Storytelling Takes a Village

To this day, one of the most impactful marketing campaigns I’ve come across is NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital’s “Amazing Things Are Happening Here.” The hospital, in conjunction with its marketing firm, the now-defunct Munn Rabôt, located patients who’d undergone life-changing surgeries, had them tell their stories, and linked the stories to the doctors that made them happen. The ads appeared everywhere: online, in print, on YouTube, on TV, and outdoors.

Munn Rabôt described the campaign thusly: “NewYork-Presbyterian was well recognized for providing superior medical care, but few believed the hospital’s staff would go to such lengths, or take such risks, to help patients regain their health. We created a series of :60 black and white spots where people told us riveting stories of their unique treatment at New York-Presbyterian. Unlike most healthcare campaigns, this work does not feel like advertising. The result: a 40% increase in web visits and nearly double the brand’s awareness.”

The digital services firm Brogan & Partners points out what makes the campaign unique: “We don’t see a single sprinting doctor, beeping monitor or jolting defibrillator. And yet we’re pulled in by the real-life drama.”

To me, it’s perfect. Simple, clear, to the point. Best of all, it doesn’t hit you over the head with a sales message. (Munn Rabôt would go on to produce NYU Langone’s similarly impressive “Made for New York” campaign, which included the spectacular one-take spot, “Winter Athletes.”)

One of the greatest challenges for nonprofits, aside from acquiring customers and retaining current ones, is convincing customers to invest in the organization — so when it comes time to renew a membership, or make an annual donation, they think of the organization not only as a place to enjoy an activity or that provides a service, but also as a nonprofit that’s doing good in the world. This saying, which I’ve seen at numerous YMCAs, neatly sums up the feeling, or sense, that a good campaign can impart:

An institutional branding campaign that tells your organization’s story and reinforces your mission, vision, and values can be an amazingly effective way of communicating with current and prospective subscribers or donors. And while it’s wonderful if you can afford one, you don’t need a fancy firm to make this kind of campaign happen. Clearly, NYU Langone couldn’t have made the Athletes spot without a budget (most of which probably went to securing the rights to Free’s “All Right Now”), but I’ve also seen good institutional branding campaigns produced on a shoestring.

Thinking about producing one yourself? Here are some steps to follow:

1. First and foremost: formulate a thematic and aesthetic through-line that connects your pieces, be they videos, photos, or podcasts. One of the reasons the NY-P campaign works is because it finds a consistent look and feel for every piece: black and white videos/photos of former patients, followed by a logo and a website. That’s it.
2. Think about what form(s) you want your campaign to take. Do you envision it consisting of videos, as NY-P did? Will there be still photos for print advertising? Shorter videos for social media? An audio component? Knowing how your campaign will play out will determine the resources you need up front.
3. Obtain buy-in from every level of the organization. Having your CEO on board is just as important as program directors and participants. I’m willing to bet that everyone at NY-P, including the administration, doctors and nurses, as well as the patients, committed to the project. When everyone pitches in to make a campaign a reality, it’s exponentially easier to craft a successful storytelling campaign.
4. Once you’re ready to roll, you‘ll need a good videographer and/or photographer. While anything these days can be shot with an iPhone, you want your images to look good. An experienced videographer will shoot in high-resolution, set up a seamless or find a suitable room, know how to light the space, and capture good sound. They’re also likely to be adept with video or audio editing. Fortunately, there are a lot of good photo-videographers out there, and many will negotiate the price of their services, especially if you’re a nonprofit or can provide something in return.
5. Have a distribution plan. So you’ve produced a decent campaign. Now what are you going to do with it? As mentioned, NY-P took a multi-pronged approach, plastering their ads all over New York — which, again, is something you can do if you have the budget. But if that’s not the case, start by creating a page on your website where your content can live, preferably with its own domain. You’ll then want to promote your spots on social media (and Google, if you have a grant or the $$$ for paid ads) without any kind of “sales” message. Remember, social media rewards the sharing of stories that promote human connection. Short videos that are “sticky” (that stop you from scrolling for a minute or two), that capture something essential about the human experience, should (in a perfect world) be rewarded by the platform’s algorithm, while those that smell like ads will likely be suppressed.

A few last things:

1. Find a good interviewer. While some people are born storytellers, and can deliver a compelling testimony in three minutes or less, these folks are few and far between. More likely, you’ll need to ask a series of questions to tease the story out of your subjects. Good interviewers know what questions to ask to get you the answers you need.
2. Be discerning. Not every interview you conduct is going to be a winner. If you don’t find an emotional kernel, something that’s moving, or at least relatable, don’t use it. An unfortunate reality of creating this kind of campaign is that not every story’s going to land, and not everyone is a compelling speaker. That’s why it’s best to get a sense of what your subject is going to say before you sit down. If a program director comes to you and says, “Oh my goodness, Beatrice has the best story, you have to talk to her,” it’s okay to ask for more information. If the program director can’t articulate the nature of the story, it’s possible your participant won’t be able to either.
3. Make sure your spots, be they videos, still photos, or otherwise, can exist in a vacuum. In other words, if your spot is a video, you should only need to append your logo and a call to action. No more. It should be as self-explanatory as possible.

When I started at the Marlene Meyerson JCC Manhattan in July 2014, I created a low-cost campaign that made the most of our then-new tagline, “Everyday Extraordinary.” Was the campaign successful? Yes and no. While we managed to capture thirty in-person interviews with folks whose lives were impacted by the JCC, some worked better than others. I pulled one or two, but wasn’t as discerning as I’d be if I was creating the campaign today. I was a new employee at the time, with tons on my plate and limited resources; I didn’t feel it was in our best interest to conduct X more interviews in the hopes of hitting some sweet spot. To paraphrase my old boss, I didn’t want “to make perfect the enemy of good.” I’m just a little pickier now than I used to be. (You can watch most of those videos here.)

A video from the Everyday Extraordinary series

In 2019, I talked my boss into agreeing to a second institutional branding campaign, one that would adorn the walls of our building and be used on our windows. This campaign, which we called “Faces of the Community,” was different from “Everyday Extraordinary” in that it involved portraits and audio interviews instead of video interviews. A similar process was utilized to find our subjects, and, with the help of a professional photographer, graphic designers, and an amazing admin team, the campaign came together beautifully. I conducted audio interviews with each subject after their portrait session, and, when each portrait went up, it was accompanied by a QR code one could scan to hear the interview. (You can watch a short video about the making of this campaign here, and listen to the audio interviews here.)

Faces of the Community

There’s no question that institutional branding/storytelling projects can be complicated and time-consuming. But they can pay dividends in helping your existing audience invest in your organization, and informing those on the outside of the impact you’re having.

Winick Marketing & Advocacy specializes in such projects. Contact us to discuss how we can make the power of storytelling work for you!