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Spreading our Story!

Today is a big day for us at the Grapevine Group. We are bringing our new book, Story Juice: How Ideas Spread and Brands Grow, to market with our partners, Ketchum. In many ways, Ketchum is our ideal partner. They are one of the largest global agencies in the business that earns attention for brands everyday with stories that travel on their own power. We believe Ketchum represents the new agency model powerful brands will turn to for story-centric strategy without borders.

In the days to come, we’ll be tweeting and blogging about new ways to express a brand’s story based on the latest brain research we’ve been following for nearly two years. But today we’re simply celebrating!

Please download our new book for free and enjoy the read. We’d love to hear from you as you use story strategies in your business and your life!

Skirting an Iranian Revolution

Like many other movements, Barbie is now leading the way for cultural revolution in the Middle East. 

In 2008, the Iranian judiciary warned against the "destructive" cultural and social consequences and "danger" of importing Barbie dolls and other Western toys. Even so, Iranian markets have been full of them. One-third of Iran's population of 75 million is under 15. (Nasser Karimi, Associated Press)*

I would expect nothing less of her.  After all, Barbie’s story has been told countless times.  The epitome of a relevant character, she has inspired girls of my generation to become women who believe they can lead, fight, dance, get married, stay single, wear heels, become astronauts (or anything else they want) and she still looks great to boot.  Barbie is, in my estimation, one of the single most important female leaders in the world today.

I am well aware many argue her blonde, never-sagging figure leads little girls to unachievable visions of perfection.  What the Iranian government claims they do not like about her is that she is designed to look like a young Western woman. What these critics should be worried about is not her looks but her ability to inspire women to achieve anything they want to be.  Miniskirts and bikinis do not change the world.  But the woman who wears them can.  And that is what Iranian officials are afraid of (or should be). 

Stories shape beliefs, change minds and spur people to action.  And stories don’t come any better than Mattel’s Barbie.

*For the full article, check out USA Today at: http://www.usatoday.com/money/world/story/2012-01-20/iran-barbie-shops/52698590/1)

-Julie

Alec Baldwin's 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 up to American Airlines.  If they can, they have a unique opportunity.

Here’s three ideas where this widely publicized incident could form the start of a great narrative for them:

1.     Hire Alec Baldwin  as a consultant to oversee the passenger experience on American Airlines and make him a spokesperson for the airline.  In other words, convert him into a brand evangelist.

2.     Offer free gaming apps for one day in honor of the passion passengers show for  their electronic devices as an apology for removing them during flight in pursuit of their safety.

3.     License Words with Friends and develop an in-flight  version that can be played on airline screens.  Let Alec promote it with his twitter account.

The key to any of these, however, is to do them pronto.  These windows of opportunity arise rarely…let’s hope American Airlines can make storyjuice out of the lemons it created.

Great Expectations

As listeners, the difference between what we perceive as a good story and a bad story often has more to do about our expectations of what’s to come than the actual content itself.  For example, if I tell you there is a new cookie in the market that you can eat that has 0 calories and tastes just as good as a regular cookie, you are sorely disappointed if it doesn't taste as good as an Oreo. 

But if you hear a story about a cookie with 0 calories in the market when you never expected to find a cookie you could eat that tasted even somewhat good, you would think this was a fantastic story.

As storytellers, much of our job is about preparing our audience to be ready to hear the information we are about to tell.  Choosing a story that levels expectations for the information you are about to share can mean the difference between winning a “believer” and losing your audience.  

-Julie

What’s Possible?

This is my favorite question that Lisa, my business partner, asks me with some regularity. It’s her way of getting me out of my own way because usually I’m the one worrying about how to make it work before I consider what’s possible.  That was Steve Job’s gift -- the quintessential storyteller.  He saw possibilities where others saw roadblocks. 

It’s a question that storytellers love to tackle.  And it’s the heart of innovation.  Imagine the conversation when Jobs first concepted an iPad.  I certainly wasn’t privy to it, but I can only imagine it went something like this.

“Wouldn’t it be amazing if we could make the printed word come to life with the touch of a finger?”

Then there would be the worrier (like me.)  “Yes, and it would be great if pigs could fly.”  My guess is that he then proceeded to tell the worrier a story about how no one could imagine “lightning in a bottle” before Thomas Edison created the lightbulb.

Stories can create magic and make people believe in ”What’s Possible” because they show us that others have faced situations like ours and come up with game changing solutions.  

Gotta go call Lisa – I’m worried she’s wondering what’s possible again!

-Julie

Happy Tuesday!

Saw this wonderful poster in a local mall that uses individual stories of pets to capture people's attention to spur adoption.  

Reminded me of my favorite Dog Video that uses the storytelling tool of juxtaposition brilliantly!  

Happy Tuesday!!

-Julie

I don’t want to “Hear You Now”

After moving into a new house, I waited all day for Verizon to show up yesterday. They never came.  For various reasons, my order was mishandled time and again.  The process was made worse by the automated line I had to continuously navigate each time I needed to call to find out where they were.  It kept asking permission to access my account to see if there were more products and services they could sell me.  After three separate calls throughout the day asking where they were, I was finally routed to poor Jackie in some distant call center.  After an excruciating hour for both of us, she figured out how to correct the mistake and work around the system to ensure someone came to my house the next morning.

Sure enough, Ed, a 22 year veteran, arrived within the prescribed four hour window.  Ed had a wonderful demeanor and shared my frustration with systems in place that did not work (he recently had to move from paper to a blackberry interface that made his job more difficult.) 

