POWER OF STORY Jennifer Aaker
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General Atlantic Professor of Marketing
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jaaker@stanford.edu
TABLE OF CONTENTS WHY STORY THE SCIENCE BEHIND STORY MISPERCEPTIONS OF STORY HARNESSING STORY TO LEAD BREAK HOW THE CLASS WILL WORK
Story
STOR路Y
A narrative With a beginning, middle and end
HEMINGWAY
Baby shoes. For sale. Never worn.
6 WORD STORIES
Not quite. Aspiring to be quite. Tonight he packs, tomorrow I pine. Married the wrong girl, fixed it. Getting old. Ringtones piss me off.
GOAL
Think of stories as assets. It is as much a way of life an organizing frame – as it is a tool.
THE SCIENCE BEHIND
STORY
“
“
Humans are not ideally set up to understand logic; they are set up to understand stories -Robert Schank Cognitive Psychologist
MISPERCEPTIONS OF
STORY
1
They think story is fictitious, fluffy – without substance
TWO TOOLS
Data (features, facts) Story (narrative)
CREDIBILITY TRIANGLE Point of view (Goal = credibility)
Data
Story
POV
ADJUST THE TRIANGLE
DATA
STORY
WHAT IS YOUR NATURAL FLOW? POV
POV
Data
Story
Story
Data
Story
Data
Data
Story
CONTEXT MATTERS Research Review Committee Portfolio Review Committee Board meetings Town halls Leadership retreats 1:1 manager and employee meetings
2
They think stories are boastful, self-centered
TWO ROLES
Remember the most effective stories blend fact and emotion.
Sharing Listening
“After I sat next to Prime Minister Gladstone I thought he was the cleverest man in England. But when I sat next to Disraeli I thought I was the cleverest woman.” - Jennie Jerome, Winston Churchill’s mother
BE CURIOUS Remember the most effective stories blend fact and emotion.
Tell me more about … Tell me about a time when… Why was that important…
3
They believe story is about marketing
Why was Solomon recognized as the wisest man in the world? Because he knew more stories than anyone else. Scratch the surface in a typical boardroom and we’re all just cavemen with briefcases, hungry for a wise person to tell us stories
ALAN KAY, VP OF THE WALT DISNEY COMPANY
clarity
culture
connect
sticky
leadership
ACTIVATED ACROSS CHANNELS VIDEO
TAL K
POST
CONVERSATIO N
BLO G
140 CHARACTERS
WEBSIT E
6 WORD STORY
DESIGN PRINCIPLES Design for purpose Design for empathy Design signature stories DESIGNING HAPPINES | ™ JENNIFER AAKER
HOW TO HARNESS STORY TO
LEAD
1
Design for purpose
You are part of something meanin feel you are having an impact on of others.
You respect your team and feel re
“Storytelling is at the cornerstone of everything we do: raising money, hiring, press� - Chris Sacca
WHY
You are part of something meanin feel you are having an impact on of others.
“The company story is the company strategy. “” You respect your team and feel re The story must explain why you exist: Why are we doing this? Why does the problem need to be solved? Why should you join the company? Why should you invest in it? Why should you buy a product from it?
You are part of something meanin feel you are having an impact on of others.
INSIDE OUT “�
You respect your team and feel re
Starts with CEO and built inside out -- so that employees, partners, suppliers all know the same story.
INSIDE OUT Defining Who We Are
Expressing Who We Are Letterhead Business Cards Collateral
Founding principles
Role
Value proposition
Name
Design
UNDERSTANDIN G
CLARIFYIN G
CONNECTING
IDENTIT Y
ASSETS
Point of View
Story
Promise
Personality
Style
Packaging
TOUCHPOINTS Websites Signage Advertising Environments Ephemera
DESIGN FOR MOMENTS Employees must believe the story, Simple things matter . be inspired by the story, and knows their role in the story.
3
What is your role on the team, the team’s role in the company, the company’s role in the planet?
You have to feel authentic when you share the story. People can tell when you aren’t. Photo: Xevi V.
