What's Your Story?: Storytelling to Move Markets, Audiences, People, and Brands

by Ryan Mathews, Watts Wacker

“As usual these two future-finders have their fi ngers on the pulse of what’s happening--and what we need to know about. In every business, in every organization, the seven most important words these days ‘But wait! A story goes with it!’ You need to read this book to fi nd out why.” —Alan Webber, Co-founder, Fast Company magazine “A great story sparks our imagination, challenges us to think, and resonates with our collective conscience. Ryan Mathews and Watts Wacker’s story about telling stories does exactly this. It is an essential guidebook for capturing and conveying the essence of corporate identities and enriching brands.” —Paul A. Laudicina, Managing Officer and Chairman of the Board, A.T. Kearney Storytelling is the universal human activity.Every society, at every stage of history, has told stories–and listened to them intently, passionately. Stories are how people tell each other who they are, where they came from, how they’re unique, what they believe. Stories capture their memories of the past and their hopes for the future. Stories are one more thing, They are your most powerful, most underutilized tool for competitive advantage.Whether you know it or not, your business is already telling stories. What’s Your Story? will help you take control of those stories and make them work for you. Legendary business thinkers Ryan Mathews and Watts Wacker reveal how to craft an unforgettable story…create the back story that makes it believable…make sure your story cuts through today’s relentless bombardment of consumer messages…and gets heard, remembered, and acted on. Use Storytelling to Gain Powerful Competitive Advantage in Today’s Increasingly Skeptical Marketplace

Genres: Business, Nonfiction

222 pages, Hardcover

First published August 20, 2007

Reviews

[Othón A. León]

A book which now and then sparkles wisdom (less that I thought to be honest). The bottom line is simple: stories have accompanied mankind since the very beginnings (at some point they dare to state that there have been societies which did not make use of the wheel, but none has not had stories as part of their culture), and somehow, both authors explore the ways in which this (storytelling) phenomenon can bring either prosperity or ruin into your business... I think it's a good book, however, if it wasn't for that deep prologue (interesting theory there), I was going to rate it with three stars. There is social sciences at the bottom of their theories, unfortunately, I expected more of them to sustain their hypothesis...

If you are interested in going deeper into this creative way of interpreting success and / or failure (that's why I bought this book; I think the authors were brilliant in the sense that it's not easy to "unvail" new approaches to simple matters such as telling stories...) read it.

[Nick]

The point of this book is that storytelling is essential to brands, businesses, and individuals in the information-overloaded world in which we live today. There's lots of good advice on how to do that effectively, from futurist Watts Wacker and consultant Ryan Mathews. I first met Wacker at a conference in 1999, and he's still got that unusual ability to see what's coming. I could have done with more of the future shock and less of the storytelling, but nonetheless the book is worth a perusal.

[Leader Summaries]

Desde Leader Summaries recomendamos la lectura del libro ¿Cuál es tu historia?, de Ryan Mathews y Watts Wacker.
Las personas interesadas en las siguientes temáticas lo encontrarán práctico y útil: marketing y ventas, gestionar marcas y posicionamiento.
En el siguiente enlace tienes el resumen del libro ¿Cuál es tu historia?, Cómo crear historias corporativas impactantes para potenciar la imagen de marca: ¿Cuál es tu historia?

[Jason]

My December holiday reading while in HKG. This was, funnily enough, not the greatest storytelling I've read as far as books go.

Good examples on real-world marketing campaigns, but some were either obvious or dated. There were gems of knowledge inside, but nothing earth-shattering. I'm almost glad I got this book for free.

Recommended for green marketers, but probably a boring read for seasoned vets.

Note: This was from my 2017 reading list, and the words are from my thoughts back then. Minor grammatical edits may have been applied.

[Tess]

What's interesting about this book isn't all the time it spends showing that companies have well-crafted stories about themselves that they promote, it's the fact that it investigates the common threads between these stories and why they resonate with us as consumers. A good read for anyone who wants to be more conscious about the stories around them, and also about the stories about themselves that they are putting forth.

[Darrell]

A very good marketing book. Also helps if you give presentations.

[Lori Grant]

An optional-read book on marketing for the knowledge worker, manager, executive, or entrepreneur.