The advertising world is rampant with claims of content marketing expertise. In reality, creating great, engaging content is still emerging as a key skill in marketing. Most of it sucks. The global CEO and chief storyteller at Story Worldwide outlined the power of stories worth sharing and how to get there, including the importance of creating a process to locate the story on behalf of a brand that consumers will engage with. Kirk presented a case study about Story's work evolving the Green Giant mascot with stories that differentiate the Green Giant brand to show his point, and was joined onstage by Digiday reporter John McDermott afterwards for a discussion.

1. LET’S TAKE OVER
ADVERTISING.
STORY WORLDWIDE
2014

2. LET’S TAKE OVER
ADVERTISING.
SOMEONE HAS TO.
STORY WORLDWIDE
2014

4. CREATE
CONTENT
PEOPLE
WANT
TO SHARE.

5. IN THE POST ADVERTISING AGE,
THE most effective STRATEGY IS:
•
•
•
•
Dismiss the intermediaries.
Own the audience yourself.
Engage your audience with valuable content.
Encourage them to spread your contagious
brand stories.

6. NIELSEN GLOBAL SURVEY:
What media do you trust? What influences your purchase decisions?
2009
2012
RECOMMENDATIONS
FROM PEOPLE I KNOW
ADS ON RADIO
CONSUMER OPINIONS
POSTED ONLINE
ADS BEFORE MOVIES
EDITORIAL CONTENT
TV PROGRAM
PRODUCT
PLACEMENTS
BRANDED WEBSITES
ADS SERVED IN SEARCH
ENGINE REULTS
EMAILS
ONLINE VIDEO ADS
ADS ON TV
ADS ON SOCIAL
NETWORKS
BRAND
SPONSORSHIPS
ONLINE BANNER ADS

7. THE BEST
ONLINE ADS
OF 2013
WEREN’T ADS

8. THE BEST
ONLINE ADS
OF 2013
WEREN’T ADS

13. THE CREATIVE CRISIS:
GREAT TV IDEAS ARE ALL ABOUT A
burst of disruption.
GREAT DIGITAL IDEAS ARE ALL ABOUT
sustained conversation.

14. “To wrest advertising from the cold, dead hands
of the traditional agencies, the content industry
is going to have to master and improve some
BASIC BRAND MANAGEMENT skills, including
branding, strategic planning, media planning,
and measurement.”
—Me, writing in Chief Content Officer Magazine

15. Want to take charge of the brand story?
You must have a PROVEN, repeatable
process for finding a brand’s core story.

16. WHAT WE CALL
A STORY PLATFORM.
The Heart of a brand
It’s important to understand that a Story
Platform isn’t a tagline or product descriptor.
It’s not something that will appear in your
advertising or something you’ll tell
customers. Instead, it is the emotional and
rational heart of your brand and all your
messaging.
Unified Narrative
It is the single thought that should be apparent
in everything your brand communicates. It is
the core narrative you want to deliver in every
story that the brand and your employees, your
customers and potential customers, the media
and the general public tell about your brand.

17. STORY PLATFORMS ARE DERIVED
FROM EDITORIAL PLATFORMS
THE
INVESTIGATOR
Uncover the truth
THE
BUSINESS
EXPERT
THE GUIDE
TO BEING
BEAUTIFUL
Find the bottom line
We’re still pretty

18. HOW
IT’S
DONE.
A LITTLE TASTE…

19. The Story Brand Discovery Workshop
19
Collaborative workshops with key internal stakeholders form the foundation for strategic development.

20. THERE ARE THREE PHASES
of a Story Discovery workshop
1
2
3
Pre workshop
research
Workshop day
Workshop
output
BEFORE THE WORKSHOP
ON THE DAY
KEEPING MOMENTUM
Stakeholder
questionnaire/interviews,
client research
immersion & desk
research
A full day of
collaboration among key
stakeholders to
complete narrative
exercises led by Story
Insights synthesis, Story
Platform & Pillar
development,
output creation and
conceptual ideation

21. SWOT ANALYSIS
Understanding where we are - today
INPUT
EXERCISE
OUTPUT
Pre workshop research
Quick SWOT analysis to
capture where we are today
and where we are headed.
Warm up the group with a
familiar strategic exercise
Capture each of the strengths,
weaknesses, opportunities,
threats
21

22. THE MIGHTY METAPHOR
Using metaphors to tell the story
INPUT
EXERCISE
OUTPUT
• SWOT analysis
Break out groups utilize
descriptive language to
expand the accepted
notions of the brand
Capture each of the groups’
list of metaphors, ask the
full group which
descriptors are most
22

23. ARCHETYPES
Your brand’s personality
INPUT
EXERCISE
OUTPUT
Mighty Metaphor and
SWOT analysis exercises
Introduce and explain the
archetypes and their traits;
use table sorting exercise to
narrow down to top nominees
Group determines which (if
any) archetype best represents
brand character and what the
consequences are
23

24. THE AUDIENCE
Establishing or validating the target audience
INPUT
EXERCISE
OUTPUT
Archetypes and all prior
exercises
Define or validate primary
and secondary audiences via
audience definition pro forma
list
Full team hones the primary
and secondary audiences
definition
24

25. AUDIENCE JOURNEYS
Understanding exactly how we interact with the audience at each touch point
INPUT
EXERCISE
OUTPUT
Audiences and all prior
exercises
Groups map out the offline
and online brand interactions
of primary and secondary
audiences
Audience journey from brand
touchpoint to brand touchpoint
25

26. General Mills
GREEN
GIANT

28. THAT WAS THE
BEGINNING
Kirk Cheyfitz
CEO+Chief Storyteller
Story Worldwide
@kirkcheyfitz
kirk.cheyfitz@storyworldwide.com
storyworldwide.com