Nespresso; from George to Ethiopia

We all have seen the commercials from Nespresso with George Clooney enjoying one of the coffees from them in a fancy coffeeshop. Telling the brand's story about luxury, indulgence and exclusivity

Yesterday Nespresso introduced their new campaign. Shifting the focus from the luxury of coffee to the origin of their coffee. The first coffee is Bukeela ka Ethiopia. Using the words of Maureen Baas, marketing director of Nespresso Europe. "People are used to the images of George and the luxury espresso bars. But we thought it time to show Nespresso has more stories to tell. We know so much about coffee and have such wonderful stories to tell about the place of origin of the coffee. But we never told those stories." 

The images sure look very beautiful. Take a look at the new story of Nespresso.

Suspended coffee

What kind of coffee, I hear you wonder?

I came accross this wonderful story a while back, but was reminded of it today when I saw it again at a Facebook page of a friend.

Suspended Coffee, an amazing initiative. You buy a coffee, or something else to drink or eat at a local coffeestore. But you don't buy one, you buy two or even more. One for you, and one suspended. The coffeestore gives this coffee or food to somebody in need who comes to that same store to ask for help. 
That way they have something warm to drink, and it only costs you one cup of coffee. And the plus side to it, you know your donated money is actually being used for food and not drugs. And you support a local coffeestore, who sells an extra cup of coffee.

Take a look at the website, to see which coffeestore in your neighbourhood participates. (edit: Suspended coffee informed me they have a new website, check it out here.)

And when you are on the website, read the story on How it Started. Makes you think on how small a thing you can do to change somebodies story.

Share this story! And when you can, buy a suspended coffee to make somebodies story a little better.

The Bodyshop

The Bodyshop, started in 1976 with one store in the UK, now has world wide over 2.500 stores.

They work and communicate from a very strong believe: 

"The business of business should not just be about money, it should be about responsibility. It should be about public good, not private greed." Dame Anita Roddick. Human Rights Activist. Founder of The Body Shop.

They sell beauty products, but those do not make their core story. Their values as they state on their website are: Support Community Fair Trade, Defend Human Rights, Against Animal Testing, Activate Self-Esteem and Protect Our Planet.

These beliefs come forth in everything they do. Commercials aren't about the products, they are about the silliness of skinny models, when no normal woman is that skinny. Or making sure all beauty products are cruelty free.

And they show this with everything they do. The website is green, the logo has green colours in it. Even the stores have lots of green in them with wooden displays.

They have a very powerful story to tell, and they live to it, since the day they started.

Storytelling by Ikea

Ikea, the world known furniture and decorations seller from Sweden. You either hate them, or you are a big fan of them. 

But they do tell a strong story, to which they stick. 

They started in Sweden and they do tell you. The design with lots of wood and light colours is Northern European. All the names of the furniture have a Swedish background. The famous meatballs in the restaurant are a Swedish tradition. Every store is very recognisable in the bright yellow and blue, the colours of the Swedish flag.

The showroom, yes that maze that you can't get out. It is a big story. They do tell you what Ikea is selling, showing you practical solutions for the problems you could encounter in such a room. Making it all look and feel cosy, as if you could live there, in that showroom. And everything on display they sell. The carpet, the painting, the cushions, the light, everything is there for you to buy.

And than there is the catalogue. Wow, just look at Wikipedia and be blown away by the numbers. In 2013 208 million copies were printed, in 62 versions for 43 countries! That's more than any book has prints in a year.

And when you tell such a powerful story, you can even take a joke:

Ikea, a strong brand with a strong story.

Corporate Christmas storytelling

Christmas time is known as the season of giving. The season where we take a little closer look at the people around us. Those who can use a little extra help. Or those who have helped you, to thank them for it.

WestJet Airlines made one of their flights unforgetable for their customers. When leaving from the Hamilton Airport on their flight to Toronto the passengers were greeted by a Santa who asked them what they would like to have for Christmas.

A big surprise waited for them when the arrived in Toronto!

Of course it is "just" a marketing stunt. But this video has been watched 32 million times (talking about going viral!). What a great way to tell your corporate story. And they do more things like this. When you watch it on YouTube, on the right side there are also April Fools from WestJet and other Christmas specials.

Seasons greetings

Once every year, you tell your story to your friends and family.

When writing your Christmas cards.

Sending your best wishes around the world. Maybe mentioning something exciting that has happened during the past year, or something that both of you are looking forward to in the next year.

