I love New York. Even if you've never been there, you likely do too. With thousands reportedly now leaving the city in droves, can storytelling help keep it alive? Last week I stumbled down nostalgia lane watching a short film Vogue published in mid-September titled I Love New York: Bella Hadid, Misty Copeland & Whoopi Goldberg Celebrate the City. I love New York. I've visited many times: when I was living and working in the US as a news editor, and many more on junkets and as an international business traveller. Vogue’s film is a beautifully shot rush of escapist feelings capturing the joy of New York, narrated by the inimitable Whoopi Goldberg. The intriguing thing is its timing: the film launch comes at a time of incredible turmoil for both Vogue and New York City (NYC). Both are in the midst of an identity crisis. The cliche New York narrative, a place of dreams, success and glamour, has been upstaged by the coronavirus pandemic. New Yorkers are leaving the city in droves, seeking a safer and more comfortable life in the suburbs. News reports suggest the city is dirty and abandoned, countless homeless people forced to endure the extremes of weather I can personally attest swing from bone-chillingly cold to unbearably hot and humid. According to the venerable New York Times, home sales in nearby counties jumped 44 percent in July. Some 5,000 NYC businesses have closed since March, CNN reports. It seems it’s time to get out, quick! Come on, Vogue Then we’ve got Vogue itself. A super brand of fashion intricately woven into the fabric of modern life, so to speak, Vogue is facing a genuine existential crisis. What’s the point of a fashion magazine now? This question, posed by the New York Times, couldn’t be more poignant. Fashion mags sell escapism, luxury fantasies and a feeling. They must stay uniquely relevant and effortlessly in touch with the zeitgeist. The trouble is Instagram’s pretty good at doing that, too. Then we’ve got advertisers and retailers struggling to exist. But more critically, the NY Times offers this chilling insight: people have been re-evaluating their moral relationship with consumption. "It's that resentment and even rage has risen toward celebrities and other elites — a pampered pool of cultural figureheads who fill the pages of contemporary fashion publications. And now there’s a pandemic to address," writes NYT critic-at-large, Amanda Hess. Our beliefs really matter This question of a moral relationship with consumption, and by extension the value of icons like NYC and Vogue really bear consideration. No, I’m not virtue signalling. There appears to be a fundamental reassessment of the belief systems that underpin how economies work. As I explore in Beliefonomics, our existential beliefs provide the lens through which we interpret stories and make purchasing decisions. When we get our brand story right, it becomes an organisation’s north star. It informs business strategy, creatively inspiring our marketing and communications activity. So let’s go back to our Vogue video to illustrate the point. Make no mistake, the film might be positioned as editorial content but the brand is still selling something - hard. Whoopi says, “I love it. New York just might be the only city that loves humans. Loves our mess, loves our funk, and the fashion, forget about it! We don’t own cars, we own clothes.” Here’s where the Vogue and NYC agendas combine. Read through the article supporting this film and you can pick up some useful shopping tips: Joan Smalls wears Miu Miu coat, necklace, and gloves; miumiu.com Marc Jacobs shoes; marcjacobs.com Indya Moore wears Oscar de la Renta dress; saksfifthavenue.com Panconesi by Marco Panconesi ear cuff; net-a-porter.com Ana Khouri ear pieces; anakhouri.com Gucci gloves; gucci.com. You get the idea. The fashion business and city exist in symbiosis. Selling hope Importantly, the film pivots from the glamour of New York to embrace the reality of the city today, mid-pandemic. “It understands you at your worst but pushes you towards your best. I love New York,” says Whoopi, supported by inspiring and hopeful music. “I love New York, because New York loves me.” It’s this climactic ending that gives us our lesson in brand marketing. Despite everything that’s wrong in the world - and the unsettling reality of a city abandoned - here we have an inspired, creative, and evocative piece of brand storytelling embracing hope. New Yorkers overcome adversity. Stories like that of Stephanie and her alter-ego Tanqueray in Humans of New York (HONY) captivate modern audiences and stir them to donate $2.65+ million to her trust. You might love New York, or perhaps you hate it. It doesn’t matter. The point is this: New York's story is now all of us. Overcoming adversity is a unifying characteristic of our shared pandemic humanity. Right? The closing question is just how deeply have you embraced a love and hope for the future of whatever brand you care about? Do you love a city, magazine, company, country or client? Are you hopeful of pushing through and rediscovering those first loves that make the whole thing seem magical? I Love New York is a powerful reminder that as business leaders we can’t forget the radical counter narrative. The numbers and negative trends might tell us everything is bad, but there’s always hope. You might not love New York, but it won’t hurt if more people borrow its defiant optimism. Keep believing, Mark Jones is an author, brand strategist and former journalist determined to inspire more leaders to use the power of storytelling to change the world for good. You can buy his book here or book him to speak at your next client or team event. www.markhjones.net

Imagine for a moment you’re CEO of a global social media company. You’ve experienced a decade of rapid, exciting growth and the joy of creating a service loved by millions of people. Then, slowly, steadily, the drumbeat of naysayers starts to get louder. They’re asking tough questions that threaten your very existence. Is the internet really a force for good? Is social media really making the world a better, more connected place? And why are we seeing such global unrest fuelled by online communities? How would you respond to such valid, existentially significant questions from a position of leadership? Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has famously appeared before numerous government inquiries, promising more self-regulation, internal monitoring and improvements to the social platform’s algorithms. Is it enough? Many believe not. For business leaders watching the real-world drama surrounding Facebook and other social giants, it’s worth paying even closer attention. What happens when the tide of public sentiment shifts in substantial ways? If those feelings threaten the existence of your organisation, what are your options? This week we’ll take a look at the importance of analysing the macro-narratives that shape your industry or marketplace. Social lessons Before we get to these lessons, let’s look at a very real problem affecting us all. A new Netflix documentary, The Social Dilemma, is lighting up the internet. Produced by filmmaker Jeff Orlowski, known for climate change documentaries, it’s a deliberately evocative and disturbing take on the evils of the internet. The Social Dilemma Official Trailer, Netflix, 2020 What sets this film apart from others investigating the social impact of the internet is talent. A succession of former leaders, programmers and executives from Facebook, Google, YouTube and Pinterest, among others, talk about the unintended consequences of their work. At the heart of this story is artificial intelligence (AI). AI engines lie at the heart of internet companies, ironically Netflix among them, shaping our viewing and browsing habits. AI powers everything from recommended videos, search results, sponsored results, likes, comments and targeted information served in news feeds. It’s software that’s supposed to make our lives better and our online experiences more positive. Our engineering talent talks about the hopeful, optimistic attitudes they once brought to their work. Years later, it turns out the grand experiment in AI development isn’t going so well. The Great Hack documentary launched in 2019 famously seared this idea into our consciousness. Cambridge Analytica exploited Facebook’s algorithms to swing the US elections. Today, The Social Dilemma picks up where The Great Hack left off. More of Silicon Valley’s insiders are waking up to the unintended consequences of their work. What was once meant for good appears to be spiralling out of control. Even the uber-geeks who are supposed to know how these AI engines work apparently don’t fully grasp what’s going on. The film details how we’re all being watched, tracked and manipulated down deep rabbit holes of untrustworthy information, fuelled by recommendation engines geared to present us with more of the same types of content. Balance achieved by filtering competing points of view is increasingly hard if we stay in these rabbit holes. The Social Dilemma doesn’t pull any punches. It argues social media is primarily to blame for riots, protests, teenage depression and suicide, and instability in democracies all over the world. Global populations are being manipulated as fake news spreads six times faster than “true news,” the film asserts. “We built these things and we have a responsibility to change them,” urges Tristan Harris, former design ethicist at Google. “This is checkmate on humanity.” Belief Moment As I write in Beliefonomics, a documentary like this acts as a Belief Moment. That is, a moment in time when we move from one state of belief to another of the six phases (shown below). The Belief Journey, Beliefonomics, Mark Jones, 2020 The belief in question here is whether social media, or the internet-at-large, is now an overwhelmingly destructive force? Let’s say you self-identified in what I call the Seek category (shown above) and so felt open to seeing The Social Dilemma. After watching the film there’s a good chance you moved to Truth or Belief that the internet is a destructive force. If you’re the CEO of our fictional social media company, it’s critical you understand just how many people share this belief. How are they responding? And how might you go about shifting their beliefs? Storytelling affects change Moving from insight to action is of course easier said than done. Even the experts in this film struggle to articulate a coherent answer. Change the business model, add more government regulation, modify the AI engines to recommend content with a balanced point of view. Here’s how we typically respond. In corporate communications, best practice dictates a simplified approach like this: A company’s key spokesperson openly and honestly addresses the issues, and apologises if necessary. The company makes appropriate reparations or real internal changes. Marketing and PR efforts are wound up to ensure everyone understands that positive decisions have been made providing specific evidence of change. Sounds good, but does this approach always work? Well, the issue isn’t so much the model you apply but the stories you tell. Plenty of controversial industries such as oil and gas, mining, tobacco, alcohol and manufacturing have attempted to allay community concerns and we still don’t believe them. Follow the money, as we say in journalism. Super Size Me: The McDonald’s case study An instructive case study for us in this context is Super Size Me. Featuring self-directed Morgan Spurlock (pictured below) it burst onto our screens back in 2004 documenting the personal impact of eating McDonald’s food every meal for an entire month. ‘Super Size Me’ Star Morgan Spurlock image courtesy of CNBC Photo by Jeff Kravitz | FilmMagic Inc. | Getty Images It was a sensation, earning an Academy Award nomination and plenty of other awards. Naturally enough, it made us question the quality of food from McDonald’s and other fast food restaurants. So, what did McDonald’s do in response to Supersize Me? At the time, it went on the offensive with a PR campaign. McDonald’s VP of corporate communications Walk Riker was quoted by PR Week calling it, “a gross misrepresentation of what McDonald’s is all about”. Negative attacks are not often the smartest way forward if you’re trying to win the hearts and minds of customers. Ten years later, the corporation wised up to a better storytelling approach. A 2014 campaign called Our Food, Your Questions, turned the cameras on itself. Instead of talking about the issues, it took people behind the scenes to provide evidence that challenged the dominant narrative. The late Grant Imahara of MythBusters fame was cleverly chosen to visit McDonald's beef and chicken production plants to get the real story. After the tour, he reassured viewers the products were, despite public concerns, made from real animal products: “There’s no mystery, I’ve seen it with my own eyes.” In Australia, McDonald's embraced the campaign with staff-hosted videos tackling myths about its food quality. Fast-forward to 2020 and McDonald's Australia is still selling the fresh food story on its website. Leadership lessons The lesson for CEOs and leaders facing an uncomfortable public narrative couldn’t be more challenging. Transparent, honest and believable storytelling is the only way forward if you want to change the narrative, and it must be based on what people actually believe, right now. Respect that real people make decisions with both hearts and minds. Facebook, Google, Twitter, Pinterest et al now have an opportunity to make real, tangible changes, then tell their side of the story. Let’s hear CEOs acknowledging issues with genuine empathy. Let’s hear them answer the tough questions with genuine openness and willingness to change. Will it happen? Well, that’s a true dilemma. Keep believing, Mark Jones is an author, speaker and brand strategist with experience over more than 20 years on both sides of media, first as a senior journalist at the likes of the Australian Financial Review and lately as CEO and Chief Storyteller for a multi-million dollar PR and content marketing agency. He is a Certified Virtual Presenter for keynote talks, workshops and webinars. Buy a copy of his debut book, 'Beliefononomics: Realise the true value of your brand story' here.

