Straight to the Point
Volume 1, Issue 1
This Issue's Contents:
Feature: Every Business Tells a Story... Don't It?
Getting messages out to customers, press and shareholders depends in part on a business' ability to tell its story effectively. In school, we learned what a story is - but often we don't realize those lessons apply to business. This article reviews the basics of telling a good business story.
Apply It!: If I Write it, Will They Come?
Unless you've got an inside lead, there's no predicting the press. What interests editors from day to day can depend on many variables. Despite the unknowns, there is a process you can follow to vastly improve the chances of your story piquing the press' interest. This article outlines the steps.
Service in Brief: Your First Introduction to Market
Kaszas Communications specializes in First Introductions to Market - a service that maps how your business will tell its story. It provides you with a documented framework for communicating the value you offer, and initial marketing collateral that tells your story well. Read this article to learn more.
Don't Take Our Word For It
Programmable Microelectronics Corporation launched a new brand to a new market with the help of Kaszas Communications. This article provides the highlights of that project.
Every Business Tells a Story... Don't It?*
Business can look to the basic tenets of good story telling to craft business communication that makes for an engaging, compelling read.
Stories are tools to remember, to learn, to teach, to warn, to impress, to negotiate and to win. Getting messages out to customers, press and shareholders depends in part on a business' ability to tell its story effectively. In school, we learned what a story is - but often we don't realize those lessons apply to business. This article takes you through the basics of telling a good business story.
In One Ear and Out the Other
Theoretically we all know what a story is - we learned it in school. A story has:
- A plot - action that develops over time to a particular conclusion.
- Characters - individual players whose unique personalities, actions and choices keep the plot moving and determine the conclusion.
- Conflict - a good story has tension that requires resolution, which is why we keep reading it.
- Resolution - the best conclusions are those that cause us to ponder ideas or take action beyond the story itself.
In practical business terms, though, we often forget that any of this applies to communicating our business (corporate/product/marketing/sales) messages. But we shouldn't. Paying attention to these "Seven Cs" of good storytelling for business is a good start.
The "Seven Cs" of Good Storytelling for Business
Every time you communicate, run through this checklist - improving your effectiveness in even one of these areas will result in better communication. And better communication translates into business benefit: you can save time and money by getting the right message out - effectively - the first time.
- Consideration. We tend to launch into our spiels before we've considered what will compel the audience to listen. Who, exactly, is your intended audience, and why do they need the information? What one key thing about your topic will be of interest to the intended audience?
- Concept. Once you've established who your audience is, define your story concept: what story do you want to tell, and why? Tell an interesting story and build trust with your audience by providing relevant facts and validation, such as client testimonials.
- Context. Providing the necessary context for facts, figures, product specs and even testimonial statements is the important "meat" of a story. On their own, facts mean very little - it is the storyteller's responsibility to embed these details meaningfully into a complete storyline. Never assume that products speak for themselves: even a datasheet must provide the reader with context. With this established, your audience will be far more likely to consider the details.
- Coherence. Making your story coherent requires connective tissue: transitions between parts of the story, headings and subheadings that describe the substance of each section, and "go-to's" that let the reader know where to go next.
- Concision. 80% of writing is rewriting. Pare your content back to its most essential elements. In business, your task is to create enough interest to achieve the desired result - for example, to drive sales calls or to change attitudes. More content does not increase your chances of success; a concise, clear message does.
- Color. Make the story interesting to read. Open with an unexpected statement. Choose interesting or unusual facts. Don't be afraid to use humor. Intersperse the story narrative with other voices - like those of happy customers, partners and industry gurus.
- Craftsmanship. Most businesses are very good at knowing what they need to communicate - and why - but less adept at crafting those messages effectively. Enlist a good writer to ensure your story is well crafted.
A Concrete Example
Take this example of two approaches to a press release opener. While the first example probably seems most familiar, the second version tells a more engaging story by starting with validation (the customer name), clearly identifying what the story is (context), getting the key message across concisely, including a quantifiable statement ("10,000") up front, and using compelling language ("plague").
Version 1
CrackDown Software Inc., makers of the acclaimed suite of anti-plagiarism software, today announced that Stern College of Penhold, Seattle, has evaluated and selected PlagFighter for its campus anti-plagiarism solution.
Version 2
Stern College of Penhold, Seattle, has evaluated and selected PlagFighter to resolve the plague of campus-wide plagiarism. PlagFighter, an industry-leading anti-plagiarism solution from CrackDown Software Inc., currently monitors the essays and assignments of more than 10,000 students at Stern College.
*With apologies to Rod Stewart & Ron Wood
Apply It!: If I Write It... Will They Come?
So you've got a good story to tell . . . how do you pitch it to press?
Unless you've got an inside lead, there's no predicting the press. What interests editors from day to day can depend on many variables. Despite the unknowns, there is a process you can follow to vastly improve the chances of your story piquing the press' interest. This article outlines the steps.
- Study your audience. Make a list of your top 10 (or more) target publications and editors.
- Read past issues and study their websites to get a sense of their target audience(s) and take note of the kinds of stories they cover.
- Identify the right writers and/or editors covering subject matter related to your own. In larger publications, you may find more than one writer or editor, each with a different interest that your story can be related to.
- Note whether the publication is a daily, weekly or monthly. Dailies are typically news-driven, so pitches to them must be news-y - new product announcements, for example. Don't pitch a press release to a publication that will be issued weeks after the announcement is made.
