Hey all,

A couple of things from us before we jump into this week’s stories. I wanted to remind you all that Proper Fancy returns next Thursday. Proper Fancy is a Storythings team show-and-tell that is open to everyone. Join us for an hour of talking about things that have tickled our fancy.

We kicked off the new year with some very good news. Storythings is now a Certified B Corporation®! After two years in the application process we were finally certified with a score of 98. We’re excited to be joining a global community of businesses committed to positively impact all people, communities and the planet. It’s confirmation of what we’ve been working hard to achieve — using business as a force for good. Anjali has shared 5 learnings from the process on LinkedIn.

And finally, we’re looking for a full-time podcast producer to join the Storythings team on an initial six-month basis. If you’re passionate about audio and know what good audio storytelling sounds like, we’d love to hear from you.

Now. Anyone fancy some stories? They are particularly good this week. Have a brilliant weekend.

Hugh

Matt Locke: 5 Rules to Succeed in Content Marketing (36-min watch)

Four Principles For Creating Media That Resonates (8-min read)

A Stunningly Beautiful Piece of Data Storytelling (7-min read)

A Tourism Ad That Uses Traditional Storytelling Superbly (2-min watch)

Formats Unpacked: Brand Guidelines (4-min read)

It’s OK if You’re Not Ready (5-min read)

Complex Problems and the Rush to Judgement (8-min read)

A Wonderful Short Video About Dementia and the Power of Football to Unite (2-min watch)

Axios PR Trends (5-min read)

Puppets Mashed Up With Classic Works of Art (2-min read)

How we can help you

Storythings is the content marketing agency of choice for some of the world’s most forward-thinking B2B brands and organisations. If your content isn’t getting the results you need, let us help you understand why. Here are 3 reasons to get in touch. 

1. Audience Research – We help B2B brands understand modern attention patterns and how they can get more engagement with content.2. Content Strategy – We use our bespoke process to develop unique content formats that hold audience attention, build community, and increase brand salience.3. Content Production – We craft beautiful and diverse stories of impact that capture and hold attention using podcasts, videos, editorial, and newsletters. We do other things too. We're very friendly and always enjoy meeting people, so get in touch for a FREE 30 minute consultation. 

Matt Locke: 5 Rules to Succeed in Content Marketing (36-min watch)Our very own Matt Locke chats to Neil Perkin on Google’s Firestarters podcast. Matt shares the new rules of content discovery you need in an era where constantly changing algorithms and search are making it increasingly difficult for brands to connect with audiences using the old methods.

Four Principles For Creating Media That Resonates (8-min read)When it comes to attention, how to get it and then hold it, Ian Edgar is one of my favourite thinkers. He is a master of format development and his videos have racked up billions – that’s right – billions of views. Every time we chat he mentions that one day he will write about his four principles. Well, he’s finally done it and it’s brilliant. Pair this with Matt’s video above and you’ll come away with a hell of a lot of knowledge on how to create media that reaches and resonates with audiences.

A Stunningly Beautiful Piece of Data Storytelling (7-min read)It feels odd to be describing a story about long covid as ‘stunningly beautiful’. Pentagram partner Giorgia Lupi first came down with Covid-19 in March 2020 and is still dealing with daily symptoms today. She shares her journey in a visual essay for The New York Times that uses data visualisation to convey the overwhelming experience of Long Covid. In the piece, Giorgia uses colourful brushstrokes of varying intensity to track her symptoms each day over the past few years. You can read more about the creative on the Pentagram website.

A Tourism Ad That Uses Traditional Storytelling Superbly (2-min watch)I love how this ad combines live action, animation, music and the theme of re-birth to create a story about why you will always return to India's Madhya Pradesh region. Creative, smart and beautiful!

Formats Unpacked: Brand Guidelines (4-min read)Luc Benyon pays homage to a format that no brand should be without: “When a design studio undertakes a rebrand, or a brand refresh, the handover of the guidelines is a pivotal moment. It’s the equivalent of handing over your car keys to someone: even though you know they’re insured and they have a license, you’re still terrified of getting a scratch.”

It’s OK if You’re Not Ready (5-min read)One of my favourite new podcasts from last year is Search Engine. Each episode, P.J. Volt (Reply All) tries to answer every question. No question too big and no question too small. In a recent episode that asks “When do you know it’s time to stop drinking”, PJ spoke to writer A.J. Daulerio about sobriety. I know. There’s a lot of initials going on here. Anyway. A.J. writes the Small Bow newsletter and every year he published this same post which I really liked. Boxing Day this year marked 30 years of sobriety for me. And whilst my troubled years never quite reached Stevie Nicks-like levels I can really relate to the theme of A.J.’s story. A fantastic read!

Complex Problems and the Rush to Judgement (8-min read)Tom Stafford on the problems of wanting quick solutions to complex problems and why you shouldn’t resist ‘the hard way’: “So many collective knowledge problems are complex problems which can’t be solved analytically - you just have to go through all the steps. That means, in terms of knowledge communities, investigating, weighing evidence and argument and counter-argument. Doing it the hard way. It means humility in the face of uncertainty, and prioritising healthy processes for discussion, knowledge transmission and discovery, rather than trying to rule too soon on what’s definitely right or wrong.”

A Wonderful Short Video About Dementia and the Power of Football to Unite (2-min watch)This is excellent from Atletico de Madrid. A little context – Di Stefano is a legendary footballer from the 1950s who played for Atletico’s rivals Real Madrid. (via Video Yes Please)

Axios PR Trends (5-min read)Some good stuff in here on why the most successful firms plan to invest heavily in their creative storytelling efforts in 2024: "We must create a narrative [explaining] why people should pay attention to the brand. This means thinking less like advertising and thinking more like a producer. ... It's not so much about product placement — it's more about connecting audiences to a story." If you need us to help you with that simply reply to this email to schedule a call.

Puppets Mashed Up With Classic Works of Art (2-min read)Love this. The Muppets and Emu make quite a few appearances throughout but it’s worth scrolling through all the pages for some excellent Roland Rat and Frank Sidebottom mash ups (which will mean absolutely nothing to our many US readers).

We hope you've enjoyed this week's newsletter. I'm sure some of your friends would love to read it. Sharing it would be really appreciated. If you've received this from a friend, you can subscribe below and get it direct to your inbox every Friday.

Thanks for reading. We’ll see you all next week.

Hugh, Matt, Anjali and the whole team at Storythings.