“Surprise and delight” is a legitimate business strategy well overdue for a renaissance. Think about all the times you’ve heard customer service, HR or marketing people use this phrase. It’s a great idea, but rarely a focal point for serious discussions. How often do CEOs discuss emotional engagement as a strategic priority? Also rarely. Let’s look at a delightful community engagement project from Germany that illustrates just how powerful the idea of "surprise and delight" can be in the real world. Back in 2017, an art project called BewegtesLand, or “Moving Land - Staging for passing trains,” transformed the Jena-Naumburg train route in Germany’s Saale Valley into a series of performance art pieces. Some 400 residents along the 30km route volunteered time over two days to perform delightful and utterly surprising short performances in fields visible by passing trains. The brainchild of Jörn Hintzer and Jacob Hüfner, media artists and professors at the Bauhaus University Weimar, the goal wasn’t commercial. They wanted to replicate the flashes of media we all consume on a daily basis. Some volunteers in the valley hoped it would bring more tourists to the area. Others joined for the community spirit and joy of it all. Passengers on the train were delighted. They smiled, laughed and took pictures out the window as an incredible array of bizarre vignettes of life flashed before their eyes. Images: Deutche Welle A fake shark, reminiscent of Jaws, startles people in a canoe on the Saale River, causing them to fall out. A farmer out in an open field digs into the ground and triggers a giant fountain of water. Naturally enough, he runs away. Hilariously, people dressed as bushes run around randomly in a field. In another scene a group of people stand on ladders, staring right back at the passengers. Then we’ve got ‘Rocco’, a runner attempting to race the train. In reality, it was 25 people dressed in the same yellow and green outfit, diving in and out of holes in the ground and between marker points to create an illusion of incredible speed. It’s all quite bizarre, yet you can’t help but smile and enjoy the sheer joy of it all. Take a moment to watch this short documentary published by German public broadcaster, DW - click the image below to play the video. Lessons for life and business This story, which randomly popped up in my Facebook feed was perfectly timed to bring a smile to my face. Clearly we all live in a time when our global community is experiencing stress, grief and uncertainty. Sometimes we all just need a little humour mixed with a positive human spirit. But what if this cute example was actually a serious, ongoing strategy. What if your business thought about creative, real-world events or activities so remarkable it set the world alight with conversations? There are already leaders living out the “surprise and delight” ethos. Remember when Elon Musk sent one of his Tesla’s into space aboard a SpaceX rocket with a dummy astronaut? Bizarre, hilarious and definitely worthy-of-remark. In fact, it sparked the kind of earned media coverage and social engagement most businesses dream about. Further underscoring the viral intent of the moment, the picture below was donated to the public domain by SpaceX. They WANT us to share it. Source: SpaceX. A Forbes article unpacks Musk’s public relations strategy. The author is right: advertising alone isn’t always the best strategy. Once launched, headlines of newspapers continued to refer to Elon Musk, some quoting his reaction to SpaceX’s success. There are probably a lot of people so impressed with SpaceX that their perceptions of Tesla will become highly positive, affecting Tesla purchase attitudes and behaviours. Musk embraces the bizarre. His fantastically named Boring Company, while a personal hobby of sorts, is trying to solve traffic congestion by creating tunnels underground. Crazy? Sure. But yet another “surprise and delight” strategy at work. Musk is among a number of brands thinking outside the proverbial square. Lush Cosmetics famously built a global brand with a zero dollar advertising budget and a focus on creating brand advocates and earned media. Krispy Kreme built a global brand using word-of-mouth marketing. Our performance artists in Germany captured global headlines because they were newsworthy. A creative, feel-good activity that you can’t help but enjoy, and that you can't help but write about and report on because it's interesting and different. The world is full of worthwhile, serious endeavours. Compassion fatigue is a thing; but I'm not sure people tire of laughing, do they? If you want to make a difference and get noticed, consider tearing a leaf from Musk or the German art project’s playbook and do something surprisingly delightful for a change. Turns out, silly ideas can make a serious impact. Keep believing, Mark Jones is an author, speaker and brand strategist with experience over more than 20 years on both sides of media, first as a senior journalist at the likes of the Australian Financial Review and lately as CEO and Chief Storyteller for a multi-million dollar agency. He is a Certified Virtual Presenter for keynote talks, workshops and webinars. Buy a copy of his debut book, 'Beliefononomics: Realise the true value of your brand story' here.

