Results for articles with tag 'stories' (5 total)
11/23/2010 08:06:51 AM 
There are a couple of interesting examples of the emergence of Twitter as a tool for creative collaboration.
Mike Skinner- a UK musician and the man behind The Streets, is actively using Twitter as a tool for song ideas and inspiration as The Guardian reports.
"The new Streets website - which is more of a blog, really - principally contains odd videos of swans dying and badly edited pieces about why Skinner doesn't like owning a phone. But it's also become a dumping ground for ideas - many of which have started out in the minds of Streets fans, not Skinner's.
Skinner, you see, has taken to replying to his followers' tweets in the form of a video blog. Some of these tweets have become songs, the most recent being Cinema Barz, which was posted last Tuesday, the result of Skinner answering followers @shetlandshaun, @bec_brough and @glory55, and incorporating their call and responses into the song.
It's likely just a way to pass the time, but it shows Skinner isn't using Twitter as an extension of ye olde subscription list, a platform from which to shout information. Skinner isn't just telling fans what he's up to; he's effectively writing music with them, including them in the creative process and creating an ephemeral rehearsal room of sorts. Admittedly, he's the keyholder - but it's an open-door policy. It's obvious the internet is what really excites him these days - on Sunday, when @clairethornhill asked if he thought he should be included in the "walk of stars" in Birmingham, he replied, "yes, but I want one in cyberspace first"."
Then there's Tim Burton, who's encouraging Twitter followers to contribute and add story ideas that build on each other. It's a technique favored by artists and called-"Exquisite Corpse". This is an idea that's designed to support his art show, rather than lead to the creation of an entirely new Burton product.
Twitter clearly has a "plasticine" like property which is it's appeal- it allows users to configure and construct ideas around the parameters of the technology.
This is the stuff that makes great brands, but one critical component here is that the brand gets out there and showcases this stuff and in so doing, encourages others to participate.
The opportunity for Twitter to become a very interesting creative platform, but it's going to require awareness and understanding.
10/19/2010 01:12:20 PM (2)
(2) 
It's been said that there are only 7 available plots and many have tried to reduce storytelling down to is barest essentials.
However, the power of the story knows few boundaries and we become sucked in and seduced by the twists and tales in the narrative as characters reveal themselves and story lines unfolded.
The reality is that telling really great stories is pretty hard to do, despite what screenwriting courses might tell you. It's also something that needs some systems like thinking- (take the visual above which is from Harry Potter's JK Rowling) where she's charted out a chronology and various plot lines. This is real work!!!
The point I am trying to making, is that communication agencies are frequently telling their clients about the opportunity to tell stories, without really understanding the discipline it takes to make a good one.
Most creative people get bored of their ideas really fast and want nothing to do with them once they've been created and seen the light of day.
The impetus is to move onto the next shiny object. However, if you want to create a real-time and long-term narrative you need to know your beginning, middle and end well ahead of time and this isn't something we are used to.
It seems like creatives need help in understanding how their stories can have breadth and depth- spanning obvious and not so obvious channels and having a lifespan way beyond what they might expect. The people to help them should be planners and media folks who can inspire them to re-imagine their ideas as bigger, longer lasting and importantly, creatively fulfilling.
Image thanks to Kottke.org and Famulan
Posted by Ed Cotton
04/05/2024 10:48:21 AM (2)
(2) The iPad will succeed or fail based on the ability of content creators to tell stories using the device. The questions everyone needs to ask who is developing for the device should revolve around how the device and the 27 others like it, provide storytellers with better ways to tell their tales. Get lost in the technology and you will miss the point.
Significant Objects is one project that puts the story front and center and demonstrates how value can be created through narrative. By getting writers to tell stories about everyday objects found on eBay- the project is raising money for a worthy cause.
Over in the land of the start-up, Chris Dixon of Hunch suggests story-telling is the main thing start-ups need to convince VCs to fund them. While many assume that metrics are the thing, Dixon believes VCs already know these, but need to be seduced by a story.
Storytelling is the oldest of human skills, but it's never been more relevant. Perhaps everyone needs a refresher course on the golden rules of story telling. As we all gain the technological ability to tell our own stories, perhaps there's a gap that could be filled by some smart educational brands and new entities, to teach. Maybe this could be a role taken on by journalists, photographers and film-makers.
Could they find new energy and a new revenue path by teaching the world how to tell stories? If they could, we wouldn't need Sigificant Objects to tell stories about objects, we could tell the stories ourselves and perhaps they would be better because they would personal, real and importantly, true.
Posted by Ed Cotton
05/25/2008 07:16:55 AM
Here's a clip of a story with art by Chris Ware, which is fantastic. It's a great piece that shows how memory plays tricks with us and how two people's version of an event can be radically different. In a way, it explains the problem with real versus reported data.
Posted by Ed Cotton
05/07/2024 09:58:32 PM
Let’s look at ice cream as an example.
There used to be a time when Haagen Dazs had the premium ice cream market to itself. It made up a name and sold its “specialness”. Along came Ben and Jerry’s, the name was real and there was a good reason to believe the ice cream was special, it came from Vermont.
Josh Friedland at The Food Section informs us that there’s a new player in the ice cream storytelling stakes, GROM a mini-ice cream chain (12 stores worldwide) who has just opened a store in New York.
Here are the components of the GROM story.
- It’s from Turin, Italy - one of the centers of good ice cream
- The founders are young entrepreneurs
- The ice cream’s ingredients are sanctioned by the Slow Food movement and include; Sfusato lemons from Amalfi and pistachios from Bronte in Sicilly
- The ice cream is mixed in Italy and whipped when they arrive in NYC
- The sorbets are made of 50% fruit and 50% San Bernado mineral water
- The company will soon be growing its own some of its own fruit
- The chocolate they use comes from Ecuador and Venezula
GROM’s story is multi-dimensional; it has a lot of interesting layers and elements; stretching from the founders, to the process and the ingredients. This is important for a couple of reasons.
1. Word of Mouth Power: It gives the “Mavens” who want to spread the story, good content for the viruses.
2. Proof: Months back Influx wrote a post on the critical drivers of C21st Branding- Proof was one of the core components. In a world where Internet search dominates, rational elements help to prove your case. However, if these elements can have an added emotional layer, the more powerful they become. GROM has the romance and purity of Italy and the Slow Food movement. The more layers, the more chance you have to differentiate and the more reasons you are giving consumers to check you out.
Weaving together stories has always been a part of the brand communication process. Advertising agencies were often hired to make up and exaggerate these stories.
Today, it’s important that your brand possesses not only an authentic story, but it also needs multiple layers. Brand development and refreshment is simply about adding more layers to the story making it more robust and therefore harder to competitors to trump.
Articles for tag stories (5 total).