Today, corporations are trying to regain control over their own image in a rather unusual way. Brands are massively abandoning standard PR strategies and starting to hunt for professional storytellers and creators of stories. The Wall Street Journal tells about the new trend.
Photo: Mathew Aditya / Vecteezy
The new hot job — "storyteller" — in corporate America is actually one of the oldest professions in history. However, if you imagine romantic gatherings by a campfire and fascinating tales, you are mistaken. In the realities of modern business, the ability to tell stories is a pragmatic and tough tool.
Companies interpret this term differently. For some, "storyteller" is simply a more beautiful and louder name for a media relations manager. For others, it's an entirely new role: a specialist who creates blogs, podcasts, case studies, and other content to attract the attention of customers and investors.
For example, Google recently sought a manager for the customer story creation team at Google Cloud. One of the articles published by this division this year described how artificial intelligence helps create interactive shopping experiences in a large retail chain.
Microsoft went even further and is looking for a director in the cybersecurity department who will be responsible for narrative and storytelling. The candidate is required to be an all-rounder: simultaneously a cybersecurity technologist, a communicator, and a marketer.
And the popular productivity app Notion has completely merged PR specialists, SMM specialists, and blogger relations managers into one large 10-person team that deals exclusively with "storytelling."
As the authors of the article note, significant money revolves in this niche. The technology company Vanta, which develops software, recently opened a vacancy for a head of this direction with a salary of up to $274,000 per year.
Why has everyone suddenly become a storyteller?
The fashion for fancy job titles in technology has been around before: many remember the times of "ninja-developers," "SEO stars," and "digital prophets." Now, WSJ writes, the word "storyteller" is at the top. And this causes irritation among some people in the creative sphere.
The publication quotes designer Stefan Sagmeister:
"People who truly tell stories — novelists and film directors — do not call themselves storytellers. Those who are not, do."
But statistics show: the term is truly taking over corporate America. The number of vacancies on LinkedIn using terms denoting "storyteller" has doubled in a year.
Company executives used this term in their reports to investors 469 times this year (for comparison: in 2015, there were only 147 such mentions).
WSJ explains this surge with fundamental changes in the media landscape. Companies relied on free publicity through traditional media for decades, but this channel has narrowed: in the US, according to the latest national estimates, slightly more than 49 thousand people remain in the "news analysts, reporters, and journalists" profession — significantly fewer than in 2000.
The print press has also weakened: newspaper circulations have fallen by about 70% since 2005, and website traffic of the hundred largest publications has, on average, decreased by more than 40% over the last four years.
However, corporations have acquired their own powerful channels: social networks, YouTube, their own media, and newsletters. Companies are becoming publishers themselves, and they need their own authors.
The Artificial Intelligence Factor
Steve Hirsch, head of a communications agency in New York, notes another important reason for the popularity of live storytellers: fatigue from artificial intelligence.
"Generative artificial intelligence creates so much information clutter that it breeds distrust. CEOs understand: today, brands that appear most authentic, human, and close to people will win. They need a content strategy, not just a dry press release," explains Hirsch.
That is why former journalists are often hired for these positions. As the publication notes, when the fintech company Chime opened a vacancy for a director of corporate narratives, most of the 500 candidates were indeed from traditional media. They know how to find real-life stories, not just write advertising slogans.
As Jennifer Cooperman, Director of Corporate Communications at Chime, explains, terms like "editor" are too restrictive.
"Stories can be created in various ways — through social networks, podcasts, public appearances by executives, or even organizing events," she believes.
As the author of the article notes, the trend has even affected the non-profit sector. The National Wild Turkey Federation (NWTF) recently began looking for its third full-time "storyteller." The organization believes that such a job title helps find the best talents — people who want to feel an integral part of the overall story, rather than just copywriters.
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