CorpComms Magazine

Public relations is a master of tweaking language to repackage old concepts, so slogans are now 'brand messages', logos are  brand identities' and heavens knows what a press release is  called anymore.

But type 'public relations story' into Google and 187 million  matches appear - more than the 156 million in a search for 'The  bible'. What kind of tales can be causing such a buzz? Plenty, apparently. 'People have been connecting with stories since the beginning of mankind,' says Gemma Went, an independent marketing and social media consultant. 'They help us make sense of the world, they engage us emotionally and we remember them for years to come. Brands have been crafting  tories for decades but there does seem to be a renewed interest in brand stories right now.

'This isn't surprising. The world of PR and branding has evolved with the introduction of social media. Consumers have become much more discerning and less likely to pay attention  to traditional broadcast methods. They want brands, products and services they can believe in.'

So how are our companies responding? Corporate communications agency Radley Yeldar has gone so far as to  assess the storytelling prowess of all the members of the FTSE 100 companies index, producing a top ten of corporate storytellers, headed by Diageo with its Celebrating Life Everyday, Everywhere theme, focusing on the heritage, local legends and diversity of its brands.

Next comes GlaxoSmithKline's Do More, Feel Better, Live Longer story. 'They're not claiming that they're going to save the world but nor are they making a promise laced with scientific mumbo-jumbo,' says its report. 'As the story progresses, we see it is packed full of relevance, credibility and distinction.'

In third place, Radley Yeldar ranks security group G4S's Securing Your World, arguing that its claim to play an important role in society is substantiated both by the range of services it sells and the examples of how it offers protection to everyone from VIPs to governments.

From bland to engaging

'Most companies see themselves as the world's leading something but it's just bland blah,' says Richard Coope, head of digital at Radley Yeldar. 'Our view is that every company needs to be telling its story clearly, consistently and compellingly. They can then connect with the consumers of their stories, whether they be customers, employees, shareholders or other stakeholders.' Of course, companies' 'stories' are in effect simply where they have come from and what they are doing but that doesn't mean they're necessarily dull.

Damon Bowles, senior editorial manager at communications and editorial design agency Words & Pictures, says all organisations will have stories that can be pulled out for internal, as well as external use.

A recent example he offers is Everything Everywhere, the mobile phones group created through the merger of T-Mobile and Orange in the UK.

The two had been rivals but pioneered a shop within a shop, putting an Orange concession in a T-Mobile store in Palmers Green, North London.

Words & Pictures focused on the energy of the young store manager, who was focused on putting aside the rivalry to create a unified experience to make the point both internally and externally that the brands were now working together. 'He was in bring it on mode, working on his days off to make it a success and raving about what the company was creating,' says Bowles. 'We use storytelling an awful lot when doing work with companies to communicate internally and find that such context is critical.'

Similarly, The John Lewis Partnership has decided that, with the current focus on British manufacturing, it's time to raise its voice about its work to promote and sell British products. Early next year, the stores group will put Union Jack labels saying Made in the UK on 4,000 products that it sells from 130 UK suppliers.

'There's a feeling that businesses should be doing more to support UK manufacturing and we've actually been doing this or years,' says head of brand development Christine Kasoulis.

'But we felt for the first time that we should promote the things that we do for British manufacturing to our customers because there is now so much more interest in provenance.'

Authenticity matters

This is the kind of authentic storytelling Went believes is most effective. It means stories that are believable, rather than tall  tales, with a strong narrative that people connect with, understand and pass on.

'This is like gold dust and getting it right is key,' she says.

'Some brands are stuck in a campaign idea mentally, changing direction with each campaign. The change of direction can sometimes confuse the consumer. By creating a narrative that runs through each campaign or activity, they are more likely to resonate with consumers and, when done well, create a connection that will stay in their minds.'

Examples include Innocent Drinks, which was built on the story of how the founders asked consumers if they thought they should launch a smoothies company.

Went also praises insurance aggregation website Compare the Market for cleverly creating a core narrative around meerkat Aleksandr Orlov and likes that way aftershave brand Old Spice used the central character of Isaiah Mustafa, to tell his I'm the man your man could smell like narrative seamlessly across multiple channels, including Twitter and video.

'The core narrative can be told in different, engaging ways across a myriad of channels, but it's only really through social media that we see the two-way engagement,' she says.

'Consumers have the power to connect with these stories, take a role in them and pass them on, creating buzz and word of mouth results that some brands can only dream of.'

Another reason why PR storytelling is attractive to companies right now may be because globalisation is making them seem distant and irrelevant, while the harsh economic climate is upping the ante for companies that resonate in low-growth markets. 'PR practitioners today are operating in a crowded communications environment,' explains Caroline Hodges, senior lecturer at Bournemouth University Media School who has been researching public relations storytelling with Lee Edwards, lecturer in communications and PR at the University of Leeds.

'Organisations face too much competition for their audience's time and attention,' she says. 'Furthermore, the public today is increasingly PR-savvy and the strategy of pushing messages, facts and figures into people's faces will not work.

'Essentially, when PR practitioners engage with storytelling they are helping to sell a product, a service or an idea based on emotions and extraordinary experiences rather than logic.'

Effecting behavioural change

Storytelling can also be a valuable technique for organisations whose end goal is a particular change in behaviour or long term emotional buy-in, offering people the raw material to develop their own stories around brands in which they are the hero and construct an extraordinary experience for themselves.

Coope believes such co-operation and collaboration are the way forward for corporate storytelling. 'It is moving from storytelling to storysharing,' he says, citing computer maker Dell's 'IdeaStorm' website, which invites consumers to Dream it, share it, make an impact.

Hodges says the best PR stories are about expression and the sharing of information and can be used as a tool for education. They're also concerned with persuasion and interaction and have a sense of the rituals, habits, beliefs and norms that bind groups of individuals together.

'Stories begin with a problem or a dilemma,' she says. 'They have a plot or storyline and they have characters, usually a hero and a villain.' Stories are also easy to get wrong, however.

'Don't talk about yourself,' advises Jonathan Steffen, managing director of corporate communications agency The Corporate Story.

'There are managers within businesses who like to talk about their personal experiences but this can seem extremely self-regarding and narcissistic.'

Simplicity is key

Also, don't tell tales that are over elaborate or require specialist knowledge and don't mix metaphors. 'One company had a logo of a pole vaulter but a corporate story called 'game plan'. It didn't connect with people because pole vaulting is something very individual. At one session, a manager asked employees what was the biggest obstacle at the company and one said: I cannot pole vault.'

Similarly, not all public relations professionals are on message with storytelling. 'There is a bit of buzz with brand storytelling at the moment,' says Rob Ettridge, client services director at public relations agency Red Lorry Yellow Lorry. 'But it strikes me that it is really just another moniker that's been developed by some of the PR agencies to perhaps sell in some more services. It is something that any agency would do as a matter of course really as part of their communications plan.'

For Coope, however, effective brand storytelling is not simply the essence of public relations but part of companies' very existence.

The most compelling brands, he argues, are those who are really alive to change in what affects their companies' licence to operate.

If they can't tell their stories effectively when their business models are under threat, such licences could be withdrawn by consumers, regulators or governments.

That wouldn't be a happy ending for shareholders and staff.

Now, are you sitting comfortably...

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