It's official, I'm a Certified Virtual Presenter! eSpeakers.com is a US based agency that does rigorous testing to award the globally recognised certification. I had to demonstrate I had the "tools, environment and skills to perform a quality remote presentation using live video". Turns out I did alright 😌 #humblebrag: here's a link to my scorecard. ✅✅✅✅ Below is the video recorded by eSpeakers during the certification session. Thanks to Daniel Marr and the amazing production team at Filtered Media who always make me feel relaxed knowing they've got me covered (in lights, make-up and technical prowess!) Get in touch if you'd like to know more about booking a Beliefonomics™ virtual keynote, webinar or digital event with support from a fully-fledged production team and professional studio back-drop (pictured below). We can offer multiple camera angles, sound and lighting, in-person guests with COVID social distancing criteria plus virtual guests, whiteboards, interactive Q&A, polls, and break-out sessions for your online guests, and all with a Certified Virtual Presenter to boot!

There’s a cruel irony about Tourism Tasmania’s Come Down for Air campaign, which kicked off last year. You'd be forgiven for thinking it's an unfortunate, unforeseeable waste given today's coronavirus travel restrictions. But the fact remains this work offers powerful lessons for any CEO, business leader or marketer. The sounds and smells of Tasmania will linger in the air long after the last videos plays. Let's take a look, and take a moment to listen closely. Click the image below to experience the first video on Discover Tasmania's YouTube channel, Forest Bathing | Moments of Calm. If you’ve been feeling stressed lately (who hasn’t?), just take a moment... You’re welcome. Now, if you skipped watching it, you missed experiencing a beautiful slow walk without narration through Nelson Falls, part of the UNESCO World Heritage listed wilderness on Tasmania’s west coast, with the gentle sounds of the forest, native birds and flowing water as your sensory companions. Soaking up the full experience of this video series with noise cancelling headphones reminded me of that brilliant business strategy question: What are you really selling? For example, if you run a luxury day spa, you sell comfort and indulgence. High-end smartphone manufacturers sell prestige. Google search sells instant curiosity satiation. So, what is Tassie selling? For me, I’d say transcendence; a brilliant word which simply means to go beyond or overcome. In this case, the brand promise feels tangible. Tourism Tasmania is telling us that when we visit the state, we transcend the ordinary. We enter a completely different world, discover peace and realise the dream of a perfect getaway. Take a quick look at these beautiful little vignettes of life in Tassie to get a sense of what I’m talking about. And listen carefully - I'm going to share some thoughts next on the power of sound in storytelling that you might useful in your own context. DiscoverTasmania video series highlights Beachside walks at dawn are transformed into simple, but profound moments you’ll remember forever in Bay of Fires: Tasty scallops are best served fresh in your Combi van by the sea, takeaway style: Sea urchins, caught, cooked and served by Tom - right there on a boat, bobbing carelessly in the ocean, in Urchins: In this one, Ben Lomond, we learn you don’t need to reach the summit because, “the views aren’t half bad.” In fact, if you turn around now, “you’ll make it back for happy hour”: Perhaps my favourite is Old Mate; we can’t feel sorry for him, surrounded by the biggest mound of oysters you’ve ever seen. The sound factor As I hinted above, the real lesson here isn’t so much the cinematography, copywriting or creative ideas. You can find them everywhere. This work stands out because it takes full advantage of a rarely discussed storytelling technique: sound design. Each of these videos contain a soundtrack you can’t ignore. The pitter-patter of rain. The delightful sounds of chirping birds in a rainforest. Running water from a stream, gently reminding you nature is well and truly alive. It’s also the unmistakable sound of the ocean as dawn breaks, and gentle wind on the side of a high mountain. Combine all those sounds with narration by a kindly old man blessed with a deep, warm resonance and you just can’t help but believe the story. It’s evocative, and yes, transcendent. Turn up the videos loud while wearing noise cancelling headphones and you want to go there. Even in noisy environments like TV, digital or social, the very absence of loud shouty people selling us stuff makes you stop and listen, and breathe. Why are these particular sounds so powerful? Because they have a calming familiarity. They strike an emotional connection with us. Selling air Sound is the perfect solution to the problem established by the campaign name itself, Come Down for Air. How, exactly, do you get people to feel the sense of air in a digital or analogue format? It’s practically impossible. You can’t smell the ocean through your smartphone or laptop! So here we are, with the joy of sound design. Sound can trigger other olfactory senses like taste, and smell, that conjure places, spaces and feelings from years past. It’s a technique we’re of course intimately familiar with from the world of movies and TV. They draw us in with a powerful soundtrack and the detailed sounds of an immersive environment. A fun illustration of this point is the famous stock sound effect known as the Wilhelm Scream - it’s everywhere! Now, if you’re in charge of a brand facing an uphill battle; it could be worth looking at sharpening your sound design to be a more powerful, emotional storytelling tool. Meanwhile, I'll get back to dreaming about where to go when this pandemic subsides. I have a feeling Tourism Tasmania didn’t waste its marketing budget after all. The promise of tangible peace and fresh air is just what we all need right now. Keep believing, Mark Jones is an author, speaker and storytelling strategist helping leaders around the world use his world-first proven model of brand storytelling called Beliefonomics to inspire change. His debut book, Beliefonomics: Realise the true value of your brand story is available here.

