Gunther Sonnenfeld on Curation, Community and Coca-Cola’s Open Happiness Project | on Sparksheet - Post #2 in a series

Excerpt:

2011/04/28 | By Gunther Sonnenfeld

"In my last post, I focused on how storytelling impacts business by enlisting people as participants in stories they care about so they buy the products required to fullfill a human need.

But questions remain as to how brands can build narratives that tap into pre-existing stories and communities.

For Coca-Cola, this has become quite an exploration. While seizing market share is an ongoing battle with rival brand Pepsi, tapping into consumer advocacy and niche communities has become an equally important brand goal – a goal that was achieved almost by accident, with results that not only boosted sales but presented a host of new media opportunities.

Branding happiness

In 2007, Coca-Cola ran a series of commercials for a campaign called Open Happiness; the spots were beautifully conceived, animated brushstrokes of colour and imagination, depicting a storyworld centred around the idea that happiness is what we create for ourselves in our everyday lives.

They featured Coke as more than a product or brand, but as a support base for individual explorations around the meaning of happiness. There was no harsh product placement or forced messaging. The commercials tested remarkably well.

Coke knew that there was a bigger narrative to explore here, so it decided to expand the commercials into different narrative pieces leveraging established music and artist communities. What became the Happiness Factory created a groundswell of interest around the “metastory” of happiness that culminated in a variety of media types that were adopted, shaped and shared as new stories. This involved everything from mobile applications, to games, blogs and video extensions.

Eventually those pieces blew out even further. Open Happiness kickstarted a world tour of Coke bloggers and laid the foundation for platforms like Coca-Cola Conversations, in which brand stewards curate interesting and fun social artifacts such as Eric Clapton signature guitars, secret soda formulas, subway murals, circus caravans, old inventory lists and a host of cool memorabilia that have been generated or supported by the brand over the years.

As for the measurable success of the Open Happiness campaign to date, we know this:

- There are more than 25 million likes on Coca-Cola’s Facebook page, which is centered around Open Happiness (by contrast, Pepsi has less than 4 million likes).
- Coca-Cola’s worldwide sales have spiked since Open Happiness began.
- Open Happiness has become the new global platform for all integrated marketing for the brand.
- Earlier this year, Coke was awarded the “Best in Show” Addy award for the campaign...."

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http://sparksheet.com/curation-community-and-coca-cola’s-open-happiness-project/

Gunther Sonnenfeld on The Business of Storytelling | on Sparksheet - #1 in a series

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Excerpt:

2011/03/02 | By Gunther Sonnenfeld |

"We’ve entered a new Renaissance period in business that has moved us past selling products and services for the sole benefit of the companies selling them.

With global economic parity looming, companies can no longer rely on themselves for the answers. They must co-create new value systems with their customers and other businesses not only to survive, but to grow. And stories – or the act of curating them – can provide amazing new opportunities for growth.

There are a host of companies that have built strong values and a strong “metastory” around their businesses, from more traditional brands like 3M, to the modern darlings of the technology boom, like TOMS or Zappos. Across this spectrum is a way of thinking that takes on organizational inefficiences and creates layers of transparency and authenticity that permeate all communications.

At the same time, more and more companies are taking on the complex problems of the world – from socio-economics, to trade, to education and government. The ability to directly address problems and provide solutions to complexity is the bedrock of storytelling in the 21st century...."

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http://sparksheet.com/the-business-of-storytelling/

Nice Post from Gunther Sonnenfeld on The Business of Brand Storymaking | on Sparksheet

Excerpt:

2011/05/26 | By Gunther Sonnenfeld |

In his latest column on “The Business of Storytelling,” corporate technologist Gunther Sonnenfeld explains how brands like Audi, Kraft and Red Bull are using stories to curate meaningful experiences for people.

Storymaking is a word I’ve made up to describe the discipline of good curation. Brands and marketers have become curators of stories, most often so that they can provide people – their customers – with relevant content, or empower them to curate content and connect to other like-minded people.

If communities are connected through content, then they are also encouraged to build upon those conversations by sharing stories of their own.

Good storymaking consists of four core tenets – the “4 Es”:

Entertainment – how does the story make you feel about yourself, your culture or your environment?

Engagement – how does the story foster participation with itself and with other people?

Enlightenment – what do participants learn (and perhaps teach others) in the process?

Experience – how do participatory moments or events culminate in stories that live alongside or beyond the media channels they are delivered in?..."

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http://sparksheet.com/the-business-of-brand-storymaking/