Joe Lambert: Brands and Storytelling
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Joe Lambert is the Founding Director of the Center for Digital Storytelling. Joe founded CDS (formerly the San Francisco Digital Media Center) in 1994, with wife Nina Mullen and colleague Dana Atchley, as a community arts center for new media. Together they developed a unique computer training and arts program known as the Digital Storytelling Workshop.
SSM: Why do you think people are so compelled to create and share their own stories as well as participate in the stories of others (ie.YouTube)?Joe Lambert: People have always documented to self-substantiate, but the web has proven that the border between public and private no longer has meaning for scores of people, and so we find on YouTube or blogs enormously revealing perspectives on almost all aspects of life that would have been considered purely within the private sphere, between your priest/shrink/therapy group and you.
People share into these spaces for various reasons, but you could sum up that they are looking for connection. At the same time, we live in a culture of celebrity where all of us understand more or less about the 15 minutes. And we realize that the shortest cut to fame is outrage. Not necessarily outrage as in stupid stunts or childishly transgressive acts, although that dominates YouTube, but outrage in terms of breaking with any norm of public discourse.
SSM: There has been discussion amongst media producers regarding quality execution versus a great story. How much of good digital storytelling lies in the creative process and how much is technological know-how?JL: Form and content are never separable. Stories, any form or art, fail, in the sense they are not effective in communicating their meaning, when the form is not in sync with the message. There is also purposeful discordance between form and content, a calling out of the form to make us think differently about the relationship, but this is mainly a process that works with highly literate audiences, who have grown tired of predictability of any sort, and become engaged when form is discordant with their expectations.
SSM: Do you think digital storytelling is important for companies today?JL: Many corporations have good stories, and support for those stories throughout their organization and perhaps larger society, and in those cases, the brand of the individuals and the brand values of the corporation are aligned in such a way that letting people share their stories actually can build trust, and trust is the most vital of commodities in all relationships, internal or external. This is where we have seen digital storytelling work, and blogging, and other forms of shared storytelling. There will always be unfortunate abuses by individuals, but we believe openness is always rewarded.
SSM: How does a company/brand discover its own unique story?JL: The same way as people. Find the decisive moments of challenge and change in the organization’s story. Usually it is a moment where failure is absolutely possible but because of the values of the individuals involved, failure was avoided, and success was made possible. All processes are unique, so it is also digging out from the clichés to the really, really specific details of these events, that demonstrate the values. Bill Hewlett and David Packard’s garage where they made equipment for the film industry became legend, as did very specific quotes by those individuals in facing issues early on in the company. Those project the brand as well as anything.
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