Author: Nailia Tasseel

Illustration has always been close to my heart, having been an avid Beano and Dandy collector as a small boy.  Its ability to share and communicate stories is, I suppose, what draws me in (if you can excuse the pun).

So, I was pleased to read a great article by Anna Richardson called ‘picture perfect’ in today’s Design Week newsletter which featured an array of beautiful packaging projects from such studios as Elmwood and Pearlfisher.

The article was a real testament to the value an illustrator, or illustrators in some cases, can bring to a project. Torben Dunn, group design director at Elmwood explains:

‘We have people who can draw fantastically well, but there are times when you know that if you gave the project to an illustrator they could add something extra. It’s important not to accept second best and get the client to invest in someone who can turn it up another 10 per cent. There’s always some magic an illustrator can bring.’

Illustration breathes personality into a project; introducing a viscerally engaging element. I personally champion the notion of words and pictures being as one, but they really connect on two distinct levels – rationally and emotionally.

We call this the ‘visual connection’ and illustration, more so at times than photography, is a much welcomed and fresh perspective within a corporate environment.

I’ve just received a really nice set of postcards from Two Sides Paper featuring six illustrations by Holly Sims.

The cards include the strapline ‘print and paper have a great environmental story to tell’ and have a short and punchy story on the back which has been illustrated on the front.

It’s a really engaging way to communicate the incredibly important topic of renewable and recyclable paper sources. And, of course, a rather good advert for their product!

I get a lot of mailers in the post but this one feels like a little more consideration has been put in to crafting it and ensuring that it’s not just another piece of marketing bumpf. And, the beautiful illustrations make it just too hard to throw in the (recycling) bin!

Apparently London is becoming a breeding ground for innovative new words and phrases.  In fact, it’s becoming a new world leader in the production of slang. That’s according to linguists, says the BBC.

Ride on public transport or get stuck behind slow walking teenagers on their way to school and you’ll hear them using words like ‘innit’, ‘bruv’, ’sik’ and ‘you get me?’  Whether you ‘get me’ and approve of these new breakthroughs is a matter of personal opinion but, like them or loathe them, slang is here to stay – well, at least until the next set of terms comes along.

This article got me thinking – has slang always been with us? What purpose does it serve? Maybe it came about simply to alienate the generations older than those using it? Is it a language, a dialect, or something in between?

One thing’s for certain – slang is all around us and it’s popular with the generation who are going to be running our businesses of the future.

So you better get down wiv the kids if you’re gonna stand a chance of being an effective communicator for your business in the future…Knowhatamean?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/8388545.stm

A wonderful piece of storytelling

It was a complete coincidence, but I started to read Animal’s People just a few days before I heard on the news that this week is the 25th anniversary of the Union Carbide chemical factory disaster in Bhopal, India.

Whether or not the book is based on this specific incident, the parallels are striking. A devastating escape of poison gas. Many thousands killed within hours. Thousands more left damaged for life. Contaminated water supplies still blighting lives to this day. Brave people fighting for health, proper compensation and justice.

Written in the first person by Animal, a nineteen year old boy born on the night of the tragedy and instantly crippled, it’s a wonderful piece of storytelling. Fierce, unsentimental, uncompromising … but full of human warmth and spirit despite his own attempts to deny it. You’ll hate what happened. You’ll love Animal.

I was amused to read an article in The Tmes today (3 December)  relating to a slating Facebook posting by the daughter of ousted General Motors Chief Executive Fritz Henderson, giving the company’s management a piece of her mind about the enforced exit of her father from the organisation.

As the article points out, many companies now reach out to their employees and customers through the social networking sites of Twitter, My Space, Facebook and so on.  Quite rightly, they recognise that these media are where people congregate to discuss and debate the issues of the day – personal and otherwise – not to mention feedback about their products and services.  The rapid, viral nature of the spread of news and commentary can be extremely beneficial for them as their brand is magnified and reinforced across cyberspace.