Brands often feel manufactured. People do not.
Protagonists make a story relatable
DOLLAR SHAVE CLUB DESIGN CHALLENGE Startup with no marketing budget Approach. Spotlight authentic, charismatic CEO vis video to break through clutter
2
Design for empathy
Brands too often make the mistake of trying to be the hero.
Photo
Your customers are the hero.
DESIGNING HAPPINES | ™ JENNIFER AAKER
James Buckhouse, Twitter
https://imagine.linkedin.
GOOGLE CHROME DESIGN CHALLENGE Better features but no adoption. Need to connect users to Chrome Approach: tell the user story
DESIGN FOR EMPATHY Remember the most effective stories blend fact and emotion.
How can you make your user the hero of their own story?
3
Design signature stories
SIGNATURE STORY
You are part of something meanin feel you are having an impact on of others.
You respect your team and feel re
Many stories are tactical Signature stories are strategic They are an asset and merit active management
SIGNATURE STORY
You are part of something meanin feel you are having an impact on of others.
You respect your team and feel re
An intriguing, authentic and involving story with a strategic message that drives growth by enhancing the brand, organization and/or business strategy.
STORIES DRIVE GROWTH
Operational Excellence Customer Intimacy Innovation
GROWTH STORY DESIGN CHALLENGE How to connect to teens globally, harnessing social and digital? Approach: 7 Prototypes; $50K each 6 failed, 1 won Coke Happiness Machine
If these stories are assets they should live in paid, owned, earned, shared media.
These stories should have lives of
Viral Video.
Owned assets (like trucks).
Website.
Mobile app.
This inspired an entirely new way of marketing: Creating surprising moments of authentic happiness.
You are part of something meanin feel you are having an impact on of others.
You respect your team and feel re
As part of growth strategy, Coke now invests 10% of its marketing budget in co-created experiences brand new to the world.
EVOLVED PORTFOLIO
NOW
NEW
COCREATED
VALUE CREATION
INNOVATION ENGINE
2011
2012
2013
TEACHING TEAM JENNIFER AAKER jaaker@stanford.edu
STEPHANY YONG syong@stanford.edu
SIMAR MANGAT smangat@stanford.edu
MADILYN ONTIVEROS madilyn@stanford.edu
A Personal Story
Social media
I was skeptical.
networking amazing
fun
connecting understanding
Social Media innovative powerful
friends
sharing
demanding
inaccurate
lonely
frivolous
invasive
Social Media
time suck passing fad
dangerous
wastage of time
MY VIEW OF SOCIAL TECHNOLOGY, CIRCA 2008
I was teaching Creativity and Innovation‌
USING SOCIAL MEDIA ROBERT CHATWANI LIVES TO SAVE
Sameer
SAMEER BHATIA, 32 Grew up in Seattle Co-Founder, roommate, best friend Married Reena in 2006 Stanford undergrad, serial entrepreneur Diagnosed May 2007
VINAY CHAKRAVARTHY, 28 Grew up in Fremont, CA Doctor in Boston Married Rashmi in 2005 Berkeley undergrad, MD from BU Diagnosed November 2006
US ESTIMATES of leukemia (2009) New cases: 44,790 Deaths: 21,870 Mortality: 49%
For many patients, the only cure is a bone marrow transplant from a human donor.
FINDING A DONOR Marrow infusions require a near perfect genetic match (10/10).
The highest probability lies in the same ethnic pool.
Non-profit that operates a bone marrow registry of 7.5 million individuals.
For European Americans, there is an 80% chance of finding a matched donor in the NMDP Registry.
Of the 7.5 MILLION registrants in the U.S.,
20% are minorities.
But only 1% are South Asian.
So if you are South Asian‌
your chances of finding a match are slim.
VERY SLIM
1 in 20,000
Sameer and Vinay did not find matches that they desperately needed in the registry.
To make matters worse,
in India‌ a country with more than 1 billion people
There was no National Bone Marrow Registry
nothing
What to do?
