My experience comes from Advertising, PR, Direct response and Branding campaigns, being employed at established communication agency networks in Greece and Europe. I work for many years into Ideas and strategic response campaigns' creation for corporations and brands. But I like to think that my everyday work is best described as Storytelling; finding the appropriate logical and emotional angle to tackle business and communication issues via conceptual stories. Think Storytelling as convincing, well-told stories that people engage with, listen, believe. No matter the media those stories create engagement and perceptions. I know from practice that Storytelling is the first step to conviction and then to action.
My typical day as a Storyteller in communications industry is pretty much like a reporter's: we are both information workers living in a world of deadlines. We have to distinguish the relevant from the routine (or boring), and cut through the complexity of issues, in search of a simple, clear, interesting story.
Lucky for me, my Navigators were some of the most known Strategic and creative storytellers in business management, marketing and communications. By working hard and listening to them thoroughly, I developed all necessary skills to offer strategic guidance and communication Ideas for multimedia campaigns. My constant aim was to help my Clients become distinctive in their markets. Obviously, my Clients (Companies, Trade associations, Institutions, FMCG, and State authorities) had one common brief: which media-neutral Idea will promote them positively; build reputation; attain higher position in stakeholders' perception set; and gain share of attraction? Everyday...
Storytellers are in scarcity today, while companies and brands live in the excess of communication activity. Though intense comms activity, messages survive only for seconds due to the cluttered media, the maturity of markets, and the proliferation of companies from audiences. But tell a story and the message recipient sees stimuli and relevance; it becomes own discovery. Tell a story in various formats and you have continuity and perception of a 'full' experience. Without a story, corporate and brand communication jargon is perceived as the biggest barrier into building relationships with citizens and consumers. So, either you tell a story through a TV 30" ad or by a smart blog post, you invite people to react (dialoging and participation) and you can transform target audience perceptions and belief set. To this situation, I can add great value to my Clients, my colleagues, my work and life.
In doing this job, I loved and connected all the dots, I had faith, passion, and above all the kind of drive that Steve Jobs (Apple and Pixar founder) urges us to pursue at his excellent speech in Stanford graduates.
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