I had the pleasure of speaking at Compass USA’s communicators’ conference in North Carolina this morning.
As one of the largest food service companies in the country, Compass has a good story to tell.
With all due respect to my technology brethren, it was liberating to discuss storytelling in the context of banana bread, grilled salmon and all things food.
It turns out that Compass and its various brands have already spiced up their content – sorry, couldn’t resist – through storytelling techniques.
During the discussion, I highlighted the following example of owned media from the Wolfgang Puck brand.
The format draws from the same journalistic approach one would find in a magazine.
Notice that Scott Drewno isn’t trying to weave the company’s messages into his answers.
Just like a journalist interview, the idea is for the answers to spill out naturally.
Along this line, Scott comes across as genuine, perhaps even looking to trigger a reaction on the part of the reader:
Q: What’s your new favorite ingredient?
A: Chicken feet
Does the vignette tell a story by the truest definition: A hero overcomes a quagmire for a happy ending?
No.
But applying storytelling techniques like anecdotes, the unexpected – Scrapple in his fridge – and fun with language leaves you feeling like you know Chef Drewno and through him, the company.
You can’t personify a company through a pork dumpling (even with a dash of Sriracha).