Friends got together.
We all knew that we needed to do something.
What were our options?
Do nothing. Do something. Do something
SEISMIC
THE CHALLENGE
We needed to move fast. We needed to scale. We could not fail.
Our simple answer‌
If the odds were 1 in 20,000‌
Then all we needed to do was‌
hold bone marrow drives‌
and register 20,000 South Asians.
And then we’ll find a match.
Just 1 problem.
We had a matter of weeks to get this done.
First, stay focused.
One goal: 20,000 South Asians
GOT ORGANIZED & FORMED TEAMS TEAM VINAY team lead
bridges
TEAM SAMEER team lead
marketing
marketing
drive operations
drive operations
education
education
regional leads
regional leads
BUILT INSTANT BRANDS
HelpSameer.org
HelpVinay.org
Executed, like CRAZY.
HELP SAMEER STRATEGY SOCIAL MEDIA
EDUCATION Fliers How to Videos Web Links Literature Donor Orgs Celebrities
Widgets Blogs Pledge Lists Viral Email Video Facebook
STRATEGY ACTION
AWARENESS Instant Brand TV Public Relations Magazine Posters Newspapers Telemarketing
TRADITIONAL MEDIA
Mass-Micro Mobilization Homes Universities Temples Corporate Drives Clubs / Lounges Local Events
REGISTRATION http://www.helpsameer.org/strategy/
10 Simple Steps—You Can Do It! Let’s find Sameer and Vinay a match! Hosting a bone marrow registration drive at work take some effort, but your drive can be a big success with the right planning and coordination. This playbook is designed to make it easy as possible for you. Since each company is organized differently, think of this as a general guide. The various steps are laid out in sequence, and sample emails are included for you customize for your own use. Replace the text in red with your own text. THE DRAGONFLY EFFECT
The result in 11 weeks‌
470 bone marrow drives
24,611 South Asians registered
Sameer = 10/10 match
Vinay = 8/10 match
Sameer shared his story from the hospital‌
So, what lessons did we learn?
1
Develop a clear goal. There is elegance in simplicity.
2
Reverse the rules.
How might others might address the challenge? Do the opposite.
3
Tell a good (truthful) story. Tell stories that connect on an emotional level.
4
Design for collaboration.
Enable others to contribute and choose their own weapon.
Sameer, relapsed within 3 months of his transplant. He fought hard – but sadly, passed away in March 2008.
We celebrated his life by sharing his memorial service with the world.
Vinay had a successful transplant, but then relapsed. He underwent alternative drug treatments but, sadly, passed away in June 2008.
Purpose Revealed Of the 24,611 newly registered
people were matched in 1 year alone.
FINAL THOUGHTS…
Most revolutions are sparked by the actions of a few ordinary people.
Your biggest asset is a clear mind and a very large idea.
Find the ignition point, and light it.
How would that make me feel?
Would this story grow?
Could I water this?
What do I do now? THE DRAGONFLY EFFECT
Happy
What could we do to help quickly effectively powerfully harnessing social media
Collect stories.
1
SINGLE FOCUSED GOAL
2
GRABBED ATTENTION
3
ENGAGED
4
ENABLED OTHERS TO ACT
One story well told.
www.Cooper.com
june
july
august
100K
cheeks
IDEO
1,000,000
COURSE OVERVIEW In the beginning, … We start by looking at the behavioral science revealing the power of story (day 1), and dive into how to use both story and data (day 2), depending on the audience and context. Next, we’ll explore how humor can be used in creating stories (day 3), and how story can be used to lead a team and an organization (day 4). In the second half of the class, we’ll analyze how story can be used as an accelerant to fuel growth and innovation for your company (day 5), and build a global brand (day 6). Then, we‘ll reveal how story, humor and improv can drive culture (day 7), and what story looks like in an immersive virtual world (day 8). By the end, we hope that you understand what it means to be in the story mindset and how you can harness the power of stories to further you and your company’s goals (day 9). The End.