Yet as with all things, there is a yin and a yang.  The other side of the coin is that negative comments, while authentic, can of course be damaging.  General Motors may have whipped off the offending posting as quick as you like, but not before the damage was done and the news spread like wildfire.  Brave is the company who stands its ground and lets negativity flow forth in a natural way, but quite sensible too unless it wants a revolt.

The truth is that with the advent of social media, so ebbs away the control mechanisms of the ‘old-fashioned’ media.  It’s a whole new world out there in the world of Corporate.  Communications executives should be highlighting rather different personal qualities these days on their CV’s … bravery, tenacity and courage, for when the CEO knocks on the door asking what has happened to the brand reputation overnight.

Welcome to our new website!  Please have a browse, watch the film with the volume turned right up, post a comment to let us know what you think of it or just quietly ponder!

I hope that what will shine through is the simplicity, clarity, storytelling style of content and forward-thinking design which is so important to us at The Storytellers.  We’re particularly pleased with our film which we hope reflects the creativity and superb quality that comes out of our creative team, Storyfactory (you can read more about Storyfactory under ‘What We Do’).

I can’t post this blog without a massive thank-you to some specific individuals in the team who have contributed to the design and build of the website and of course the film, which wouldn’t have happened without hours of storyboarding, weekend filming (fuelled by many bacon rolls) during the cold, dark early hours of the morning, huge flexibility and professionalism from the cast and crew and the passion and commitment that characterises everyone we work with.  Drumroll please…..

Rodney Mylius – consultant Creative Director

Cai and Kyn Taylor (Cai and Kyn) – graphic design

Martin Hill and Andy Pearson (Binamic) – Web construction

The Film:

Jonathan Bentley – Director (plus Post Production and visual effects)

Rachel Porter – Producer

Ian Williams – DOP

Shaun Atherton – DIT/Focus puller

Gemma Bradley – Production Assistant

Rachel Chambers – Art Director

Ian Rice – Gaffer

Simon Atherton – Spark

Chris Hughes – Grip

Stamos Triantafyllos – Jimmy Jib Operator

Phil Shepard – Music

Actors: Karl Douglas (President), Atina Kapila (Sceptical Woman), our own Chris Spencer (Secret Service Agent), Sammie Bentley (’80’s daughter), David Bentley (’80’s Dad), Ken Bentley, Jonathan Bentley and Marck Jagucki (NASA technicians), Rachel Porter, Ken Bentley, Gemma Bradley, Rachel Chambers, Hanna Jagucki, Sue Brandom, Ian Porter and Rosemary Porter (principal extras).

I’ve been getting hot around the collar about the issue of board alignment this week, sparked in part by a masterclass with Intuitive Brands where the subject came up in the discussion.

One of the most valued elements of our programme is the process which we take a client’s board or executive team through as they co-create their Story, and aligning everyone behind it so that they are speaking with one voice.  One Story, one voice, so that the senior leaders of the business are seen to be a united, cohesive force – the ultimate champions of the Story.

It is rare  to come across a board which is aligned from the get-go.  Yet unless the board is truly aligned, you cannot hope to align the rest of the organisation behind your strategic journey.  Many of our clients say early on in our discussions that they do have an aligned board or executive team, that it’s a given, that they just need to focus on the content of the Story.  But with the pace of change dominating the business agenda it is unrealistic to expect every member of an executive team to be on the same page.  Of course they have different agendas depending on the function which they represent, but sometimes we walk into the boardroom with high expectations of a relatively smooth process and find- usually during the one-to-one interviews we conduct, that there are deep and significant gaps in consensus, especially where the personal agenda is on a different track to that of the business.  The story isn’t about wordsmithing.  It’s about an aligned, collective perspective.

