NEW YORK–It looks like credit unions have some significant competition when it comes to effectively telling stories.
Telling the “credit union story” is frequently discussed at industry events and written about in opinion and analysis articles as a means of building awareness of CUs, what they offer and how the financial cooperatives differ from banks.
And it turns out credit unions are hardly alone and it’s getting crowded in the storytelling department, one new report suggest.
As the Wall Street Journal observed, “Corporate America’s latest hot job is also one of the oldest in history: storyteller.”
“Some companies want a media relations manager by a slightly flashier name,” the report explained. “Others need people to produce blogs, podcasts, case studies and more types of branded content to attract customers, investors and potential recruits. All seem to use the word differently than in its usual application to novelists, playwrights and raconteurs.”
‘An Integral Role’
The Journal pointed to one Google job ad that stated, “As storytellers, we play an integral role in driving customer acquisition and long-term growth.”
The listing sought a customer storytelling manager to join the company’s Google Cloud storytelling team, according to the Journal.
Google isn’t alone among high-tech firms seeking an old-fashioned skill. Microsoft’s security organization has been recruiting a senior director overseeing narrative and storytelling, described as “part cybersecurity technologist, part communicator and part marketer,” the Journal said. In addition, compliance technology firm Vanta this month began hiring for a head of storytelling, offering a salary of up to $274,000, while productivity app Notion recently merged its communications, social media and influencer functions into one 10-person, so-called storytelling team.
In the financial services space, USAA is hunting for its fourth staff storyteller, less than a year since it hired its first, according to the report.
‘Much More Than a Copywriter’
The company still recruits specialists for roles in media relations, speechwriting and the like, but has begun to employ storytellers who write blogs, reports, scripts and other material to connect with members, Tara Ford Payne, vice president of communications and public affairs, told the Wall Street Journal.
“It’s so much more than a copywriter,” Payne said. “This is truly bringing to life scenarios, situations and opportunities to advocate for our members.”
A USAA storyteller might write a guide to mental health benefits, she told the Journal, or help work some real-life experiences into an executive’s speech.
“Marketing and technology companies have often repurposed grandiose descriptions from other arenas to lend corporate office roles additional sparkle,” the report explained. “While the heyday of technology gurus, developer ninjas, SEO rockstars and at least one digital prophet have long since passed, calling salaried communications professionals ‘storytellers’ and the practice of storytelling appears to only have picked up in popularity.”
