Introducing

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Introducing
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What is a story?

• A recital of events that have or are alleged to
  have happened (Oxford English Dictionary, I 4)

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Why story matters

• Stories are a hugely efficient way of
• Constructing meaning
• Creating relationships
• Defining purpose

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Attributes of a corporate story

• May or may not be time-sensitive
• Can be deployed through a variety of channels
• May be used on behalf of your organisation or
  against it
• Will be remembered when names, facts and figures
  have long since been forgotten

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Why your corporate story matters more than ever

• There has been an enormous erosion of public
  trust in the character of business leaders and
  their capacity to do the right thing by any of
  their constituencies shareholders, employees,
  even customers without government oversight.
  And there has been an equal loss of faith that
  financial markets are reasonably fair, treating
  ordinary citizens in a fashion broadly similar to
  the privileged few.
• Jeffrey E. Garten, Dean of the Yale School of
  Management, writing in the Financial Times,
  November 1 2002

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Corporates and their stories examples

• Myths of origin
• Corporate prophecies
• War stories
• Archived narratives
• Gossip and rumour

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Who we are

• Independent agency
• Based in Surrey, UK
• International operations
• Extended network
• Clients include
• Global specialty chemicals player
• Corporate Communications Department
• Communications Department of global business
  group
• Global RD Communications function
• Global business services provider
• Major UK/US financial services provider
• Chartered accountancy registered auditing firm

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Associates

• We have a wide network of associates to help us
  deliver turnkey projects tailored to your
  individual requirements. These operate in the
  following areas
• Corporate, technology, trade, consumer and
  healthcare PR
• Investor relations
• Market research
• Creativity development
• Executive coaching
• HR consultancy
• Business psychology
• Event design and delivery
• Graphic design
• Print

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Client experience

• MA communications (external and internal
  communications, pre- and post-merger - strategy
  and implementation)
• Company restructure
• Relocation communications
• IPO communications
• Global brand audit
• Internal communications training for employees of
  global PR agency
• Internal communications training for managers of
  global industrial manufacturer
• Change management workshop for employees of
  research-based organisation
• Seminars in presentation skills for senior
  managers
• Rebrand of charitable trust
• Europe-wide product recall
• Development of internal communications function
  of pan-European organisation
• Awareness-raising event for charitable trust
• SAP implementation
• Internal positioning of service groups within
  large corporations

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Our four-step approach
4. Delivery
3. Narrative
2. Strategy
1. Research
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1. Research

• Communication and perception audit
• How do you communicate with your key audiences
  and how do they see you?
• Quantitative analysis
• Qualitative analysis
• Benchmarking

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2. Strategy

• Communication strategy and plan
• What is your big idea and how are you going to
  get it across?
• Message development
• Facilitated brainstorms, workshops and away-days
• Communication planning and evaluation
• Communication mentoring and training

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3. Narrative

• Corporate storytelling and history
• What are your defining corporate stories past,
  present and future?
• Research
• Writing
• Archive development

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4. Delivery

• Positioning of business leaders and organisations
• What do you stand for and how convincingly do you
  articulate ?
• Speechwriting
• Presentation development
• Presentation training and rehearsal

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Example triggers for action

• New management
• New strategy
• New products
• New environment
• New regulation

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Example projects

• Product launch
• Employee road show
• Conference presentation
• Management away-day
• Annual report

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Working with you

• Diagnostic review
• Agreement of objectives, approach, deliverables,
  timeframe, evaluation criteria, reporting
  procedures, budget
• Implementation of project
• On-site presence where required
• Concluding report and presentation with
  recommendations

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Thank you for your attention
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About Jonathan Steffen

• Jonathan Steffen is Managing Director of The
  Corporate Story Ltd. Before founding The
  Corporate Story, he held directorships at
  Fleishman-Hillard, Burson-Marsteller, Key
  Communications and Infopress. Previous clients
  include Shell European Oil Products, Shell Solar,
  Johnson Johnson, Canada Life, Cargill, Inc.,
  Air Products, Inc., Citigroup, Novartis, BASF,
  GlaxoSmithKline, Energizer, Yahoo!, SAP AG,
  Henkel Teroson GmbH, Messe Frankfurt GmbH, Carl
  Freudenberg and Cargolux Airlines S.A. Before
  moving into consultancy, Jonathan held a senior
  corporate communications role at the global HQ of
  Hoechst AG (now Aventis), prior to which he
  lectured at Heidelberg University.
•  
• Jonathan frequently publishes and speaks on the
  subject of change in the workplace. With over
  seventy publications to his name, his writing has
  appeared in Business Age, Strategic Communication
  Management, Journal of Communication Management,
  Knowledge Management Review and Journal of Change
  Management, as well as in The Spectator, The New
  Statesman and The London Magazine. He is a
  member of the Institute of Public Relations, the
  International Association of Business
  Communicators, the Institute of Directors, the
  Society of Authors and Surrey Chambers of
  Commerce, and is a graduate of Kings College,
  Cambridge. Jonathan is fluent in German and
  French.

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• Jonathan Steffen MA MIPR MIoD
• Managing Director
• The Corporate Story Ltd
• Network House
• Bradfield Close
• Woking
• Surrey GU22 7RE
• United Kingdom
• Tel. [phone] Mobile [phone]
  793248 Fax [phone]
• Email corporatestory_at_aol.com Website
  www.corporatestory.co.uk