The overwhelming positive outcome of our alignment sessions is that through a rigorous process, often after several iterations of the draft Story together with sensitive and expert facilitation and a deep understanding of the client’s business issues, we achieve true alignment and the client has positively enjoyed the dynamic, honest and open discussion which perhaps they couldn’t have behind closed doors (never under-estimate the value of a third-party facilitator in such matters – it’s surprisingly difficult to do this kind of work from an internal perspective).  They leave with a sense of unity, a desire to get their story out to the troops, a renewed sense of coalition and trust in each other rather than a bunch of folk who give the CEO the corporate nod but then turn in the opposite direction.  The result?  A united leadership team, ready to face the organisation with a clear sense of direction and purpose, galvanised to take their employees on the journey, hands held.

Thanks to Helen Love at Intuitive Brands for this little gem.  As I pursue my quest to de-jargonise business communications, please feel free to have a go…

“A research team proceeded towards the apex of a natural geological protuberance, the purpose of their expedition being the procurement of a sample of fluid hydride of oxygen in a large vessel, the exact size of which was unspecified.  One member of the team precipitately descended sustaining severe fractural damage to the upper cranial portion of his anatomical structure.  Subsequently, the second member of the team performed a self-rotational translation oriented in the direction taken by the first team member.”

Now, answer the following questions:

How many people in the team?

What were their names?

I enjoyed a recent presentation by Steve Martin, CEO of the steel manufacturing Clugstone Group.  He is one of the few, gutsy CEO’s prepared to be filmed ‘going undercover’ by Channel 4, in order to mix and work with employees on the front line of his steel construction company.

This kind of publicity is risky, very risky.  It takes a brave CEO to want to expose in such a public way the faults in his organisation and quite possibly in his leadership style, especially in an industry where health and safety rules and a non-conforming company can be destroyed.  Most CEO’s don’t want to appear vulnerable or lacking in knowledge.   But Steve Martin wanted to understand what employees have to go through themselves, even if it meant taking him completely out of his comfort zone from a cosy office to the blistering heat of a steel furnace or working through the night, so that he could address the weak areas and make decisions based on reality.

One of the first things that became clear through his talk was that people talked much more openly with those who weren’t dressed in suits and ties (even if they were a TV crew).  I must admire the man – they really did treat him as a true employee – not telling him where, how or when he was going each cold, dark morning which is indeed what the front line workers often have to put up with themselves.  Steve told a number of great stories to illustrate the dedication that people have on the job, such as Dick Sutton, who hadn’t had a day off sick in 30 years and had personally trained all of his team. Or Les, who cancelled his weekend plans without a bat of the eyelid in order to work through – and as a freelance contractor he wasn’t even employed by the company.

The upshot of Steve’s time out was a great deal of learning, as summarised below:

BE SEEN:  If you don’t go out and talk to the troops, the grapevine will react in a far worse way

COMMUNICATE more in a recession than you’d normally do, to give reassurance, fact and to avoid uncertainty and rumour.

INFORM WIDELY:  Get a mass of opinion and ideas.  Explain things to everybody properly.

SUITS AND TIES create barriers, especially in blue-collar environments.

REFRESH YOUR COMMUNICATIONS:  Change the way you do things to be seen and heard.  Involve people from every level in forums to discuss issues and raise action points and keep changing who these representatives are.  Explain what and why things are changing. One size does not fit all.

ASK AND CONSULT:  Act on your employee surveys and demonstrate that you have listened.

SKIP LEVEL MEETINGS:  Have meetings with your boss’s boss, to give people an opportunity to raise issues which may be held back from certain layers of management.

FIND THE RIGHT TIME to send out information and talk to people. Don’t send a letter explaining why a bonus isn’t forthcoming a week after they get their payslips!  Improving efficiency doesn’t always have the desired impact.

INVEST IN TRAINING front-line supervisors and managers.

Good for you, Steve.  I am sure your workforce has a far greater respect for you as a result of this TV programme.  This just goes to show the importance of visibility of senior leaders, and the need to hear what employees are saying from the bottom up.  Without this kind of insight every senior leadership team must be at a real disadvantage.  Come on you CEO’s, let’s see you out there!