CEOs Need to Be Chief Story Officers

The CMO is in charge of the brand's story at most companies. This can be a mistake, says Ty Montague writing for Harvard Business Review.

Marketing, you see, should only be one part of a company's story efforts. Take Amazon. Story is its lifeblood. In fact, it drives everything that the company does — from product development, to advertising, to HR policies.

Montague is the author of True Story: How to Combine Story and Action to Transform Your Business and a founder of co:collective, a consultancy that helps clients develop their strategy and brand story using the principles of storydoing.

Amazon, of course, isn't the only company that does this. Red Bull, Jet Blue, and TOMS shoes follow the same strategy as well, and their CEOs, just like Jeff Bezos at Amazon, are the ones who oversee their company's story — not their marketing departments. 

Why? 

They're the only ones who have the reach to do so.

If you are a CEO or an aspiring CEO, the evidence is clear: 

1. Become a student of the underlying narrative of your business;
2. Learn how to manage and tell that story through coordinated action;
3. Make understanding and telling your company's story both a shared responsibility across the whole organization and a core value of the company. 

If you do this, you (and more importantly, your shareholders) will reap the rewards.

8 words to inspire more SHOW in your brand story

Here is one of the most important concepts I promote in N-of-8 story development:  the difference between SHOW and TELL.

A complete brand story SHOWS a customer how, not just TELLS them what.

Look for ways you can add more persuasion in your story.

Seeing the same brand hallmarks in new ways: Lessons for N-of-8 from James Bond

When using the N-of-8 process, it’s important to remember that you’re not just writing a story – you’re developing a BRAND story.

So the core brand hallmarks must be presented and maintained consistently. But that doesn’t mean the story can’t be told in many different ways.
 

Consider the series of James Bond movies. Even across all the installments, there are elements that make a 007 Story:

• British
• Spies
• Music
• Bond girl
• Shaken-martini
• Villain
• World domination
• Opening
• Gadgets-M
• Cars
• Gambling
• Gun-eye
• Branding (despite star changing)
• Exotic locations
• Big names
• Q
• Cool
• Sophistication
• Clothes
• Near death

With these central and fundamental ingredients, many stories can be crafted with their own unique locations, characters, plots, dangers, and fantasies.

Far from limiting your creative potential, defining the brand hallmarks gives a structure to which you can then build endless story possibilities.

The same principles can be seen when analyzing other popular movies series, like Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Pink Panther, and Rocky. That’s why I often use these as a warm-up exercise with our creative teams before we start writing stories for N-of-8 groups. It helps us find parallels, archetypes, villains, conflicts, and climaxes. We recall the look of the titles and credits. We even sing the theme song or hum the main chorus.

As you begin crafting your brand’s story, put together a list of the escapades you’ll experience.

8 eBooks I want to Write ASAP

Content.

Creative energy.

Cultivation of relationships.

I don’t simple write books and blogs to educate. Rather it helps me gain (and share) a deeper understanding of subjects.

Here are some ideas I’m working on with deeper value.

• 8 Best Practices for Brand Story Development
• 8-Point Check List for Evaluating Brand Innovation Concepts
• 8 Ways to Introduce New Hires to Your Industry
• 8 Common Questions about Focus Groups Answered
• 8 Mistakes to Avoid When Writing a Research Report
• 88 Health & Medical Statistics For Better Decision-Making
• 8 Experts Share Industry Insights: Learn From The Best
• 8 eBooks to Write Right Now

Could you contribute to any of these? Let’s collaborate.

What other types of eBooks do you like? Share your suggestions.

Reason for brand narrative

on Storytelling

"Storytelling is the most powerful way to put ideas into the world today." -Robert McKee