Now you might think this blog post is a complaint, but it’s not.  It’s actually a wish for Verizon to change their story.  They have a great product and they have people who obviously care about the work they do.  But both Jackie and Ed shared stories of their frustration as well.  If anyone from Verizon is reading this, you might think this is disloyal. But because of Jackie and Ed, Verizon kept a customer.  Me.

Perhaps its time to spend less on mindless television commercials that shout “Can You Hear Me Now?” and focus more on Jackie and Ed.  I fully realize ad campaigns serve a different purpose than customer service, but my advice to Verizon and others who rely on people to interact with customers daily -- stop trying to sell me things and focus on those people who are living out your story.  Jackie and Ed actually heard me – your automated system that kept telling me you wanted to sell me more products and services certainly “did not hear me now”.   Perhaps diverting media dollars to shout at me to the people who have a conversation with me would make me feel better about your story and actually want to buy more.

-Julie

Tantalizing Story Starters

Over dinner the other night, my friend Jill was telling me about a letter they received the other day at the radio station where she works.  A listener wrote in to the station about how one song they had played saved her marriage.  Expressing my amazement, she told me that it was not unusual at all.  In fact, she said they got thousands of letters everyday about how music inspired people to make big life changing decisions.  Then we were interrupted and both of us were pulled into other conversations.

So here I am two weeks later on a plane home from Dublin where I’ve met new people, seen new sites, and all I can think of is “What was the song?” How did it change her?  What happened before and after in her marriage? How could a three minute conversation captivate me with so little?

This is the power of story – she had me at “One Song.”  She had gotten me “started with story” and my brain kept playing it over and over looking for the next story byte.  A good lesson for those of who need to learn how to tantalize an audience and keep them coming back for more.  Can’t wait to call Jill when we land.

-Lisa

Less is More

I spoke at a conference recently where several other speakers committed death by powerpoint.  In fact, it got so bad at one point, the moderator threatened the speaker in front of the audience that she was going to take away his microphone if he didn’t stop talking.  (She was not being rude…only voicing what everyone else in the room was thinking).  It reminded me of the three cardinal rules we should all remember when presenting.

Be Bold.

Be Brief.

Be Gone! 

-Julie

What’s your trademark?

A trademark image works faster and harder to communicate than hundreds of words. Some are iconic and well known – the Nike swoosh.  The Apple white earbuds.  But other images can do the work of hundreds of words and can be leveraged in everything from personal selling to corporate presentations. The visual imprints stereotypes on the wearer or the presenter that may or may not be true.  But they are all part of the story. 

Standing in a customs line in London the other day, I met a gentleman wearing cowboy boots and a t-shirt advertising a marathon recently completed (according to the dates).  In an instant, I knew he was U.S. based.  I also surmised from his soft drawl he was from the South (turned out to be Texas), disciplined (I can’t run a half marathon) and wealthy (custom boot details gave it away).  I immediately decided I was interested in talking to him, having inferred he was creative and confident, interesting and successful. If you want to communicate something in a flash, understand the stereotypes associated with a visual image and use it to your advantage. 

-Julie

Choosing Wisely

The stories we tell can either serve to clarify everything or confuse the listener.  Choosing the right story often seems tough, especially when you’re under stress or pressed for time.  It’s why we often suggest to clients they keep a video library of the best stories for folks to listen to before they try to use them.  Once your library gets big enough, folks can ask themselves two questions to sort and select the right story to use.

1. Does the hero of my story feel the way my listener does?
2. Does the hero in my story change over time in the way I’d like my listener to consider?

If you can answer yes to both these questions, chances are you’ve got a story your listener will relate to and remember.

-Julie

Elementary School Got It Right

I asked my 15 year old son what he thought of the ”Occupy Wall Street” movement at dinner tonight—it is happening roughly 20 miles away from us.  I was met with a blank stare and a “What?”  When I asked if he had read or heard anything about it, he replied “Mom, I don’t have time to read the news.  I go to school.”  Which begs the question – why do we go to school  if not to apply it to reality?

Education should be in the business of teaching young people the skills they need to succeed in the real world.   Research shows that you remember facts and data better if you understand the context in which they apply.  Brain science and neuro-imaging is showing us how stories serve to organize the “file cabinet” in our brain that holds information (if you want more information on this, read Storyproof by Kendall Haven.)

In schools, we learn quadratic equations, participles, the scientific method, the Reformation and thousands more concepts.  How often do teachers take time at the beginning of a class to explain how this information will apply to the world beyond the walls of academia?  If we can’t tell a story that shows how the information we are about to learn is relevant to the life we will lead, perhaps it’s not worth remembering.

Schools and teachers need to make time for “Storytime” at the beginning of each class.  Much like we did in elementary school.  They had something there.

-Julie

Psssst....Pass It Along!

We are on a mission.  To connect people and to help them share their stories.  Have you ever noticed that great leaders are great storytellers?  They inspire us (Oprah), they create movements (Al Gore), they create new markets (Steve Jobs).  Our brains are wired for story not data.  Data goes Blah Blah.  Stories make your heart go Boom! Boom!  And as a result, the best ones spread like wildfire.


This blog is our laboratory -- where we want to start a conversation about what makes a good story, who the good storytellers are, and how stories are rocking our world.  Join us.  We all want less Blah! Blah! and More Boom! Boom!