THE SCOOP | DAY 1
Why Story: In the Beginning
You!
“Great stories happen to people who can tell them.” - Ira Glass
THE SCOOP | DAY 2
How to Harness Data and Story
Naomi Bagdonas, Deloitte
Purin Phanichphant, IDEO
Stories can be a powerful tool for persuasion, useful in the context of understanding customers and building brands but also in leading teams. In this class, we’ll focus on the role of both story and data to build engaged and productive teams by taking a business chemistry quiz to help you understand the individual differences and contexts where story vs. data (vs. both) are differentially important.
THE SCOOP | DAY 3
How to Cultivate Comedy Mindset
Naomi Bagdonas, Deloitte
A good story takes you on a journey, one that can make you think, cry, and laugh. Today you will explore the role of humor in story and how to cultivate a comedy mindset at work and life. You will also embark on a Dish Walk with a “Mover and Shaker� partner for a practice pitch of your signatures story.
THE SCOOP | DAY 4
How to Harness Story to Lead
Amy Brooks, NBA
Yvonne Cagle, NASA
Effective leaders are also effective storytellers. In this class, you’ll learn how to leverage stories to build trust and respect from your colleagues. The goal is to help you develop skills to influence the key stakeholders in your organization, advocate for your ideas, and build your own personal story bank of experiences from your career to clarify both your past and future.
Reminder: Story Off! Complete Chapter 4 of workbook and share your 1 minute story
THE SCOOP | DAY 5
How to Develop the Innovation Story
Your Team
What is the innovation story that you want to tell? In this class, you will be briefed on an innovation challenge posed by our brand partner. Your team will ideate solutions to key challenges facing your user. Then your team will develop a “story map”— showing how your user faces extraordinary challenges—ultimately to achieve something quite remarkable by means of your innovation.
THE SCOOP | DAY 6
How to Tell a Global Story “Articulate ideas, instigate change”
Christiana Shi, Nike
It takes great storytelling on at least three levels to accelerate a digital business globally. People need a reason to “shop your store” when other alternatives are a click away. Investors need to understand why your strategy will create real shareholder value. Internal partners need to be inspired to lean in and provide support. We will dive into how you reach distinct audiences with distinct goals, and end today with an interactive session with Nike leaders.
THE SCOOP | DAY 7
How to harness Story, Comedy + Improv to Build Culture Kelly Leonard & Anne Libera, Second City
David Hornik, August Capital
How do you build strong cultures by harnessing story, comedy and improv? Cultures that do so are not only high performing, but they also tend to be innovative, relevant and fun. Leaders from Second City and David Hornik from August Capital will join us to delve into these questions.
THE SCOOP | DAY 8
Hot to Tell a Story in a Virtual World
Patrick Ewing, Firewatcher
James Buckhouse, Sequoia
Telling stories in an immersive environment will change the future of storytelling in dramatic ways.
THE SCOOP | DAY 9
Innovation Pitch Finale
You!
Final Presentations
MOVING FORWARD POLICY ON FOOD, COFFEE. ALSO, CELL PHONES OPENING ACTS + HALF TIME SHOWS (5 MIN) TWO OPTIONAL WORKSHOPS - 4/19 Visual storytelling (Purin, IDEO) - 5/27 Designing experiences in a Virtual World NEXT UP: CHAPTER 2 OF WORKBOOK
THE
END Jennifer Aaker
Stanford Graduate School of Business jaaker@stanford.edu
BOOKS The Story Factor
The Dragonfly Effect
Annette Simmons
Story Juice Julie Fuoti & Lisa Johnson
Jennifer Aaker and Andy Smith
The Power of Personal Storytelling Jack Maguire
The Art of Storytelling: John Walsh
The Leader’s Guide to Storytelling Stephen Denning
Slide:ology
Story
Nancy Duarte
Robert McKee
Resonate
Made to Stick
Nancy Duarte
Chip & Dan Heath
Storytelling as Best Practice
We Feel Fine
Andy Goodman
Jonathan Harris & Sep Kamvar