- Keep tabs on your top-10 publications/editors. Regularly read stories they publish - in particular topics related to your own story - and pitch stories that offer a new "spin" on or extension to a topic they are covering. If they accept bylines, pitch one that plays off a story of obvious interest. If they publish case studies, offer one of your customers as a subject.
- Anticipate your target audience. If you pitch a story idea to an editor, be prepared with answers to her likely questions: "Do you have a reference customer I can talk to?" "Is there an industry expert who will verify your claims?" "Can you give me some hard numbers for this story?" "Have your claims been audited?"
- Create the pitch. Pitches are brief statements of intent that express your story idea in a way that makes evident its relevance to your editor of choice. For example, you might play up the "local" aspect of a story to a regional publication, or you may reference a recent controversy that your story relates to. In essence, you want to do the work for the editor - don't leave it up to them to make the connection between your story and the audience. Consider having a professional writer help.
- Get in touch. Once you've formulated your pitch, phone the editor. Note that, if it's a daily publication, editors are generally busy with deadlines later in the day. A weekly publication will be too busy to chat toward the end of the week.
- If they answer, introduce yourself and your company, and ask a question about their editorial plans. For example, "I noticed on your web site that you're interested in real-world case studies. We've got a few customers willing to participate in case studies - what is the best process for me to use to have you consider a case study?"
- If you get voice mail, be prepared with a mini-synopsis of your pitch. State your name, your company, a quick statement (10 seconds) about your story idea, and request that they get back to you.
- Follow-up in a day or two with an e-mail that provides your full (three-paragraph) pitch.
- Use embargos and scoops. Embargoes give weekly publications the chance to include the story in their plans for the next issue, and give all editors time to research and write their own story about the news item. Giving an editor the scoop (i.e. the exclusive on a story) is an effective tactic to try in cases where there is a single "top tier" publication you want to attract above any others.
- Ask questions. When you get an editor on the phone, ask questions. That's the best way to understand how to approach the publication in the future, and it's a good way to start to form a relationship. Try some of these:
- What kind of feedback did you get from your readers about <a particular story>?
- Do you have any plans for a story about <topic> in the next six months?
- Is there a particular story angle that would be of interest to your readers?
- Is there a different contact at <publication name> that might be more interested in this story?
- Hone and craft the story. Based on the response and feedback you get, hone, reshape, spin and craft the story idea for greater success. Often, a third-party can breathe new life into your story, or see seeds of story that you may miss because of your proximity to it. And, in the case of a byline feature story, that's an opportunity you can't afford to waste - hire a professional writer to help you get it right.
Service in Brief: Your First Introduction to Market
As this issue has shown, communicating well in business depends on telling a good story: clear, concise, consistent and well targeted to the audience. It's particularly important to get this right the first time you introduce a company, product or service to the market.
Kaszas Communications specializes in First Introductions to Market - a service that maps how your business will tell its story. It provides you with a documented framework for communicating the value you offer, and initial marketing collateral that tells your story well.
Key Message Strategy
The core of the service is a key message strategy, developed especially for your business to help you create high-impact marketing through the consistent repetition of effective messages. With it, you will:
- Create effective marketing programs at low cost - by exploiting the power of consistency and repetition to create momentum
- More rapidly develop, get buy-in for and implement effective communication programs and tactics
- Effectively target and appeal to key audiences with messages refined for them
- Rapidly ramp-up new sales, marketing or communication personnel and get everyone "singing from the same songbook"
- Quickly educate new agencies about the company's brand and guidelines for communication and design
- Present a strong marketing communication strategy as a key component of the business and marketing plan
Well-Conceived Marketing Collateral
Based on the approved key message strategy, we then develop your initial marketing collateral - depending on your needs and available resources. This may include creating your:
- Visual identity: logo and/or look-and feel for the web and print material
- Web site, including the content architecture and the copy, and developing the site as required
- Initial marketing kit, including brochures and data sheets as required
A First Introduction to Market creates the foundation and framework you need to:
- Introduce your company or product to market for the first time
- Introduce a new product or sub-brand to market
- Introduce a revised or revived brand to market
- Introduce your established brand to a new market
For details, contact us today: info@kaszas.ca or 613.741.9484.
Don't Take Our Word For It
Flash memory developer, Programmable Microelectronics Corporation (PMC), approached Kaszas Communications to help it re-brand for and communicate to North American markets. As David Chen, PMC's Director of Product Marketing remembers, "PMC is an established flash memory company in Asia, but needed to break into North American and European markets. That required better communication and marketing."
In Asia, sales rely heavily on relationships and much less on marketing as it is known and practiced in North America. To penetrate its new market, PMC needed an updated look-and-feel, professional web site and sales collateral, and above all clear, concise and differentiated messaging. In essence, these tools would help PMC form relationships with its new audiences in North America.
After reviewing the competition's communication and positioning, as well as the client's existing communication and collateral, we developed a messaging strategy that was able to accomplish something important: differentiate PMC in a commodity market. The company had a unique Flash technology, the nature of which was getting lost in techno-babble. We repositioned it under the memorable pFLASH® brand and clearly explained the technology differentiation in terms of benefit to the customer. In addition, each product description focuses on differentiation and benefit.
Today, PMC sports an updated look-and-feel - including new logo, web site and collateral - and is positioned well among other, larger, industry players. In addition, the company is able to easily maintain its own web site, updating dynamic sections like home page highlights, news and documents without the need for programming.
Says Chen, "Kaszas Communications delivered very well. Our new website and collateral clearly communicate the benefit and difference we offer, and our new look-and-feel is modern, bold and competitive."
Visit PMC's new brand at www.pmcflash.com.