Who, in their right mind, picks a fight with Apple, the world’s most valuable company? The answer is Epic, maker of the iconic Fortnite game played by 350 million people around the world and a business that generated close to US$2 billion in revenues from its enterprise and is worth approximately $17 billion. Epic has made global headlines since 14 August when it launched a stunning attack on Apple, the hand that’s fed it for at least a decade. Is this a curious battle between two technology and gaming heavyweights? Or will the pending antitrust ruling impact the wider business community? We’ll soon find out, but for now, it's the central narrative and the storytelling execution that’s caught my attention. What can we learn from Epic’s well, epic, attack on Apple? I’ve been watching this situation unfold with interest, and then finally last week the story literally came home. I have two unhappy sons, unable to play the new season of Fortnite on mobile devices after Apple removed their beloved Fortnite from the App Store. Still not sure what I’m talking about? This New York Times article gives a solid overview of the back story. My quick summary: Epic has decided it no longer wants to give Apple a 30 percent “tax” for in-game payments within the iOS ecosystem. This will be a familiar story for any business with an app in Apple’s App Store. Each time a consumer purchases an app, Apple takes 30 percent, likewise with any subsequent in-app purchases. Like many app developers, Epic has had enough, and decided to do something about it, seeking “injunctive relief” rather than compensation in its court filing. Lessons in narrative While the legal fight plays out, I want to take a look at the way Epic has appropriated storytelling techniques to help it in the fight. First up, take a look at the sheer audacity and creative power of Epic’s attack ad, Nineteen Eighty-Fornite. This video is a takedown of Apple’s stunning 1984 Macintosh ad in which it attacked IBM’s dominance, leaning on George Orwell’s 1984 story about a dystopian future in which an omnipresent government rules to our collective detriment. An easy way to compare the two executions is to watch this quick video. It shows the attention to detail and sheer determination to spotlight Apple’s own apparent misdemeanour. Clearly, Epic is making an outrageous claim. Apple, once the rebel challenger is now the elite ruler. The outrage is an inevitable conclusion: Epic is charging Apple with hypocrisy. One clever Twitter user even noted the villain in Epic’s ad looks uncannily like Apple CEO Tim Cook. Uh, oh. This just got personal! Little wonder Apple is rising quickly to the fight. But what’s the lesson? Brand storytellers must be masters when it comes to studying the meta narratives impacting their brand, industry or customers. In this case, the hypocrisy charge points us in the direction of two narratives worth briefly unpacking. The monopoly narrative The tech sector, like many industries, has little tolerance for monopolies. The monopoly narrative typically follows this path: a challenger business (or sometimes government) takes on a powerful incumbent corporation. Legal proceedings follow with plenty of air cover provided by a sustained PR campaign waged by both sides. We’re invited to take sides according to cultural tribes or customer groups. For example, the 1990s were dominated by the US Government’s antitrust lawsuit against Microsoft for maintaining a monopoly over the PC market. The case wasn’t decided until 2001 when Microsoft lost. David vs. Goliath The monopoly narrative is a close cousin of David vs. Goliath, that iconic biblical story of a young shepherd boy taking on the Philistine Army’s biggest, baddest soldier, Goliath. Clearly Epic is recasting itself as the modern David, taunting a giant Goliath who appears unable to be defeated. Malcom Gladwell’s book, David and Goliath, gives us another angle to interpret these events. We typically interpret the story from the perspective of David, the challenger who overcomes the odds. As Malcolm explains in a TED Talk, what we’ve failed to realise is that Goliath is more vulnerable than he seems. Malcolm recounts Goliath calling David to “Come to me because I can’t see you,” and goes on to suggest, “The very thing that was the source of his apparent strength was also the source of his greatest weakness.” In medical circles, experts suggest the biblical text indicates the “giant” had acromegaly, a hormonal disorder that not only causes increased growth but is associated with double vision or near-sightedness. David had no intention of hand-to-hand combat, but used his strength and skill with a sling to throw a hard rock right between Goliath’s eyes, either killing or knocking him unconscious. It’s all a bit gruesome, but Malcolm’s point is giants are not as strong and powerful as they seem. Inevitably they have one or more critical vulnerabilities. Will history repeat itself? Likewise, Apple isn’t without weakness. Losing this fight could impact its stock price, future earnings from the App Store and related services revenues, as this SMH article observes. The Verge also writes that Apple’s support for Epic’s Unreal Engine platform is critical. This software engine is used by movie studios, other gaming developers including Microsoft and even the Weather Channel. If Apple were to win and ban the engine, the industry-wide backlash won’t be pleasant. It won’t be much fun in my household either. Ultimately, the real issue isn’t such technical details. It turns out this battle feels like an attack on the heart and soul of Apple - it’s belief system. As I wrote in Beliefonomics (p. 177), Apple is an organisation that believes in challenging the status quo. It’s always positioned itself as the underdog, the David. After all, Apple thinks different. That famous ad of the same name concludes with this line: “The people who think they are crazy enough to change the world are the ones who do.” However, this time the shoe’s on the other foot. Epic has had the temerity to weaponise Apple’s own rhetoric, challenger narrative and creativity against it. Like other monopoly fights, it’s also inviting millions of Fortnite fans to turn on Apple via the #freefornite campaign. I’ve always said storytelling is the most powerful agent of change in the world, capable of doing good and also wreaking havoc. In this case, we’re witnessing the early stages of havoc. We’ve also been hooked into grand, emotional narratives that demand we choose sides. Epic wants us to “join the fight to stop 2020 from becoming ‘1984.’” If, as a business leader up against a Goliath or impossible odds, what story would you tell? Keep believing, P.S. Not a rhetorical question, I'd truly value hearing your thoughts and experiences in using story to tackle your own giants - comment below or get in touch. Mark Jones is an author, keynote speaker and brand strategist. His debut book, Beliefonomics: Realise the true value of your brand story' lays the foundation for a series of workshops and talks he shares with leaders around the world.

