Brands need to tell new types of stories, purpose-inspired stories, and tell them in new ways, via transmedia storytelling.
The Storytelling Mandala is designed to help brands tell stories that inspire, organize and energize people to participate and act around a shared purpose. The inner circle consists of a new three-part universal story that articulates the purpose of the brand, the change it wants to catalyze and the quest it has undertaken. The outer circle focuses on the art of transmedia storytelling, including the role of content, the sources of content, the role of channels and the role of paid, owned and earned media.
If brands do this, they will inspire, organize and energize people to participate and act around a shared purpose; build permission based owned media assets that will increasingly look like entertainment franchises; and thrive in a world in which media is fragmented, content is cheap, attention is the biggest constraint, but storytelling can still win over hearts and minds.
For more, see: http://gauravonomics.com/the-storytelling-mandala-purpose-inspired-transmedia-storytelling/
2. Why am I talking about this topic?!
To learn more about Gaurav/ Gauravonomics, subscribe to
gauravonomics.com or follow @gauravonomics on Twitter. !
Gaurav helps organizations Gauravnomics writes and talks
rethink purpose and participation, about minimalism, mythology and
and engage stakeholders through movements. Watch out for the
storytelling and crowdsourcing.! upcoming novel on this theme.!
! !
- MBA from IIM Bangalore ! - Award-winning blogger, speaker
- Brand Marketer at Tata Group ! and changemaker!
- Co-founder of 2020 Social! - The marketer who went off
- Asia Director of Social at consumption!
MSLGROUP! - 2008-09 Yahoo! Fellow at
- Led 50+ workshops with 2000+ Georgetown University!
marketing and communications - Co-founder of Vote Report India!
professionals across Asia.! - 2009 TED India fellow !
!
4. Step 1: Passion tags!
On your post-it note, write your name and avatar-name at the top, draw
an avatar, and write five “passion-tags” at the bottom.!
Gaurav Mishra!
Gauravonomics!
Wine!
Poetry!
Storytelling!
Design!
Innovation!
5. Step 2: Connections!
Put up the post-it notes on your groupʼs chart paper, then compare your
“passion-tags” with your group members, and draw a line if the tags
match. Spend a few minutes reading each otherʼs passion tags.!
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6. Step 3: Conversations!
Discuss what conversations might start around these passion-tag
connections and how communities might form around these
conversations. Then, discuss the similarities between real-life social
networks and online social networks.!
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8. We are all connected!
Each one of us is connected to everyone else, only through a few
degrees of connection.!
Photo from untitlism on Flickr!
!
9. Some of us are more connected!
Some of us are more connected than others because we have invested
more time and effort in building our networks.!
Photo from zitona on Flickr!
10. We connect around shared passions!
We connect with others around our shared passions. Our shared
passions pull others to us, discover us, even seek us out.!
Photo from seyyed_mostafa_zamani on Flickr!
!
11. Connections lead to conversations!
Connections lead to sometimes unexpected conversations around our
shared passions, which, in turn, strengthen the connections.!
Photo from camdiluv on Flickr !
12. Conversations lead to community!
Public conversations around a passion tag lead to the emergence of an
organic community over time.!
Photo from pochacco20 on Flickr!
13. Stories are the glue!
We move from connections to conversations to communities by sharing
stories. As we share these stories, we discover hidden aspects of both
ourselves and others. !
Photo from vinothchandar on Flickr!
15. Short attention spans!
People are consuming news and entertainment in byte-sized pieces,
increasingly on smartphones and tablets, often on-the-go. !
Photo from goincase on Flickr!
16. Narrow interest graphs!
People are selectively paying attention to the topics and sources they
are most interested in, and filtering out the rest. !
Photo from lylevincent on Flickr!
17. Social serendipity!
People are discovering new content based on what is shared by their
networks, or by other people like them, via sophisticated algorithms. !
Photo from jodiejaye on Flickr!
!
18. Community curation!
People are forming on-the-fly communities around a shared passion or
purpose by curating content around hashtags and trending topics. !
Photo from peterhellberg on Flickr!
19. Remix in context!
People are remixing photos, videos, art and music and sharing their
creative work in the context of a time, place or event. !
Photo from candiedwomanire on Flickr!
20. Emergent storylines!
People are curating their own Facebook or Twitter timelines as work-in-
progress stories, with emergent narratives. !
Photo from xjrlokix on Flickr!
22. The Heroʼs Journey: Storytelling!
Joseph Campbellʼs Hero’s Journey is a good example of a monomyth,
or a universal story, that cuts across all types of stories, including myths,
movies, novels, and ads. !
Source: Joseph Campbell Foundation!
23. NBC Heroes: Transmedia storytelling!
NBC’s hit TV series Heroes is a good example of transmedia
storytelling, where TV shows, graphic novels, video games, mobile
applications, offline experiences and online communities explore
different aspects of the same “story world”. !
Source: NBC Heroes Evolutions!
24. Everyday Heroes: Purpose-inspired
storytelling !
CNN Heroes (Everyday People Changing the World) is a good example
of purpose-inspired storytelling about everyday heroes acting as change
agents, with a clear call for participation and action. !
Source: CNN Heroes!
26. The Storytelling Mandala!
The inner circle consists of the types of stories we need to tell. The
outer circle focuses on the art of transmedia storytelling. !
2. ROLE OF
CONTENT!
3. SOURCES OF
CONTENT!
5. ROLE OF
MEDIA!
1. TYPES OF
STORIES!
4. ROLE OF
CHANNELS!
27. 1. Types of stories!
To inspire, organize and energize people around a shared purpose, we
need to tell our story in three parts, in sequence: why (purpose), what
(change) and how (quest). !
