Hey all,

We hope you’re all enjoying the official start of Christmas. My thoughts are with parents having to come up with new Elf on the Shelf ideas for the next 24 days. You’re a creative lot so feel free to share yours in the comments.

Friend of Storythings Ian Sanders has revived a project he started in Lockdown. Meet the Storytellers features senior leaders in global organisations talking about how they use stories internally and externally. Give them a watch. And if you have a project of your own that you think our readers would be interested in get in touch.

Right! The weekend has officially landed. Feel free to get Christmassy and enjoy the links.

Hugh

5 Rules on How to Succeed in the Next Era of Content Discovery (Multiple reads)

Olivia Coleman Doing Evil (1 min watch)

The Openness of Talking to Strangers (7 min read)

“Now you know it, now forget it” (3 min read)

The Flight to Niche - Narrowing Focus Isn’t Narrowing Ambition (6 min read)

This Once Generic Brand Has Finally Found Its Voice (6 min read)

Problem + Metaphor = Presentation (2 min read)

Dove: Code My Crown (Resource)

2023 Most Contagious Report (Report)

When Kiefer Sutherland Met Shane McGowan (2 min watch)

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. 

5 Rules on How to Succeed in the Next Era of Content DiscoveryIt’s been a busy week of us cranking out newsletters at Storythings. On Monday we began publishing our 5 Rules on How to Succeed in the Next Era of Content Discovery. The reaction from readers has been fantastic. Thanks to everyone who commented on how useful these have been. So, if you haven’t subscribed to Attention Matters you can read them all here: Rule 1, Rule 2, Rule 3, Rule 4 and Rule 5. (Multiple reads)

Olivia Coleman Doing EvilI absolutely love this video for a bunch of reasons. Olivia Coleman. Olivia Coleman doing evil. Olivia Coleman’s character being called Oblivia Coalmine. Of course, the creative is wonderful. But it’s a brilliant film because it really knows its audience, really knows the behaviour it wants that audience to change, and really knows how to get media folk like us who are followed by that specific audience to amplify their message. That might seem obvious but I see a lot of well intentioned videos produced without that creative strategic thinking showing on screen. (1 min watch)

The Openness of Talking to StrangersWe’re big fans of Where Are You Going, the podcast in which Catherine Carr goes to different locations and asks one simple question: “Where are you going?” Here she talks about the experience of talking to strangers and how different IRL conversations are to online ones: "In the time since I started asking strangers where they are going, the world has changed, politics has become more divisive and spaces to talk openly feel rarer. A lot of interactions take place online and – as we all know – can become angry pretty quickly. So I’m always expecting the people I approach to reflect that – and to be hostile to the idea of talking to a stranger about things that really matter to them. But instead, I keep finding the opposite. People are as open as ever and – post pandemic – even more keen for connection.” (7 min read)

“Now you know it, now forget it”I didn’t know this was a common phrase used by choreographers before reading this piece on the role of a strategist in advertising: “Because if you try and move with your head stuffed full of all that data your body won’t dance. And fuck me we need to dance. Let all this go from your head to your body and brief from the heart.”  (3 min read)

The Flight to Niche - Narrowing Focus Isn’t Narrowing AmbitionMatt shared this piece from last year in one of his Attention Matters pieces this week. It covers a lot of things we focus on at Storythings; the value of being niche, the power of newsletters and the opportunity to lead in your sector. I particularly liked this: “A niche focus takes a certain humility. It means accepting you cannot be all things to all people, and that most people will never know or care about what you’re doing.” (6 min read)

This Once Generic Brand Has Finally Found Its VoiceAs you’ll know, we’re big fans of the tone of voice newsletter Tone Knob. This month they take a look at how a pretty damned generic brand found its tone of voice (in isle 7 just next to the frozen peas). It turns out it was right under their noses all along. (6 min read)

Problem + Metaphor = PresentationRussell Davies, who quite literally did write the book on giving presentations, takes inspiration from a great quote about Taxi Driver’s Travis Bickle. (2 min read)

Dove: Code My CrownDove and the Open Source Afro Hair Library have launched 'Code my Crown' - a guide for coders and developers to the creation and celebration of Black hair textures and protective styles in video games. (1 min read)

2023 Most Contagious ReportContagious today released their Most Contagious annual report. It’s full of case studies, insight and inspiration, most of which usually sits behind their paywall. If you work in content creation or advertising then you really should download it and keep it somewhere safe. Like all these things, it’s long and tempting to leave it in your downloads folder until you have more time. My recommendation is to put a note in your diary to read it on your first day back in the new year. You know that’s when you will have the mindset of someone planning to knock the year ahead right out of the park and to do so you’ll need reports like this to help. (Report)

When Kiefer Sutherland Met Shane McGowanWhen a “man walks into a bar” story includes Kiefer Sutherland as ‘the man’, Sinead O’Conner drinking milk, Shane McGowan taking offence, and Van Morrison and Ronnie Wood playing bit parts, then you know it’s worth hearing. (2 min watch)

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.