Purposeful Storytelling: the Power of Human Connection
Photo: Nike
An athlete from the University of Oregon, with a condition that affects body movement and muscle coordination, aspires to break the two-hour record in a half marathon, just became Nike’s first professional athlete with cerebral palsy. In a two-and-a-half-minute emotional video, Justin Gallegos, is being filmed by what he thinks is a film crew present to capture his Cross-Country race. However, they are actually there to share much greater news. The company’s management was actually there to tell him that he just became the first-ever professional athlete with cerebral palsy to sign with the global retail giant.
Justin’s life will be changed forever, including other athletes who identify as differently-abled.
Nike’s example of signing Gallegos is a great example of storytelling with a purpose. The act was a direct reflection of the company’s mission statement:
We strive to bring inspiration and innovation to every athlete* in the world -Nike
*if you have a body, you are an athlete.
The company’s mission drives them to do everything possible to expand human potential. Their website states that Nike strives to do this by creating groundbreaking sport innovations, making products more sustainable, and by building a creative and making a positive impact in communities around the world.
In an executive discussion organized by the W2O Group Center for Social Commerce, Jim Olsen, chief communications officer at Steward Health, Olen shares the importance and significance of purposeful storytelling. He states the most important concepts to keep in mind are:
· people don’t buy your products, they buy your purpose;
· courage is contagious;
· if you want to go fast, go alone; but if you want to go far, go together (telling purposeful stories require team work);
· find the story in your storm (the ability to make an opportunity in the midst of chaos);
· and the best kind of connection is the human kind
Olsen shared a campaign that gained a lot of traction following a very tragic story that happened to the creator. A young girl had one wish for her 9th birthday, which was to raise money to donate to a charity to provide clean water to families in developing nations. Her name was Rachel Beckwith and she managed to raise $220, short of her $300 goal. Beckwith aspired to raise more money the following year, but something tragically unfortunate happened. In a 14-vehicle pile-up on Interstate 90 near her home in Bellevue, Washington. Beckwith, along with six other people, were severely injured in the accident. A few days following the tragic event, Beckwith was taken off of life support and died that Saturday.
As news of the crash flooded the news media, Rachel’s wish also began to spread. Days later, Rachel’s online fundraising page had raised more than $130,000 in donations, and later received more than $1.2 million in donations from around the world. The charity stated that all of the public donations went towards funding water projects. An annual report from 2009 showed that the organization provided 2,321 clean-water projects that resulted in helping more than 1 million people in 16 countries which were mostly in Africa and Asia.
Authentic storytelling is purposeful and illustrate raw human emotion as a way to connect with audiences. These two stories are a phenomenal example of this concept. As Jim Olsen provided in closing, “organizations should have a sound understanding of their mission statement, their values, and what stories they want to tell to bring those to life.”