A communications acceleration workshop by Long Run Works.

1. Brand and communications.
Why stories matter and how
our workshop works

2. “Whatever you
are trying to sell,
storytelling is
the most
powerful thing
you can do”
Richard Branson

3. Champions of innovation know how to bring their
vision of the future to life and sell it.
With convincing ROI and
feeling comfortable with their
know-how

4. Most of us don’t go into business to be marketers
but people buy people, promises and purpose.
This is what your brand and
communication represent

5. Good ideas grow when they mean a lot to
the right people and become part of their story.
We are hardwired to react to stories
that emotionally resonate

6. This is just as true for business to business.
In fact there’s more opportunity and
value to be created

7. A good story is a competitive advantage and
value creating.
Easier decision making,
better customer service,
more attractive employer

8. You need to articulate and own your story.
Making stories that stick is
harder than telling them

9. Reward is a stronger and more valuable brand,
communications and conversations.
Bespoke outputs that align with
your business plan

10. Make%Your%Story%

11. Designed to:
• Refresh, challenge or create a new
brand and communication strategy
• Deliver immediate, practical and
tactical ideas, outputs and actions
• Empower a team with new focus,
tools and know-how
• Cost effective way of learning and
benefiting from processes used by
big brands

12. 2-3 days of inputs
• Fresh pair of eyes on your
marketplace
• Audit of your current
communications and priorities
• Identify priority outcomes, outputs
and straw man strategy
• Via questionnaire, desk research
and interviews

13. 1 or 2 workshops
• Your team with open mind and
sleeves rolled up
• Series of exercises with tools you
can reuse
• Series of iterations between us
and you
• Whole brain litmus tests to make
sure everyone is on-board

14. Finding the narrative/3
Unite your team behind a common goal
• Common purpose
• Brand essence
• Long run view
Understand what influences your customer
• Target customer
• Hindsight, insight, foresight
• Master story
Part 2. Story tellingPart 1. Story making
Create opportunities to win customers
• Problems worth solving
• Whole brain benefits
• New ideas
Build loyal relationships with customers
• Communications strategy
• Stories worth sharing
• Campaign and tactics

15. Finding the narrative/3
Master
story:
Communication
strategy:
Emotional and
functional benefits:
Long
run
view:
Hindsight,
insight,
foresight:
Common
purpose:
Brand essence:
Website copy
Social
media
Message
hierarchy
News
generation
Speaker
opps
Stories
to tell:
Building a
brand and
communications
from the
inside out.
Experiential
Customer
service
Brand
guidelines
Media
relations
Stakeholder
mapping
Content
creation
Tactic &
channels

16. 1. Common purpose:
What is your unifying call to adventure? What is your
customer-driven purpose? How is it distinct, alive and
sustainable?
What do you want to stand for? How do you want to be
seen and heard? How do you make people think and feel?
2. Brand essence:
3. Long run view:
What is your vision of the future? How can you bring that to
life? What makes you agile, open and collaborative?
We use a blend of well
established tools e.g.
customer pen portraits
alongside our original
ones such as the
Hemmingway Challenge
Story making

17. 4. Target audience:
Who is it that you most want and need to appeal to? Where
do we find them? What do they want and need from you?
Story making
6. The master story:
5. Insight, hindsight and
foresight:
What is the environment we are trying to make a story in
today? What is the most dominant idea held by our target
audience on the subject? What is the deep human
emotional truth they hold behind that idea?
Who or what influences the dominant idea? Why have they
succeeded and failed in the past? What will it affect your
story as it moves forward in the future?
What are the sub narratives that will allow or help people to
evolve their own master story? What new attitudes will inspire
people to think differently? What new behaviour will inspire
people to act differently?

18. Story telling
1. Problems worth solving:
What long run problem are you turning into an opportunity?
Who or what is the villain? What is the human challenge?
2. Whole brain benefits
What are the emotional and functional benefits of solving
the problem? What attributes are given by a tangible
experience? What is the feeling the experience satisfies?
3. New ideas
What new ideas solve the problem? How do they inspire
and equip change? What is the ROI for the value created?

19. Story telling
4. Communications strategy
What is the one thing you need to do to achieve your goal?
How does this enhance the brand? How will it win new
customers and supporters?
5. Stories worth sharing
What are reasons you believe you can do this? What’ are you
doing that’s new? Why will people care?
6. Campaign and tactics
What is the umbrella concept running through everything
you do? What activities will bring it to life? How will your
story be shared?

20. 2-3 days of outputs:
• A master presentation
• Project charters for
implementation
• Timetable for implementation
• Completion of agreed priority
outputs e.g. hierarchy of key
messages, news generation
calendar, speaker opportunities

21. Project Leader:_______________________
Objectives:
Specific Deliverables (milestones):
Work stream team, roles & responsibilities:
Risks:
Collaboration (key links
to other projects/
functions/workstreams:
Other key resources:
Project Name:_________________
Accountabilities: Dates:
Opportunities/Accelerators:
On-Brand Criteria:
News Flash
Headline:
Other sources of input/expertise:

22. Why it works
In a cluttered and complex world it
gives you a story that:
• Shows why your idea is different,
better and special
• Easy to tell because it’s effortless,
purposeful and enduring
• Wins new fans because it’s
authentic, relevant and meaningful

23. Your team
Guy Pattison >
CEO
Former director at a top 5 PR
agency and in-house head of
communications. Took a unique
brand-led approach to help over
100 of the UK’s top
entrepreneurs in cleantech.
Will Hill > Creative
Director
10 years experience as Creative
Director at leading PR agencies.
Launched the Dove Campaign
for Real Beauty and sat on
Coca-Cola’s global board of
creative agencies.
Awards won:
%
• PR Week, Campaign of the Year
• PR Week, Best Use of Research
• Marketing Society, Employee
Engagement
• PRCA, Digital & New Media Award
• DADI, Best Recruitment Campaign
• BT Digital Music, Best Event
• Sports Industry Awards, Best
Community Programme
• PRCA, Best Integrated Campaign
• PRCA, Best Consumer Campaign
• CIPR, Best Industry & Commerce
Campaign
• Marketing Society, Best Marketing
Communications
• Hollis Sponsorship, Best Use of PR
And we’re really pleased to say that Long Run Works has been shortlisted for
Green PR Agency of the Year by the Business Green Leaders Awards 2015.
Stories%we’ve%helped%make%and%tell%include:%
EDF%Energy,%npower,%Barclays,%Unilever,%
Boots,%Accenture,%City%&%Guilds,%RAC,%
Guinness,%Channel%4,%Red%Bull%and%CocaGCola.%