Is Storytelling Having a Moment or a Movement?

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Slop.

That’s what they’re calling the inauthentic, word-salad content many brands are creating using AI-driven tools that feature catch phrases and questionable grammar, without any soul.

The antidote, some brands are discovering, is to turn the hands of time back not 10 or 20 years, but hundreds if not thousands of years ago. Before mass media was even a thing, storytelling was the primary means of not just sharing information but shaping beliefs. Ever heard of The Bible?

Corporate storytelling is having a moment. The Wall Street Journal reports that LinkedIn job posts mentioning the term “storyteller” doubled last year. And market intelligence firm AlphaSense says the use of terms like "storytelling" and "narrative" in corporate earnings and investor calls have increased 65% since 2020.

But this isn’t new. Twenty years ago, when Internet-driven media like corporate websites and social platforms began to capture the attention of TV viewers and newspaper readers, companies began investing in what came to be known as brand journalism. I know several hardline journalists who made the jump into corporate communications, bringing new depth to the content their companies produced.

Storytelling really is the next evolution of brand journalism: looking at corporate news through a decidedly human angle. So instead of announcing a new manufacturing plant, you feature the people in the community where the plant is expected to create jobs and transform lives. Don’t just announce a prescription drug has been approved by the FDA – talk to the mother whose newborn baby survived during clinical trials.

Good communication should always elicit an emotional reaction. Artificial intelligence is artificial – it can’t reliably craft stories that connect on a personal level, because it doesn’t know what it means to be human.

Our job as communicators is not just to inform people, but to shape their opinions and ultimately their behavior. Storytelling is the latest iteration of this art form, and with more brands looking to separate themselves from the slop of AI, I believe it’s here to stay.

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Truth Advisors LLC provides strategic communications and reputation management counsel to companies facing seismic change. For a free, no-obligation assessment of how we can level up your organization’s strategic communications efforts, contact us at info@startwithtruth.com.