Once Upon A Stay: The Power of Storytelling in Hospitality
An opinion piece exploring how storytelling builds brand identity and emotional loyalty in hospitality, with practical homework frameworks and a student video assignment as a teaching model.
Story telling is not a new phenomenon. McKee noted that stories are ubiquitous and people are exposed to a wide range of stories from birth, including bedtime stories in infancy, fairy tales or fables in childhood, inspirational stories in adolescence and life stories in adulthood. Storytelling is an ancient art form and a valuable form of human expression.
Storytelling can also be an effective communication tool for businesses that want to connect with customers in a meaningful way. By telling a story, you can share product information or introduce customers to your brand in a way that’s captivating and memorable.
The National Storytelling Network shares that storytelling is interactive, uses words, uses actions such as vocalization, physical movement and gestures, presents a story, and encourages the active imagination of listeners. The topic of storytelling is reminiscent of sharing messages in different ways to different people. A university where I worked had a theme of Dreamers, Thinkers, Doers to describe its students and alumni. As noted in the storytelling definition above, it encourages the active imagination of listeners, or dreamers, thinkers, and doers. One can also think of these descriptions as a process, based on a story, identifying a creative idea (dream), pondering, and thinking about that idea and path (thinkers) and then being able to act on that idea and make it happen (doers). This premise aligns well with the use of storytelling in hospitality and across business sectors and society.
Consider for example, stories about hospitality industry legends and icons and their accomplishments that help tell their story of a brand and themselves. One example would be Kemmons Wilson, a founder of Holiday Inns and his development and sharing of his 20 Tips for Success. I had the good fortune to know Mr. Wilson and had an office down the hall from him when I worked at the University of Memphis and the Kemmons Wilson School of Hospitality & Resort Management. His 20 tips are cues for stories about his personal brand and the Holiday Inn’s brand and its development. That was long ago, but as industry stories, many of these cues have survived.
Kemmons Wilson’s 20 Tips for Success are included below as a reference and show his cue(s) for industry and personal stories.
Work only half a day; it makes no difference which half – it can be either the first 12 hours or the last 12 hours.
Work is the master key that opens the door to all opportunities.
Mental attitude plays a far more important role in a person’s success or failure than mental capacity.
Remember that we all climb the ladder of success one step at a time.
There are two ways to get to the top of an oak tree. One way is to sit on an acorn and wait; the other way is to climb it.
Do not be afraid of taking a chance. Remember that a broken watch is exactly right at least twice every 24 hours.
The secret of happiness is not in doing what one likes, but in liking what one does.
Eliminate from your vocabulary the words, “I don’t think I can” and substitute, “I know I can.”
In evaluating a career, put opportunity ahead of security.
Remember that success requires half luck and half brains.
A person has to take risks to achieve.
People who take pains never to do more than they get paid for, never get paid for anything more than they do.
No job is too hard as long as you are smart enough to find someone else to do it for you.
Opportunity comes often. It knocks as often as you have an ear trained to hear it, an eye trained to see it, a hand trained to grasp it, and a head trained to use it.
You cannot procrastinate – in two days, tomorrow will be yesterday.
Sell your wristwatch and buy an alarm clock.
A successful person realizes his personal responsibility for self-motivation. He starts himself because he possesses the key to his own ignition switch.
Do not worry. You can’t change the past, but you sure can ruin the present by worrying over the future. Remember that half the things we worry about never happen, and the other half are going to happen anyway. So, why worry?
It is not how much you have but how much you enjoy what you have that makes happiness.
Believe in God and obey the Ten Commandments.
The stories prompted by these cues talk about work ethic, positive attitude, risk taking, and positioning yourself for success. We all have stories, professional and personal. Some people tell the stories better than others. Consider the regular and repetitive stories that you share and or you hear from colleagues and family members. My premise of storytelling is that it ties us to something I believe, and that is “history matters” and the content of history are the catalysts of storytelling.
Business Approaches to Storytelling
Consumer psychology and behavior theory demonstrates how some elements of a story; plot, characters, conflict, resolution, and feelings, allows individuals to connect to brand messages.
Storytelling is not only a marketing approach it is a core part of how human beings think and make sense of the word and each other. Human beings tell stories to make sense of experiences, to share values, and to connect. Brands that tell stories are tapping into a natural human inclination and creating messages that feel authentic, are retold, and are associated with meaning beyond the stories themselves.
Brand marketing utilizes storytelling, which has become a common practice and has proven to help build strong emotional connections and brand loyalty. A brand story refers to a series of events created by a company that reflects the origin, development, and evolution of the brand, such as its establishment, significant success or crisis and the future development prospects, or specific events related to the brand/product usage experience created by consumers. Brand storytelling refers to the art of creating a compelling story about a brand, by a firm or consumers, which conveys brand value and establishes connections with consumers.
Existing research indicates that brand stories can be categorized into various types, including top dog versus underdog stories, happy versus meaningful stories, and inspirational versus non-inspirational. From the perspective of brand management , brand stories can be further classified into the stories of brand birth; organizational history; brand vision; brand evolution and innovation; brand benefits and values; brand ambassadors; brand–consumer interaction; brand success; brand image; and brand–social relationships. Stories are about characters , companies, and related peoples in the process to achieve goals and facing obstacles along the way and how they work past and or around them.