1! 2! 3!
Why?! What?! How?!
Purpose! Change! Quest!
Photos from –bast-, alicepopkorn and h-k-d on Flickr !
28. Why: Purpose!
Who are we and what is our purpose, our reason for being? What is our
shared purpose, or Social Heartbeat, that can inspire all our
stakeholders?!
Photo from –bast- on Flickr!
29. What: Change!
What is wrong with the world that needs to be changed? What does
change mean for individuals, communities and the world?!
Photo from alicepopkorn on Flickr !
30. How: Quest!
What happens when we try to catalyze positive change in the world?
What is the journey we need to go through to help all our stakeholders
win?!
Photo from h-k-d on Flickr !
31. 2. Role of content!
To tell our story in a compelling manner, we need to create three types
of content, each with a different role: long form tent pole content to pull
in people, short-form content pegs to push out stories to people, and
ongoing two-way conversations. !
1! 2! 3!
Tent pole content! Content pegs! Conversations!
Photos from uggboy, danprates and eelssej_ on Flickr !
!
32. Tent pole content!
Long-form content like minisites, apps, reports, games or films to
showcase the full story in one place and pull in people. !
Photo from uggboy on Flickr !
!
33. Content pegs!
Short-form content pegs like blog posts, infographics and video clips to
highlight and push out different aspects of the story. !
Photo from danprates on Flickr !
!
35. Think of a tent!
The content tent pole holds up the tent and attracts people to it. The
content pegs hold down the tent and support the content tent pole. The
tent needs both the content tent pole and content pegs. !
Photo from alicepopcorn on Flickr!
36. Think of a movie!
The movie itself is the content tent pole, while the trailers, interviews,
announcements and reviews are content pegs, leading to different types
of conversations like buzz, gossip and rumors. !
Photo from jdhancock on Flickr!
37. 3. Sources of content!
We need to recognize that creating content requires time and resources
and tap into three sources of content: create original content,
crowdsource content, and curate conversations. !
1! 2! 3!
Create own stories! Crowdsource stories! Curate conversations!
Photos from aussiegall, xavitalleda and ngmmemuda on Flickr!
38. Create original content !
We need to create a critical mass of compelling original content,
including almost all the tent pole content like minisites, films, games,
apps and reports and at least some of the content pegs like blog posts,
video clips and infographics. !
Photo from aussiegall on Flickr!
!
39. Crowdsource content!
If we are able to create compelling original content, we can use it as a
provocation to crowdsource content pegs from influencers and
community members, often by running crowdsourcing contests. !
Photo from xavitalleda on Flickr!
!
40. Curate conversations!
Finally, we can curate conversations around their content tent poles and
content pegs into timelines (via Storify) or collections (via Pinterest), and
use them and content pegs, and even content tent poles. !
Photo from ngmmemuda on Flickr!
!
41. 4. Role of channels!
Once we have created, crowdsourced or curated content, we need to
organize them across channels, knowing that some channels work best
for content repository, some for content aggregation, and some for
content distribution. !
1! 2! 3!
Content Repository! Content Aggregation! Content Distribution!
Photos from seeminglee, urbanwoodswalker and joshdubya on Flickr!
42. Content repository!
Channels like YouTube, SlideShare and Flickr are typically used for
storing videos, documents and photos respectively. !
Photo from seeminglee on Flickr!
43. Content aggregation!
Websites, blogs and Pinterest (and increasingly social and mobile apps)
are typically used for aggregating content and conversations. !
Photo from urbanwoodswalker on Flickr!
44. Content distribution!
Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Google+ and LinkedIn are typically used for
distributing content to community members and influencers. !
Photo from joshdubya on Flickr!
45. 5. Role of media!
We need to intentionally use paid, owned and earned media in sync to
attract strangers, convert them into familiars and then into promoters. !
1! 2! 3!
Paid Media! Owned Media! Earned Media!
(For strangers)! (For familiars)! (For advocates)!
Photos from p22earl, seeminglee and ripton on Flickr!
!
46. Paid media (for strangers)!
Targeted display, search or social ads to attract people who donʼt know
anything about us, and seek their permission to join an owned media
platform. !
Photo from p22earl on Flickr!
!
47. Owned media (for familiars)!
Private or public online community platforms, social networking groups,
or events to organize people who have given permission to us to share
regular content with them. !
Photo from seeminglee on Flickr!
48. Earned media (for promoters)!
Ongoing conversations with community members and influencers to
trigger participation and action and energize them to become promoters.
!
Photo by ripton on Flickr!
49. The Storytelling Mandala!
1. Content tent
poles (pull)!
2. Content pegs
1! 2! 3! (push)!
1. Create original 3. Conversations
content! (two-way)!
2. Crowdsource 2. ROLE OF
content! CONTENT!
3. Curate
conversations!
3. SOURCES OF
CONTENT!
5. ROLE OF
1. TYPES OF
MEDIA!
1! 2! 3! STORIES!
Why-What-How! 1! 2! 3!
1. Paid media !
(for strangers)!
4. ROLE OF 2. Owned media
CHANNELS! (for familiars)!
1. Content
repository! 3. Earned media
2. Content (for promoters)!
aggregation! 1! 2! 3!
3. Content
distribution!
55. Step 1: Think of topics!
Think of two thought leadership topics: one for clients and one for
agencies.!
56. Step 2: Select topics!
Cluster related topics into themes and pick out the top two themes for
thought leadership: one for clients and one for agencies. !
57. Step 3: Plan content!
Work in groups and imagine a content tent pole, three content pegs and
six conversations for each topic, !
58. Let’s stay in touch
gauravonomics.com
gauravonomics on Twitter,
Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube,
SlideShare, GTalk, Skype