James Warren, Share More Stories & Johnson, Inc., @warrenjwric Share More Stories empowers brands and people to connect through shared stories. And as founder James Warren and his team developed the company’s vision, strategy and prototype, they began realizing that stories weren’t just core to their product – they were core to their innovation and learning process as well. The stories people shared during development and after launch revealed deep customer needs, helped the team improve its value proposition and led to the identification of new customer opportunities. In his talk, James will share how he and his team used these stories to learn as much as possible, in order to accelerate the development and growth of their platform.

1. Startup Storytelling:
Using Stories to Learn
James Warren
Founder, Share More Stories | Senior Director of Brand Strategy, Johnson Marketing
james@sharemorestories.com | jwarren@johnsonmarketing.com
@warrenjwric | @ShaMorStor

2. About me

3. There is no greater
agony than bearing
an untold story
inside of you.
- Maya Angelou
Photo credit: unknown; source: creative commons wikimedia

4. What’s your favorite story?
(read / heard / seen)

5. Stories are about experiences…
…and transformation
Credit: Joseph Campbell’s “Hero’s Journey” Model courtesy of www.applitude.se

6. We learn and connect through stories.

7. What we learned from stories
Start with what you know and believe
Expect the unexpected
Keep an eye out for the wizard

8. Start with what you know and believe
Expect the unexpected
Keep an eye out for the wizard

9. Test the hypothesis and co-create the concept
Book cover images used for illustrative purposes only and remain the property of their respective owners.

10. Connecting writers and readers

11. Learn in
public (yikes)

12. Start with what you know and believe
Expect the unexpected
Keep an eye out for the wizard

13. Not just about being heard…

14. I don’t know where to start.
I don’t have the time.
I’m not a great storyteller.
Who’d want to hear my story.
I’m never able to finish.
There are too many options.
I’ll never do it by myself.
It’s just too difficult.

15. We didn’t expect this…

16. We didn’t expect this, either.
“Hey, can your platform help my company?”

17. Highly Curated: Jack Daniels
Growth of opportunity
Branded Platform:
Coca-Cola Journey
Social: Haynes
Furniture
American Express: Expert
Longform Stories
Nike “Together”
Campaign
Apple’s “The Song” Ad BMW sponsors Medium
collection
Cross-platform: A
Force for Good
Brand website images used for illustrative purposes only and remain the property of their respective owners.

18. So we tried something different.

19. Q: Now what?
Photo Credit: “Straight Ahead” by John Georgiou

20. Start with what you know and believe
Expect the unexpected
Keep an eye out for the wizard

21. The pivot
Fear.

22. The pivot
Fear.
Edison.

23. Connect and engage with something bigger

24. The brand connection opportunity
Growth
Insights
Loyalty
Engagement

25. The pivot
Fear.
Edison.
Really hard.
Obviousness.

26. More possibilities
Meaningful
Interactions
Deeper
Relationships
Stronger Brand
Equity
Powerful
Insights
Credit: Future of StoryTelling 2015 Summit: Site image

27. “Now you’re disrupting something.”

28. The more we asked people to tell us their
stories, the more we learned.

29. A lot of stories aren’t scripted. Which means
you might learn a few things you didn’t plan to.

30. Be ready to write a new ending.

31. A: Keep moving.
Photo Credit: “Straight Ahead” by John Georgiou

32. Thank You!
James Warren
@warrenjwric | @shamorstor
james@sharemorestories.com
jwarren@johnsonmarketing.com