We all need more heroes. Grant McCracken is one of mine. The leading business anthropologist of our time; a master ethnographer who specializes in American Pop Culture, brand advertising, and the intersection of commerce and culture. Two weekends ago, I had the pleasure of attending Grant’s one-day Culture Boot Camp in NYC, based on his book Chief Culture Officer. My review and reflections follow.

It’s like the timeless debate between the chicken or the egg. When it comes to developing a new story, people often aren’t sure where to start. Should you begin with the content of your story, or is it better to determine the container first? Here’s a series of 20 questions that can support your Story Positioning process.

Beyond just beer and BBQ, the SuperBowl is as much a lesson in advertising as it is in football. Long considered, the most expensive ads on television ($2.6 million for a 30-second spot), this year’s crop of commercials were rather uninspiring or noteworthy. Except perhaps for Google.

This article explore seven must-ask questions for branding yourself as a thought-leader. Discover how to tell the right story for building reputation, awareness, and reach.

Who Do You Truly Represent?

It’s easy to tell the story of the clients you serve — especially in 2010, if you have a flip video camera, a social media platform and a few juicy questions to ask. Unfortunately, it’s much harder to tell a story with which your donors can identify. Here are a total of 12 questions to help you reinforce the emotional connection and the perceived value of your work.

Share
Context + Perception = Value
Too often, people try to make the case for business storytelling, by pointing to examples of “who’s doing it”. That type of reductionist answer has always kind of bugged me. Since that only reflects what is, as opposed to what can be. I think we all need bigger frameworks for appreciating [...]

Share
Deciding who to make the hero is one of the hardest decisions to make. We’re all the hero of our own life story, right? Right.  Except if you’re telling a story with an audience or desired outcome in mind, its best to make your audience the hero. Because if you’re audience can see themselves in [...]

Share
Mmmmmm…burger. What is about burgers that turns the ordinary grown man into a child or crackhead? Of course, its not just guys who lust over the perfect patty. Apologies to my vegetarian friends for even engaging in this discourse (I know, YUCK…) Still, I think there’s something deeply archetypal about burgers. It must be a [...]

Share
Its just a tease at 2:48 min but this opening video is an intriguing glimpse at Story 2.0 from Penguin Books digital publisher Jeremy Ettinghausen. On the fora.tv site, are an additional series of clips case study examples from the talk. It’s curious to think how traditional publishing might join the fray. Especially as we [...]

Share
I’m excited to announce the launch of Story University, a new division of Get Storied. The first class on Story Positioning begins February 18 as a 4-week telecourse with weekly 90-minute sessions, with homework, group discussions, and optional 1-on-1 laser coaching. For more info, click here.
As some of you know, there’s a 6-month executive education [...]