Category Archives: branding with stories

Skutnik Stories: Everyman Stories at the State of the Union

Leave a reply

SkutnikBy Rivka Willick

When does a story turn into propaganda? I have no doubt that we will get a chance to ponder that question once again during the next State of the Union Address when one or more Skutniks will be woven into the annual speech.

What’s a Skutnik?  I’m glad you asked. A Skutnik is a story about a real person who has done something exceptional or noteworthy and is woven into the US President’s State of the Union.

Ronald Reagan began the tradition in 1982 when he invited  Lenny Skutnik as a personal guest. Just two weeks before, Jan 13, 1982, this everyman witnessed a plane crash into the Washington D.C.’s 14th Street Bridge. He saw a woman lose her grip on a rescue line and fall into the water. Lenny dove into the river and saved her.  Reagan, “The Great Communicator”, used Skutnik as an example of “the spirit of American heroism at it’s finest.” The camera found Lenny seated next to Nancy Reagan, which surprised him.  Americans cheered, after all who doesn’t love a hero?

Two years later Reagan singled out another hero in his 1985 State of the Union, Sergeant Stephen Trujillo who showed heroism during the U.S military action in Grenada. From that point on this storytelling technique became a staple in all the State of the Unions, regardless of political affiliation.

In 1986 13-year-old Trevor Ferell’s efforts to deliver food and blankets to the homeless in Philadelphia became a story about American generosity.

President Bill Clinton made eighth grader Kristin Tanner a symbol of American academic superiority when she brought in high scores in the Third International Math and Science Study.

Geroge W Bush told Hermis Moutardier’s story in 2002. He was one of two flight attendants who stopped shoe bomber Richard Reid from detonating an explosive on a Paris to Miami flight. Houston Rocket’s center, Dikembe Mutombo joined the Skutnik club in 2007 when Bush used his story about raising $29 million to build a hospital in Africa in his State of the Union address.

Barack Obama singled out Mr. and Mrs. Pendleton, parents of Hadiya Pendleton who was gunned down in Chicago just days after singing at his Inauguration.

Last year Trump took the “everyman story” to a new level. He did 16 Skutniks…(Mr. President, maybe less is more.)

So now that you know what a Skutnik is and how it is used, are you ready to tackle the question? Is there a place for these heart tugging personal ‘real people stories’ in the State of the Union?  Are they used unfairly to draw people to one side or are they a manipulative tool ? Do they illustrate ‘American Exceptionalism’ or use individuals accomplishments to promote  a specific political agenda?  Is this storytelling technique used in other countries during policy speeches or is it just an American Institution?

When does inspiration in a story stop and propaganda begin?

Let me know what you think.

 

Rivka works as a storycoach online, in person, and in workshops.  She’s also a storyteller and writer. Contact her at Rivka@simplyextraordinarytales.com

 

Tell Your Story for Crowd Funding Success

Leave a reply

By Rivka Willick

It’s hard to believe that Crowd Funding has only been around for a little over five years.  Kickstarter, the superstar of crowd funding sites launched on April 28, 2009 and set off the internet trend of raising money through online campaigns.  The first crowd-sourcers focused on innovations and artistic projects. Some projects are modest, like a pre-school teacher seeking funds for art materials for Jackson Pollack-like canvases. Others are large and ambitious such as funding for a film or complex video game. Other platforms soon followed offering charities, individuals in need, entrepreneurs, inventors, and just about anybody with a project a place to pitch their need or idea.

Here’s how crowd funding works.  A person posts a project and asks the public for financial support. Some sites, like Kickstarter, require the poster to meet their stated goal, if they don’t raise enough money, they don’t get any.  Other sites like Indiegogo and Rockethub allows you to keep the money you raise (minus their fees) even if you don’t reach your goal.

Sounds great…and it is for some, but many people set up projects and raise little if any money. There are some wildly successful campaigns; The Veronica Mars Movie Project raised $5,702,152 and Star Citizen Video Game raised $68,549,471 on Kickstarter and Ubuntu Edge a “high concept” smartphone raised $12,814,196 on Indiegogo.  Unfortunately most crowdfunding campaigns fail.

Robert Strohmeyer reported in PC World Sept 26, 2013 that only 44 percent of Kickstarter projects and 34 percent of Indiegogo projects meet their goals. Those are sobering statistics, but I haven’t found any stats that examine the success rates of projects that do the ground work and launch with proper preparation and those that don’t.  If you do the ground WORK, and I really do mean work, your chances for success will greatly improve.

Promote your crowdfunding project everywhere you network and speak.

Promote your crowdfunding project everywhere you network and speak.

Improve your chances for Crowd Funding Success.

  1. Research and choose the platform that fits your project. There are dozens of crowdsourcing sites and the biggest is often not the best. Some crowdsources (like Kickstarter) will only give the funds if you meet your goal.  That makes sense if you can’t do the project without the set amount AND you have no other means of getting the balance. Other sites will release the funds raised even if you don’t reach your goal, but they will often take a higher percentage.