I rejected the online business MasterClass at least twice before clicking to buy and picking up my neglected guitar. Here's a lesson in multi-channel marketing, the halo effect and profitable storytelling. I first discovered, and rejected, the online education provider MasterClass while scrolling through Facebook. Up popped Steve Martin with a beautifully shot video trailer in which he promised to teach comedy. “I’m Steve Martin, and welcome to MasterClass.” Steve got my attention. Cue internal dialogue: “Could I really learn comedy from Steve Martin? I’m a professional speaker, that could be handy!” But I rarely click on digital ads. I don’t trust them. I scrolled on. It was my first touch point. It was positive, but didn’t change my beliefs or behaviour. Then came another one, thanks to the Facebook algorithm, no doubt. This time it was Rage Against the Machine’s Tom Morello offering to teach me electric guitar. I’ve played since primary school, keen to learn more, and a Rage fan from way back. Here’s Tom, surrounded by all his gear, telling me how he overcame racism and a cruel world through his guitar. Source: Masterclass “If you want to play exactly like me, you’re going to figure that out in this MasterClass. If you want to play guitar exactly like you, I’ll reveal how you can create a lifetime of awesome rocking. I’m Tom Morello, and this is MY masterclass.” Uh, yes please! Somehow I still didn’t click, strike two, but the video stuck. In some form of associative psychology now I think about Tom’s story every time Rage Against the Machine cycles around on my playlist at the gym. I feel an emotional connection to this guy! The moment I changed Fast forward again and I came across this in-depth article by The Atlantic: What is MasterClass actually selling? Behold! The headline promised to answer the vague questions seeded by rather compelling video ads. Spoiler alert: multi-channel marketing was doing its thing. This was the moment I dived into the MasterClass story. My behaviour was about to change, as was my belief in online education services. Curious about MasterClass? Here’s my take: For an annual A$280 subscription, MasterClass sells escapism, voyeurism (with the celebrity factor) and a valuable life lesson - you’ll succeed if you combine hard work and get really lucky. It turns out MasterClass is a bona-fide company, not just a collection of clever video clips. Created in response to a simple question - What if anybody could learn from the best? - it’s gone on to attract an impressive array of celebrity teachers and more than US$130 million in funding. My point and our lesson here is this: I ended up clicking on the subscribe button because I trust The Atlantic. This editorial ultimately shifted my belief in something I first thought too good to be true. It activated a point in time I call a Belief Moment. I shifted from unbelief in the value of a service to reconsidering my views, and ultimately engaging as a happy customer. Still cynical? It should be said, MasterClass isn’t without criticism. Others shared my initial skepticism. SFGate’s correspondent, for example, offers this piercing line: “You’re not going to become a great guitar player simply by watching Tom Morello’s master class on MasterClass.com.” (Challenge accepted @Joshua Sargent!) It’s a good point. Anyone can watch a lesson. The trick is actually taking time to practice. Yet for me, my behaviour and ultimately my belief in the value of online education changed. All it took was engagement with a second, trusted media channel - in this case, earned media - to change my behaviour. I’ve since begun exploring over 85 classes, each one containing around 20, 10 minute video lessons. One idea, multiple channels Over the past few years I’ve worked with many clients who, quite frankly, use too many media channels. With so much activity, it can be difficult to thread a consistent narrative. In Beliefonomics, I write about the impact of amplifying one story across multiple channels, “What happens when a creative, research-backed IMC (integrated marketing communications) campaign hits the market, underpinned by a single narrative? Research published by IAB Australia and Kantar in October 2019 offers useful data. It calls this approach synergy, and tracks the incremental lift you can expect from adding additional channels to your campaign. From a study of more than 3,200 campaigns it reveals marketing ROI lifts with each channel. Just two channels deliver a 19 percent lift, and five channels up to 35 percent lift. Extract from 'Beliefonomics: Realise the true value of your brand story' by Mark Jones (c) 2020, p99 Source: Analytic Partners, 2016; Analysis based on over 3,200 campaigns from 2010-2015. Platforms include TV, print, radio, display, paid search, online video, PR, Out-of-Home and cinema. The temptation is to believe more channels are better, from the very beginning. My challenge to aspiring brand storytellers is to pare it right back to know which one or two channels are best suited to telling your story. Start small, scale across two channels such as email and LinkedIn, or a blog, and measure the impact before expanding further. That was my exact experience with MasterClass. One message, across earned and paid media. Clearly it’s working. The Halo Effect One final thought. MasterClass is a brand that stands on the shoulders of personal brands. Each of those celebrities and global thought leaders share their star power with MasterClass, helping build its brand. It’s called the Halo Effect or cognitive bias, where positive impressions of a person or brand are transferred to another entity, product or service. Another good example of this in action is motor racing: “Race on Sunday, sell on Monday.” Let’s say a Ford wins the race on Sunday. It’s assumed happy fans will flow into Ford dealerships shortly afterwards. Race wins by your favourite car maker creates an emotional halo that drives sales. Likewise, MasterClass wouldn’t exist without its celebrities and it maximises that idea to great effect in its storytelling. To illustrate the point, do you see MasterClass co-founder David Rogier appearing in a video trailer? Nope. We don’t care about a message from the boss or company CEO, we want the masters! I know I do. It’s time to stop tapping away on this keyboard and shift to the fretboard of my guitar. I’ve got some riffs from Tom Morello to practice. Mark Jones is a keynote speaker, storytelling consultant and author of 'Beliefonomics: Realise the true value of your brand story'. Reach him here.