This week I have been writing my cards.

The ones to friends from far away are already in the mail. The ones for friends and family in The Netherlands will go in the mail this week. So hopefully all will be in time for Christmas.

Did you tell your story to all your loved ones? Otherwise, you still have a week before it is Christmas!

De Efteling

You have corporate storytelling.
But what if you make storytelling to be your corporate business?

Here in The Netherlands we have The Efteling. Founded in 1933 with a Fairy Tale Forest started in 1952, now a World of Wonders.

It is a large forest where the various characters from beloved fairy tales have taken their residence. Sleeping Beauty sleeps here in her castle, with the other inhabitants of the castle fast a sleep, except for one.... the witch is spinning her wool. Little Red Riding Hood is at the door of grandmothers cottage (where, when you peek through the window, you actually see she is not in her bed, but the big bad wolf is). The dwarfs are mourning Snow White who they carefully put in her glass coffin, surrounded by the animals from the woods. And Rapunzel is letting her hair down, but who is climbing up, yes, the witch. 

All fairy tales come together here, displayed in their various homes in a luscious green forest. Where a narrator tells you the story and at some places you can even read the story in a big book.

Everything in the park is themed around various stories, thrill rides, restaurants, shops, even the bathrooms and the waste bins. 

If you want to experience a bit of what I'm talking about. Look here.

Surrounded by stories, you feel like you are walking in a storybook come to life. A childhood dream, that will take everybody back to the wonderful world of fairy tales.

Weta Workshop

For fans of the Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit (and much more movies) they are also known as the Wizards of Weta. They know how to make dreams come to life.

Founded over 25 years ago by Richard Taylor and Tania Rodger, started in their own flat. By now they are world famous for what they do best, creating dreams.

I've had the pleasure of meeting people from Weta at conventions. And they all talk with the same passion, enthousiasm and love for their work.
And I have been able to visit the Weta Store and the Window on the Workshop. To really be where the magic happens. To see people from Weta create new figurines. 

This short movie "A Single Dream" shows what I think is Weta: love and craftsmenship.

Weta as a company tells a very strong story. Which they show in everything they do. From contact with their fans online, in the store or at conventions, to what they make and how they let the world know they are so very proud of what they do. I'm a big fan!

A day on an airport - Atlanta

I love travel stories. What do people have to tell about a place they have just visited. To go with them, through their story, to a new place or to hear them raving about their most favourite place in the world. To maybe do stuff I would never dare to do or be able to do. 

And I love to share my travel stories. Don't start me on New Zealand, because you won't be gone within the next half hour. I just keep on going, I love it there. And New York, ah! Or the Dutch sea side or ..... (there you go.... I can't stop and in my mind I'm there again).

Getting from one place to another is for me also a fun part of traveling. Being at an airport, watching other people come and go. And traveling itself. By train, bus, plane. To interact with other people, hear where they are going. Watch them spending their time.

CNN made an amazing visual and written story. About the airport of Atlanta. "A day in the life of the world's busiest airport". With beautiful images from the people and life at the airport. But also stories of the visitors. People who are waiting for others to come home. People who are traveling somewhere.

Go check it out. It looks stunning and the reading is wonderful. Start scrolling through it or pick a key word you want to see and read about.

Coca Cola Refreshing the world, one story at a time

Over the past year Coca Cola has been changing their website and the way they interact with brand loyals / fans of the brand. Mainly because: "...storytelling is the cornerstone of 21st century communications. We believed that great, brand-created stories matter, that exceptional writing wins the day, and that building a digital newsroom would lead not only to a transformation in how we engage with our consumers but also how we work. Like a modern election campaign, we believed that the best content is social at the core, digital by design, and emotional." 

All companies tell you a story, because convincing customers to buy your product is telling a story. But to put it this straight forward and really making customer stories the centre of the website, wow, I love it.

Quote from the website:
"Today, storytelling is the heart of the company’s brand, driving every phase of its advertising and marketing campaigns."

The website uses stories around various kinds of ways to interact while enjoying Coca Cola. But the site does remain a very Coca Cola feel. For instance some of the headers used:

• Unbottled: the website section with blogs

• What's bubbling: most favoured blogposts

• The Fizz: Most read, most shared, most watched, most debated

The main colour use remains white and red (coke red).
And they keep up with their previous slogan "Share a smile, share a coke" with sharing happy stories and doing good for the world.

Go and have a look at the website and the stories they tell. I'm absolutely thrilled by it.