she knew. They have been collaborating and telling stories together ever since.
84
StoryJuice About The Grapevine Group
About The Grapevine Group

At The Grapevine Group, our mission is to help people, brands and companies tell great stories that shape beliefs, change minds and create influence. We share our knowledge about storytelling with leaders to help them grow their businesses and achieve personal success while doing it. Contact Us. Julie@storyjuicing.com (908)723.4318 Lisa@storyjuicing.com (541)913-5398 Follow Us: @spreadthestory Visit Us at www.storyjuicing.com for more resources and tools.
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Story Juice

How Ideas Spread and Brands Grow

Julie Fuoti & Lisa Johnson

ILLUSTRATIONS BY CASSIE HUCK

Copyright 2012 the Grapevine Group. All rights reserved.

Follow Us: @spreadthestory Visit Us at www.storyjuicing.com

Sto ry Juice |'stre joos| (noun)

Foreward: By Dale Bornstein, Ketchum

Chapter 2: Why Story Works

Chapter 4: What Makes a Good Story the Right Story

Chapter 5: What the Right Story Can Do for a Brand

Chapter 6: Stories that Spread

Chapter 7: Greenlight Your Brand

Story Juice Foreword

Story Juice Foreword

The Power of Story

The Powers of Storytellers

The Power of Story

The Story of AquaJogger

STORIES MOTIVATE PEOPLE TO PAY ATTENTION AND ULTIMATELY TAKE ACTION

The Power of Story

STORIES SHAPE BELIEFS AND CHANGE MINDS

The Power of Story

STORIES ARE MEMORABLE, REPEATABLE AND EASY TO SPREAD

The Power of Story

Sean Seale: Anderson Cooper: Sean Seale:

The Power of Story

STORIES BRING DATA TO LIFE, RAISE MONEY AND UNITE COMMUNITIES

The Power of Story

The Power of Story

The Power of Story

Why Story Works

In this chapter: The Brain Science Behind Storytelling Techniques.

For tools to apply this to your brand, visit us at www.storyjuicing.com/HowTo

Your Brain on Story

Why Story Works

Organizing Facts and Data with Story

Why Story Works

Evoking Emotion & Visualization

Why Story Works

Building Trust with Story to Inspire Action

Why Story Works

Marry Emotion and Action

The Elephant and the Rider

Why Story Works

The Jungle of Jargon, Data and Options

Why Story Works

Why Story Works

What Makes a Good Story

In this chapter: Character, Conflict, and the Land of Desire.

For tools to apply this to your brand, visit us at www.storyjuicing.com/HowTo

What Makes a Good Story

THE CRITICAL ELEMENT IN A GREENLIGHT STORY IS A DRAMATIC CHANGE IN CIRCUMSTANCES.

What Makes it a Greenlight Story?

What Makes a Good Story

Who is the Hero?

What Makes a Good Story

What Makes a Good Story

Juxtaposition Turns up the Emotional Thermostat

Using Juxtaposition and Arousal to Build Conflict (Tension)

What Makes a Good Story

A Lesson Learned that Fills an Unfulfilled Desire

What Makes a Good Story