We are so thrilled to have Robert Killen return with part 5 of his “StoryForce” series. “StoryForce” is a series of articles on the power stories wield in the lives of organizations. The purpose is to provide a guide for discovery of the nature of stories and to explore the ways we can put this discovery to valuable use for the benefit of ourselves, our organizations and the communities we serve. Make sure you explore the previous Story Force articles:
Words that Burn: How Gossip and Negativity Destroy the Workplace
4 Strategies for Assembling a Powerful Organizational Narrative
7 Essential Stories Every Organization Must Know and Tell
There was a time, not long ago, when marketing and public relations could be successfully undertaken whether or not they bore any meaningful resemblance to the businesses they were promoting. Social media has all but killed this past condition, and we are better for it.
In June 2006 Vincent Ferrari decided he no longer needed his AOL account. Having heard of the challenges of cancelling he decided to record the experience. Listening to the result is a 21 minute nightmare for anyone who sweats over bad customer service calls.
Not only do you empathize with Ferrari but you even feel bad for the poor guy on the other side who had clearly been informed not to close an account. Five years earlier this event might have come to nothing. Even if Ferrari had found a place to publish his recording, traditional media lacked interactive communications. By the time enough people would have heard about it and found some way to coordinate their collective anger the event would have become stale. Old news has little impact.
But by 2006 Youtube was well established and Ferrari’s posted recording was “viewed” 62,827 times in two days. This unleashed an astonishing firestorm of negative press. Consumer advocates, bloggers, and mainstream media all wanted to play a part in the evisceration.
What was it that made this event so vastly different than what had come before?
Social Media.
The term is perfect. It’s not just improved communication. The social media platforms – Youtube, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and hundreds more – have fundamentally altered the nature of inter-human discourse.
For most of the past 100 years media was a one-way tool. A story was created and published. And no matter what form the publication took, the story was delivered with no meaningful opportunity for feedback. Sure you could write letters, but it was still a one-to-one process. And weeks between readings made it hard to keep up one’s indignation. This allowed for a century of marketing that could take enormous license with corporate values and claims of success.
Thankfully, social media has changed the messaging landscape. Communication is no longer one way, nor even one-to-one. Communication is now a collaborative process. Though an organization committed to developing and nurturing its own mythos can have great influence over its ultimate definition, the public also has a say. The story is now co-created with the public. One way marketing is over.
Today a lie, a misstatement, an exaggeration – standard tools of old school marketing – are all called out in an instant. As a result organizations must now focus clearly on integrity and credibility. To misrepresent one’s self is to risk wide ranging public ridicule and disaster.
Social Media represents the most substantial change in human communication perhaps since the invention of language. Where once a message was delivered to an audience now a theme is delivered to the stage and everyone has a part in the outcome.
Social Media crushed AOL’s reputation not because of bad service, but because that story contrasted immensely with the organization’s marketing message. Today, there can be no such contrast.
The best marketing you can pursue in this landscape is to build core stories from real successes. These will speak to your integrity as an organization. They speak the truth. And so long as you don’t abandon that truth, marketing along that path will communicate integrity, success and possibility.
Next week: “Story Time, All the Time”
Two weeks: “Own Your Story, or someone else will”
Article by Robert Killen
Robert L Killen is a speaker, thought leader and coach focusing on positive self definition for individuals and organizations. He is also the Executive Director of the City Club of Central Oregon, where he hosts vibrant discussions of important and often controversial topics. He is also a husband, father, artist and musician.
Robert has written 4 awesome articles for us at Nonprofit Talk | Nonprofits Empowered and Connected
Twitter: @robert_killen
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