Each platform attracts different groups of backers.  If you have an innovative business project you’ll probably want to pass on Kickstarter and Indiegogo because neither have a category for business innovation or ideas.  Rocket Hub does.  There are platforms that appeal to specific groups or causes like Jewcer (Jewish Projects), help individuals and organizations raise money for a cause like FundRazr, and match projects to investors (not supporters) like Onevest.

  1. Tell a Compelling Story – Most projects post a short video and have a brief write up, so you need to connect with possible supporters in less than 3 minutes. As a storycoach I can help you find and form your story and write it up as video script.  Remember, just because you think your product or idea is great doesn’t mean anybody else does. You’ve been developing and dreaming about it for a long time, others haven’t gone through that process.  You must share your enthusiasm and concept in a compelling way—Story is the most powerful and effective means of communicating and connecting on both an intellectual and emotional level.

Your video story can be told with images and music, animation, or verbally.  I’ll be happy to work with you to find a format that will fit your project.

  1. Create Your Own Crowd before the Project Launches – Update your email list and contact friends, family, and fans. Get active on social media and let people know.  Blog about it, pass out flyers at networking events, tack a flyer about it on the company cork board, talk about it when you do presentations, mention it at parties, and talk about the project on your website.  THIS IS ESSENTIAL.  You won’t attract strangers if your friends and fans don’t care.  Early and continual funding keeps projects high up on many platforms.  It also draws attention.  After all, it’s only human nature to be curious in success.
  1. Create an Exciting List of Donor Gift Categories – We all like stuff. It’s fun to be part of art, innovation, or exciting ideas, but it’s even more fun when you get something out of it.  It’s a good idea to set up low, medium, and high price gift categories.  The perks vary each project , try to tie them to your story.  If you are offering products, make sure you have the ability of deliver them In a timely way.  For example, if you’re raising money for a new fashion line and you are offering items from the line as perks, make sure you’ll have the manufacturing capacity and capital to deliver each item in the time frame you post.
  1. Be willing to commit real time and some money to make the campaign a success.

If you’d like to find your story and create a compelling video script for your next crowd sourcing campaign, drop me an email and ask about my crowd sourcing package.  Rivka@simplyextraordinarytales.com

Infusing Story onto Products

Leave a reply

STORY is the big new word in marketing & advertising. Stories are sticky-memorable-and people want to hear them. Stories are very old but it sounds like modern marketing gurus have just discovered the concept. Tell the story of your product and you’ll be a multi-millionaire overnight. It sounds simple, and it is…but first you have to understand how stories work and honor their structure. That’s sometimes tricky.
Let’s look at two companies that tried to infuse story into their message, one was more successful than the other.
cocacola

Example #1 – Coke-a-Cola and Santa Clause
Just about everyone in the Western Hemisphere has seen the picture of Jolly Old St. Nick with his snowy white beard and bright red suit holding a bottle of Coke. The image of the soda pop drinking Santa first appeared in 1931, long after Clement Clarke Moore’s famous poem “The Night Before Christmas” in 1823. Images of the red clad gift giver were seen on magazines and books before 1931, but using Santa as product placement was new. Instead of eating a cookie set out by children, he took a moment to refresh. It all fit into the narrative and the branding sizzled. The soda pop just expanded the image of Chris Kringle and created a fresh chapter to a delightful story. Great illustrations and a sense of humor made this branding story a best seller for decades.

My beautiful picture

Example #2 – INOX Watch and the NYFD

August 2014 Vitorinox, a major fashion brand that originally created the Swiss Army Knife, rolled out a new watch. They joined forces with the New York Fire Department and created a flashy event at SIR Stage 37 on West 37th St in Manhattan. They’re hoping to create a branding story using images of the most famous fire fighters in the world to show off the durability of their watch. We heard bag piping firemen and saw dramatic demonstrations of the watch’s durability. The INOX watch kept ticking after a fire engine rolled over it and a washing machine washed it. The durable watch was boiled in a tea pot and froze in a mountain of ice. Lots of wow, but where’s the story?

Stories work because they create connections and give us a sense completion, that’s why they’re memorable. I walked around the party and asked how the FDNY and INOX are connected but got no real answer. “They thought it was a good idea.” “The FDNY wanted to try something new.” Yep that’s what I was told, but that doesn’t make a story. I asked if the firemen were going to be given these durable watches and the Vitorinox spokeswoman said maybe. Images alone are not enough. Don’t get me wrong. I love the image of the watch in the teapot, but it’s just an image. The marketers might be hoping that the watch buying public will create their own story from the images. Sometimes that works but it feels like they just missed creating a branding story that will last for generations.

Santa will always enjoy a Coke during his midnight ride because a complete story with a beginning, middle, and end was set up before the first 1931 image and is remembered every time we see it. The jury is still out about the firefighter’s timepiece.