Are you a Mac or a PC? No doubt you’ll remember Apple’s Get a Mac campaign which ran from 2006 to 2009 featuring two guys set against a simple white backdrop. Zero diversity points, but 10 outta 10 for the laughs and target audience insights. These ads worked because we love two things: simple love/hate arguments (coriander, anyone?) and great comedy. Fast forward and Apple’s revived the formula with the second of its Apple at Work short films, ‘The whole working from home thing’. At seven minutes, it's more than double the length of the first film released last year, The Underdogs, and at the time of writing had notched up nearly 27 million views on YouTube. ‘The whole working from home thing’ embraces diversity in contrast to Apple's ‘Get a Mac’ campaign, and uses humour to connect with us via a shared cultural experience. I believe Apple at Work is a fantastic example of long-form brand storytelling which grabs you from the very first line, “How’s that whole working from home thing goin’ for ya?” Good question! Working from home is one of the biggest narratives in 2020. It’s of course driven by a sea of emotions connected to disruption, change, uncertainty and stress. The plot doesn’t shy from these issues. A team of four people are working at home, and thanks to a dictatorial boss and zealous accountant, have been given a short timeframe and tight budget to design a physical product for a project aptly named “Pandora’s Box”. (Pandora's Box is an artefact from Greek mythology which today is used to describe a gift which at first appears valuable, but is in fact a curse.) So is all that drama fodder for comedy and brand storytelling? Sure is. Looking through the Beliefonomics lens, here are four tips, or dare I say, storytelling seeds that CEOs, leaders and storytellers can learn about navigating uncertain times from Apple’s seven minute creative feast. Seed 1: Embrace all the feels In classic Apple style, this mini-film embraces the working from home narrative without pandering to panic, fear or hopelessness. It keeps our attention with an upbeat sentiment and sharp humour. As I write in Beliefonomics, we connect with hearts and minds when our storytelling is weighted in favour of emotions. A good rule of thumb is to direct 70 percent of your strategic focus towards emotional engagement versus the pursuit of rational arguments (or product features). The music and soundscape is bright, the scripting is tight, and the characters are carefully diverse while relatable (I recommend ‘Beauty of Diversity in Storytelling with Director Carrie Stett’ for more on this topic). It’s very much in sync with Apple’s tone of voice and aesthetic. With the right mix you can create what I call a Belief Moment, an active moment of choice that shifts people from unbelief towards belief, or vice versa. Seed 2: Drama is your friend Without drama, or tension, you simply don’t have a story. Who wants to watch a film, TV-series, comedy show or documentary devoid of drama? No one. Joseph Campbell’s Hero’s Journey teaches us our hero must encounter insurmountable odds and emerge triumphant. Apple embraces this idea of creating conflict with the character of Vivienne, the team’s boss. She appears outrageously arrogant and dictatorial. She’s the villain needed in every story, but she’s not the only source of drama. The team finds itself beset by all the high-pressure normalities of working at home life - kids making a mess, parents getting in the way, sheer exhaustion and attempting to navigate collaboration tools. Seed 3: Don’t take yourself too seriously Apple is quite clearly having fun, again. It discovered the power of fun with Mac vs PC, deliberately provoking the competition, and Microsoft fans. As a counterpoint, it'd be remiss of me not to share many reports that Steve Jobs apparently culled some of the funnier versions. Apparently about 300 were shot, but only 66 ever aired, with actor Justin Long - the “Mac Guy” - quoted as saying, ‘[Apple] said, basically, that Steve Jobs preferred when they weren’t super funny . . . because he thought it would detract from the point of the commercial. He thought if people were too focused on the humor in it, they would lose sight of the product.’ What’s curious today is our inclusive, sensitive culture (which I welcome) can sometimes miss the point. One Forbes contributor attacked the ad, calling it an “appalling” example of leadership. Another columnist, this time at Inc. wasn’t impressed, either. He argued the film normalises a stressful remote working environment. Leaders should set clear and realistic expectations, and this was a bad example. In a follow-up article, he doubled down in response to reader feedback: “For a brand, trust is by far the most powerful asset, and when the story you tell is disconnected from the reality people experience, you lose credibility. Ultimately, it doesn't matter how playful or fun an ad is if it's wrong. And Apple's ad is exactly that.” Wrong? Appalling? Both writers earnestly miss the point. This isn’t reality or “an example” of Apple’s views on leadership. Comedy thrives on exaggerated, hyper versions of reality. Seed 4: Comedy is strategic Corporate storytellers often reflexively avoid comedy because it’s considered ‘risky’. That’s definitely true, comedy is a storytelling art and science in itself. But comedy cuts through like few other approaches. Make someone laugh and you can tell them anything, to misquote Marilyn Monroe. A key insight lost on many marketing commentators is the underlying business issue: Apple might be the world’s most valuable company by market cap (as of 1 August) but it doesn’t own the market for office productivity suites, despite the fact its software ships natively with hardware like the MacBook, iPhone and Apple Watch. Traditionally a consumer tech company, Apple is not seen as the first choice for most organisations when it comes to office