See a photo of Michael, a link to his bio, Part 1 of this Q&A, Part 2, Part 3, and Part 4.

Q&A with Michael Margolis (Question 5):

Q: In the same interview on the site of the 2008 HANO Conference (and elsewhere), you say that “Your story is only as ‘real’ as the stories that people tell about you.” Do you find that organizations (or even individuals) tend to be blind to the kind of stories being told about them? Or do they have a distorted view of these stories? How do you go about guiding them to tell the stories that strengthen their brand and constituent relations?

A: Perception is King. Never confuse a story for the absolute Truth - although every great story offers a kernel of truth. For brands today, the perception that people hold about you is embedded in stories based on one’s experience, assumptions, or judgments.

For too many organizations are afraid of facing the music - to make themselves vulnerable to actually knowing what people think about them, and why. Instead, it’s easy to delude ourselves into comfort that “business as usual” is okay. But only through an intimate understanding of your customer or target audience can you succeed today

At a process level, we work with the senior leadership of an organization or division to help them find alignment around their Brand Story. It begins with a cross-functional WorkGroup determining areas of consensus and open debate regarding the strategic story. This WorkGroup owns the process and represents key voices from across the organization.

We then conduct narrative-driven Focus Groups with key audience stakeholders to identify the perception gaps and opportunities related to the Brand Story. We have developed a Brand Story Audit methodology that helps to organize this conversation. We then go back to the WorkGroup and use our findings to help them focus and build consensus.

The client ultimately receives from us a Brand Story Blueprint, which serves as an organizational compass-point. It includes a combination of strategic positioning, messaging, audience profiling, and specific marketing strategies and tactics. This process takes 3-4 months, and we sometimes then support on the execution of the strategy.