The impact of story telling can lead to greater exposure for your company. Stories have the ability to arouse a reader’s emotions. Creating an emotional connection is extremely powerful since readers are then more likely to not only remember the story but share it with others.
It’s public relations’ job to lend expertise that creates, shapes and helps place effective story telling for clients/companies that have powerful stories to tell. Storytelling provides a strong and effective opportunity to bridge the gap between experience and communication, and thus gain meaningful and insightful exposure.
Communiqué PR recently worked with Big Fish Games, the worldís leading online destination for casual entertainment, and a long time Communiqué client, to share one such story from one of its customers, Marilyn Snaring.
Marilyn contacted Big Fish Games earlier this year to express her gratitude. Her husband, Harold, experienced a sudden stroke in April 2007 that rendered him paralyzed on the left side of his body. His vision was also corrupted, leaving him unable to see the left side of a page, screen or document, and the stroke further impaired his attention span and ability to concentrate, making it hard for him to focus on therapeutic activities for long periods of time.
Marilyn, Harold and Harold’s speech pathologist struggled week after week to help Harold regain these lost abilities. One day, Marilyn brought Harold a copy of Big Fish Gamesí Mystery Case Files: Huntsville, a game whereby players search for hidden objects on a screen. As Harold took to the game, he surprisingly and rapidly began regaining some of his lost abilities.
The game forced Harold to scan the entire screen, which helped him regain use of his left field of vision, and since the game was fun and enticing, he enjoyed long stints playing it; helping him to increase his attention span. Marilyn and Harold subsequently sought out additional games from Big Fish Games to continue Haroldís recovery. Harold continues to improve with every week and relishes spending time playing other episodes of Mystery Case Files.
After learning of Harold’s experience, Big Fish Games conducted a survey and found that a significant number of its players experienced similar health benefits. Big Fish Games and Communiqué PR then worked to strategically share these benefits and Haroldís story with others who might be struggling with their own health challenges or looking for creative solutions for a family member. Thus far coverage of the story appeared in the Seattle Times, Yahoo! Games, and numerous blogs including The Boomer Blog.
The Snarings’ story is compelling because it posses all the key elements of a great narrative, itís inspirational, and it highlights an experience that either directly or indirectly impacts many people. This can make for powerful PR.
As companies look to public relations to build awareness and influence audiences, it is important to leverage the power of an overarching story and ensure that PR activities map to that broad narrative.
Some other great company story initiatives you may want to check out include the Dove campaign for real beauty, Half Price Books, and Dunkin’ Brands’ community relations “serving heroes” campaign.