suites. That world is of course dominated by Microsoft 365 and G Suite. Apple’s messaging is different, literally. It doesn’t just sell office software, but an entirely integrated hardware, software and cloud-based ecosystem. Not surprisingly, you’ll find the business tab at apple.com is also called Apple at Work. So the question I’d ask you, having watched Apple at Work, do you now believe Apple’s ecosystem is a viable competitor to Microsoft and Google? Having laughed along as the film showed a seamless collaboration between team members, would you now reconsider Apple as an office productivity solution? Note that I said reconsider. Mapped against The Belief Journey (illustrated below) it appears this film is designed to move customers from “Unbelief” in Apple’s business software credibility to the “Reconsider” stage. The Belief Journey One of three dials in the Beliefonomics Storytelling Framework™ global leaders are now using to unlock power and purpose in their brand storytelling. Learn more about the six stages of The Belief Journey HERE. Does it work? For me, the answer is yes. I am reconsidering my beliefs. For example, is it really as seamless and powerful as predicted? I want to know more. How about you? Mark Jones is a master storyteller, brand strategist and author of 'Beliefonomics: Realise the true value of your brand story' available in print (A$24.99 plus P&H) or ebook (A$9.99). 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In Beliefonomics I talk in depth about The Belief Journey for brands, and how organisations can map a direct correlation between customers' beliefs and market impact. Below is a brief excerpt from the book where I share some of the inspiration behind storytelling model that's impacting leaders of organisations all over the world. BOOK EXCERPT: "Back in the mid 2000s when I was studying theology, I came across what’s called the Engel Scale. It was the first time I consciously realised that we’re all on belief journeys of different kinds – not just in our spiritual or faith lives, but all aspects of life. Developed by James F. Engel in 1975, the Engel Scale maps out some 13 different stages people progress through on a journey from no knowledge of God to becoming a well-informed, knowledgeable Christian believer. To summarise, the stages include moving from an awareness of a supreme being, to initial awareness of God and the Gospel, a growing interest and understanding the implications, developing a positive attitude, making a decision to act, then experiencing what’s often called a conversion. On the flip side of conversion, people evaluate their decision, attend church and change behaviours to alight with new convictions, then go on to share their story with other people. The model applies equally well to other religions, politics or health and lifestyle choices. Consider a simplistic version of a vegan’s journey, for example. A happy meat eater has no awareness of the idea you can survive without meat. A series of stories, personal encounters and situations moves this person from awareness to conviction, a conversion experience (perhaps a chosen date from when meat would no longer be eaten), reviewing the decision, ongoing behaviour change and ultimately a mature belief system. Likewise, in business it’s easy to see how this model applies: At first, you have no awareness of a brand or organisation. That awareness and interest grows to the point where you develop an opinion, consider your options and perhaps trial one of the offerings. If it’s a positive experience or compelling offer, the decision is made the transaction is done. You may even become an advocate and recommend it to others. Of course, this journey is also known as the marketing funnel – but what strikes me as different here is interrogating the belief systems that underpin our journey and decision-making. BOOK EXCERPT from "Beliefonomics: Realise the True Value of Your Brand Story” by Mark Jones (2020), Chapter 9. Buy a copy here.

Here it is, a quick overview of my world-first brand storytelling model, shared here especially for readers of my weekly Beliefonomics Report (subscribe here) given I mention it a bit! The Beliefonomics Storytelling Framework™ BOOK EXCERPT from 'Beliefonomics: Realise the True Value of Your Brand Story' by Mark Jones ©2020: “We always begin the process of developing your brand story from the outside in. So, the concentric circles [in the model illustrated above] are the first thing to note. The four fundamental elements of business strategy must create a safety hedge around all our brand storytelling: Strategy Storytellers Budget Audience. Each of these elements most often already exist in some form when we begin working with the Beliefonomics Brand Storytelling Framework, but it's important to be clear and unified on each of them from the start. Moving toward the centre, we see our three critical dials used to unlock a Brand Story that unlocks profit and purpose in your business or organisation: Brand Journey Belief Journey Channel Journey. There’s no right or wrong order for interrogating them. For example, your Origin Story may jump out as the most strategic first focus for the season you are in at the moment. Regardless, it is vital you develop solid insights into each one of the central dials in the Beliefonomics ecosystem to arrive at the destination: The Brand Story with insights to spur action and focus to achieve measurable growth." READ MORE in your copy of "Beliefonomics: Realise the True Value of Your Brand Story©" available to order here in print ($24.99 plus P&H) or ebook ($9.99). In it, I go through each element of the Beliefonomics Storytelling Framework™ from the outside in and show you how it works in detail, including stories of clients I've worked with like GHD Digital, Sage Software and UniSuper. Contact me if you'd like to discuss workshops or events: mark@markhjones.net