There is a new book out by Ty Montague, a Harvard Business Review writer, True Story: How to Combine Story and Action to Transform Your Business.
As is normal for most business / marketing books these days, Ty uses well know brands such as TOMS, Tory Burch, Red Bull and Warby Parker to prove his point. Ty argues that by living their story, and not just marketing it, they have been able to create fierce loyalty and evangelism by connecting consumers to experiences and beliefs.
It reminds me of old the “Show, don’t tell” mantra, and a little about our blog from June which we looked at the TEDx Talk by Simon Sinek.
What was most interesting was new research that showed that ‘doing’ does matter more than ‘telling’. That being authentic and real was driving more customer engagement and more revenue.
In the article, “Good Companies Are Storytellers. Great Companies Are Storydoers” Ty posts data based on 42 companies to support the fact that companies that ‘do’ vs. ‘tell’ receive more social media and word of mouth support, generate more revenue, and spend less on marketing than companies who are just storytellers. My favorite chart is the Growth Rate chart embedded here.
I guess we could argue that ‘doing’ companies just get business better and there is no coloration between increased social mentions and increase revenue, but it is still an impressive metric.
Most importantly, it made me stop and think about our story at IPS. It made me question what makes our customers share our story and successes with others.
Here is our story:
We believe in innovation, transformation, and continuous improvement. Life is about maximizing the journey, not arriving at a destination. That the people that surround you, the changes you make, the risks you take, and the innovation you create makes the journey most fulfilling.
Today, we are in the business of executive recruiting. We recruit the greatest people to innovate, take risks, and help change some of the greatest companies. We do this by innovating, transforming, and continuously improving our business and ourselves.
What is your story?
Photo Credit: http://plywoodpeople.com/3652
