CGM blog: What’s the story, morning glory

11 Feb CGM blog: What’s the story, morning glory

Can you believe it’s nearly 20 years since Oasis released their classic album What’s The Story, Morning Glory?

Count the hits – Roll With It, Champagne Supernova, Don’t Look Back in Anger, Wonderwall, Some Might Say…

Not only did it catapult Oasis into the big time at the height of Brit pop – it is the message of the album’s title that is significant. Have something to say, shape a story, say it well.

Brit pop was the musical score of the mid-90s. Oasis, Blur, Cast and Pulp et al took to the stage with a swagger and songs that said much about our life and times albeit with an appealing arch back to post-war modernism. Park life.

The intelligent use of Don’t Look Back Anger as the finale of the BBC seven part drama Our Friends in the North as a dishevelled Daniel Craig (far from his James Bond smoothy-chops look) walks past the camera was a spine-tingling moment of popular culture.

Just as the Gallaghers sauntered onto stadium stages with an exaggerated Madchester gait so Craig, Mark Strong and the particularly wonderful Christopher Eccleston would come to dominate screen and stage – Eccleston achingly so as Trevor Hicks in Jimmy McGovern’s 1996 drama-documentary, Hillsborough – a real life drama still being played out.

And so to storytelling…

The theme of our forthcoming Birmingham Business Media Club meeting on February 20 is How to write appealing press releases to achieve media coverage.

If you want my full take on it – be there (or be square) but, writ-large, it goes something like this…

The first and foremost priority any decent journalist will ask when they glance at a press release is: what’s the story?

That means you stand a better chance of achieving column inches or airtime if you have a clear story to tell – and it has public appeal.

Make journalists go hunting for interesting facts and the chances are they’ll lose the scent of interest. Life’s too short. You have to give it to them straight.

And your story must be appealing. No one wants to read sales spiel or empty rhetoric. No one deserves free media coverage simply for existing either. You have to work at it.

Stories sell. Stories are effective. They work. They fulfil a fundamental human need to communicate with our fellow beings.

Man walks into a pub….

This isn’t rocket science. it is the way we naturally interact.

And stories are portable. A great story about your business can be use it in a plethora of ways – not just a press release to achieve publicity but also as case studies, presentations, testimonials, social media, video.. and so on.

Our recent Inspire 2015 event was aimed at inspiring people to make a change to their business lives. We didn’t spin yarns or make things up. Instead we had a series or inspiring ‘been there, done it’ speakers with great personal stories to tell.

When we promote our media training courses we focus on outcomes rather than course content – at how people have benefitted from the skills and confidence gained from taking our courses. After all, I didn’t achieve these marvellous things – they did. Their stories matter. They deserve to be told.

And that’s what you need to do to publicise your business. Tell stories.

So go on, create a Champagne Supernova (in the sky) and Don’t Look Back In Anger – because I really don’t want to hear you say that…

Chris Green is an author, broadcaster and media consultant – and managing director of Chris Green Media.