STORYTELLING WORKSHOP

Why We’re Here Ensure a cohesive presentation of the Penn State brand Empower each campus and unit to operate creatively and flexibly within the brand framework Produce a consistent net perception of the Penn State brand 2

Goals for Today Gain a better understanding of: The Penn State brand positioning and strategy How to use storytelling to bring the brand to life How to leverage different types of content to tell these stories The importance of a social strategy to support storytelling efforts 3

BRAND STRATEGY REVIEW 4

Target Mindset WELL ROUNDED Students, faculty, administrators, staff and any in the Penn State community who combine personal ambition and perseverance with passion for a larger purpose and a commitment to service. They are focused on learning and achievement, and they are hard-working builders: of careers, families, communities and institutions. As a group, they are inspired by goals that bridge the divide between individual achievement and social benefit, and are strongly motivated by a sense of gratitude and a desire to give back. OPTIMISTIC CAN DO HONESTY/IN TEGRITY ALTRUISTIC HARD WORKING HUMBLE PASSIONATE GENUINE COLLABORATIVE 5

6 Penn Staters are not only high academic achievers, they’re doers— nurtured by a culture that encourages setting lofty goals and investing the effort to achieve them. They are molded in an environment that values success, teamwork, and service to others, and are intent upon living inspired, purposeful lives. Universities talk about producing leaders, but ask employers where they go to find individuals who inspire others, know the value of hard work, and lead by example. They go to Penn State. PENN STATE POSITIONING: “INSPIRED DOERS” 32

Supporting Messages Penn State is committed to the success of each student: Providing support, leadership opportunities, mentorship, and jobs to achieve their dreams and goals. Penn State is highly ranked across a wide range of academic disciplines and is recognized as one of the world’s elite universities. Penn State makes important contributions to society through education, research, and stimulating economic development. Penn State is known for having a strong feeling of lifelong family, community, and unity. 7

Leadership Personality EXCELLENCEINNOVATIONPASSIONCOLLABORATION 8

TELLING THE PENN STATE STORY 9

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Guardian – Three Little Pigs 11

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OUR BIAS Knowledge Reliable Solid Analytic Data-driven Storytelling Nebulous Ephemeral Subjective Indirect GoodBad Wrong! 13

“THE BEST STORIES LEAD FROM THE HEART, NOT THE MIND.” - Stacey Snider, President, DreamWorks Studios 14

The Power of Words 15

BUILDING A HIGH-IMPACT STORY 16

UNDERLYING FRAMEWORK: THE PLOT Elements Of A Compelling Story Slow and Steady Wins the ace VillainVictimHeroMoral Conflict Controversy Crisis Change The Characters BUILDING A HIGH-IMPACT STORY, CREATING THE ”NARRATIVE” 17

What is the Intended ‘Net Impact?’ Grounded in the mindset of the target audience At the intersection of emotional and rational Features to Benefits to End-Benefits RATI NAL EMOTI NAL Circle of Comfort 1. Environment 2. Need 3. Solution 18

Net Impact Who is the intended audience? What do they want? Need? What do you want them to do? What is the headline you want to see? How do you achieve the net impact in a 140-character, Twitter world?

Google Chrome – Dear Sophie 20

It Begins With A Blank Canvas BUILDING A HIGH-IMPACT STORY, CREATING THE ”NARRATIVE” 21

BUILDING A HIGH-IMPACT STORY, CREATING THE ”NARRATIVE” 22

But Color and Texture are Powerful BUILDING A HIGH-IMPACT STORY, CREATING THE ”NARRATIVE” 23

Others Are Also Painting On Our Canvas BUILDING A HIGH-IMPACT STORY, CREATING THE ”NARRATIVE” 24

CRS: Crisis Relief Singapore 25

Dove: Real Beauty Sketches 26

New York Times – “One Race” 27 meter-dash-one-race-every-medalist-ever.html?_r=0

JHU – “Thank You” 28

FORMULATING CORE MESSAGES 29

Focusing On End-Benefits Goal is to move from Features to Benefits to End-Benefits. As you move out this chain, you get closer and closer to the human dimension and the essence of an effective story. FeaturesBenefits End- Benefits FORMULATING A CORE MESSAGE 30

Duracell – Trust Your Power 31

Framework For Compelling Messages The NEED Message Empathy The challenge or problem created by the environment. The SOLUTION Message Expertise How what Penn State is saying or doing will help address or solve the problem. The ENVIRONMENT Message Credibility High-level trends that position you as an authoritative source and make your story relevant to the audience. 32

Skype – Born Friends 33

IBM Smarter Planet 34

Expedia 35

J&J: Pediatric Nurses 36

EFFECTIVE CONTENT STRATEGY 37

The Need for Content 80% of business decision makers prefer to get company information in a series of articles versus an advertisement. 1 60% of consumers feel more positive about a company after reading custom content on its site. 2 90% of consumers find custom content useful, and 78% believe that organizations providing custom content are interested in building good relationships with them. 3 More than 9 in 10 CMOs think that custom content has a positive effect on audience attitudes, strengthening the bond with consumers. 4 60% are more likely to be on the lookout for products when looking at content marketing. 5 38

New Approaches to Content GE’s ecomagination Coca-Cola JourneyIBM Forward View ObjectiveCredible WritersVisualHighly Social 39

Effective Content Strategy A systematic approach to identifying, creating and syndicating content to tell a brand’s story. 40

Content Plan 50/30/20 Ink / Video / Infographics 70/30 New Points of View / Joining Conversations 80/20 Evergreen / News 41

Content Principles 1.Length 2.Visual 3.Connective 4.Readability 5.Tone 6.Credibility 7.Empathy 8.Episodes 9.Unique 10.Interactivity 42

Content Hub Easy to navigate Highly and easily shareable Responsively designed Highly visual Turn comments on. Use clear guidelines to moderate, but do not censor. 43

SEO and Syndication Are Critical Search Engine Optimization Improving the search rank of content so that new readers discover content when conducting online searches Search Engine Optimization Improving the search rank of content so that new readers discover content when conducting online searches Content Syndication Sharing and distributing content so that new readers discover content through their social media networks and favorite sites Content Syndication Sharing and distributing content so that new readers discover content through their social media networks and favorite sites 44

Content Syndication 45

Continuous Performance Management 46

CREATIVE EXERCISE 47

Creative Exercise Content Topics: New student recruitment - Groups 1 & 6 End of the capital campaign – Groups 2 & 7 Commonwealth Campus (Altoona) – Groups 3 & 8 World Campus – Groups 4 & 9 Research (sustainability) – Groups 5 & 10 Considerations What is the challenge? Who is your target audience? What do they look like? (be descriptive) What do we want them to think/feel/believe/do? What is the story? How does it relate to the brand strategy? What are the core messages of the story? What types of content would you use? Where would that content live? How would you measure success? 48

Articles & Resources sites.psu.edu/brandupdate/ 49

STORYTELLING WORKSHOP