What Makes Us Unique
The Story Effects Process
Our founder and lead consultant created this innovative and effective process from more than a decade of working with companies from Silicon Valley high-tech to creative houses like Zowie Entertainment and Walt Disney Imagineering.
1. Discovery
First, through intensive brainstorming, we:
- Solidify your purpose
- Define your "Why?"
- Identify your most powerful points of influence
- Determine the problem you're trying to solve with laser focus
2. Distillation
Next, we determine key messaging using a matrix of:
- Self-perceptions
- Audience perceptions
- Competitive advantages
- Findings from Discovery
- Empathy mapping (if applicable)
3. Development
The first two steps are a form of onboarding. Now, that we understand your business, your audience and the problem you're trying to solve, we deliver a story brief that contains:
- Discovery results
- Distillation matrix
- Key messaging
- Storyscapes (synopses of stories we think you should be telling)
During this step, we also recommend what experiences should be developed, such as video, podcasts, webinars, social media, blogs, vlogs, infographics, outdoor, events
4. Dissemination
For clarity, we lists this as a separate step, but it's really done in tandem with Development. We work with you to determine what channels and efforts are the best fit (i.e., where the experiences should be experienced), such as:
- Paid advertising
- Organic social media
- Other digital methods
- Earned media
- Traditional broadcast
- Website (refresh, relaunch)
5. Discernment
Through metrics and analytics, we discern:
- What's working as is
- What needs minor adjustments
- What needs more significant change
- What should be scrapped and redone
The Sciences
Social Science
Story is an essential and innate part of the human experience. We learn through story; we relate through story; we change through story. We evolved from an oral tradition to a written one, but the critical elements that make stories compelling and influential are the same. The great American mythologist Joseph Campbell discovered this by studying the stories and myths of hundreds of cultures from around the world. We were inspired by his 17-step Story Cycle and have created an abridged version for working with clients that we call Story Scope.
Neuroscience
Joseph Campbell's discovery is quantified by neuroscience and the work of Dr. Paul Zak who measured brain activity around stories. Stories that follow a structure, like our Story Scope, trigger chemicals like oxytocin and cortisol at the right times, opening the door for the stories we create together to have a lasting effect.