Storytelling Homework
A homework assignment for you all is to document your stories. Think about your brand(s), personally and professionally for your businesses. What are the key moments and stories you can share? Obviously, like any effort, define for yourself what you are trying to accomplish, and identify your overall goal(s) and identify content. This can mean noting your key moments as a professional, business, and or experiences that you had to get to where you are today. We all had family, friends, teachers, and colleagues that helped us get to where we are. It is a supreme compliment to have a former student (graduate) thank you for helping them in their journey. A good story can support content by providing examples and allowing listeners to engage and connect through their imaginations and their own experiences.
Your storytelling method of delivery also makes a difference. For a faculty member, the sage on the stage model focuses on one-way oral communication. Though part of the communication process, in which a learning objectives is active, the sage on the stage also needs to be a guide on the side to support student learning. In this scenario the method of delivery could be inclusive of both oral and written communication. Storytelling also has a long history in library and information science and is still longer in sacred texts, folklore, and related wisdom traditions. Stories and storytelling are so essential to human life that we can be described as the “storytelling animal;” they help define the nature of humanity, encompass myths, legends, and folktales, and have passed on wisdom, knowledge, and culture for thousands of years.
Storytelling is quick, natural, clear, credible, compelling, contextual, intuitive and, especially, activating and at its best creates relationships between teller, audience, subject, time, and place. Storytelling for heritage and cultural tourism are important tools in ecotourism, marketing, sustainability, preservation, and conservation. Storytelling has also been used in many disciplines and capacities as a tool to diagnose problems and dissect processes.
For example, Howard Schultz at Starbucks offered a framework with universal elements (Place, People, Perception) alongside a strong core narrative of storytelling. Storytelling is also part of developing leaders and stories have become an increasingly powerful leadership tool s. As noted by Steven Jobs, (Apple) "The most powerful person in the world is the storyteller." As points of reference, Corporate Storytelling Examples from Well-Known Brands shares brand benchmark storytelling exemplars.
As previously noted, brand marketing concepts provide the canvas for business storytelling that can connect consumers and guests to your brand and or organization. Storytelling is a useful mechanism for practitioners to understand and work through marketing problems and serves as a lens through which researchers can explore how marketers move through the Segmentation-Targeting-Positioning (STP) process, encounter and solve problems, and deliver strategic outcomes. Emphasizing that the Segmentation-Targeting-Positioning (STP) process is a central tenet of marketing yet can be challenging to implement in practice, and storytelling can be part of that process.
As decades of marketing literature and popular press have established, great marketing tells a great story . People have trouble paying attention to and retaining information not presented in a compelling, remarkable, or memorable way. Using a story framework as a tool to present information gives the listener a reason to listen to, engage with, and retain the concepts presented. Research also demonstrates that storytelling can be a clear aid to memory, a way of making sense of the world, a means of making and strengthening emotional connections, and a way of recognizing various brands and identifying with them.
Furthermore, in an increasingly digital world, it’s essential for companies to adopt digital storytelling strategies to stay competitive and storytelling and digital marketing go hand in hand and are key elements in the emotional marketing process. Confirming that storytelling uses emotions to build a real and lasting relationship with customers.
Virginia Woolf, (1929) shared “for all the dinners are cooked; the plates and cups are washed; the children are sent to school and go out into the world. Nothing remains of it all. All has vanished. No biography or history has a word to say about it. All these infinitely obscure lives remain to be recorded.” This quote makes the point that stories and storytelling are strongly connected to preserving content and stories of people, for day to day living and businesses, emphasizing that history matters.
Going Forward
A LinkedIn article that offered a framework that started so, you’re wondering , "I’m an accountant, I’m not in sales or marketing, why the heck do I need storytelling?" The truth is, storytelling is how we, as humans, have connected, influenced, and made sense of the world since the dawn of time—and in business, outside of sales and marketing, storytelling is key to building strong teams, leading with purpose, driving change, and creating a culture that resonates with and motivates us. Storytelling is integrated in business, helps to humanize data and build trust and connection. It also can influence and lead to change. The basic premise is that storytelling can help foster engagement by integrating individual contributions into a bigger story.
Storytelling Benchmarks
Stories can be used to explain technical details, demonstrate a process, communicate benefits, spread ideas, connect with people, and help an audience to clearly see (and feel) why they should choose your brand or offering over another. For example, business stories can and should include a company or team’s history, purpose, and their motivating factors. A story can share values, morals, and beliefs of the business and why it exists. A good story can help target market segments understand and be beneficial for both customers and employees.
Stories can also share a simplified, chronological flow of information and details. A strong story can help you streamline and connect all communication types, visual, graphical, auditory, and written for more clarity, cohesion, and impact. The benefits of storytelling in business are wide-ranging and crucial in today’s hyper-competitive, data-laden environment.
Storytelling in business is the process of telling a story, rather than just listing facts when communicating with current or potential customers. To use storytelling in business , begin by determining your audience, fine-tuning your message, choose your hero or subject(s), and draft your story. Crafting your story encompasses beginning and ending with your audience. You can match your story to the audience needs (be truthful and genuine) without reading a list or detailing the how-to-steps and speaking plainly without jargon or buzz words.
Storytelling helps businesses stand out from their competitors, providing their customers with a memorable storyline. An effective story includes details such as the brand’s values and morals, an understanding of the customer’s purchasing trends and a chronological flow of details and information that lead the customer through a story. Storytelling shows customers that a business is much more than a big brand and it leaves out details that are not relevant to a customer’s decision when making a purchase. Your goals are to engage customers and employees, create memories, connect to emotions and feelings, and develop customer loyalty. The final goal is to give businesses a competitive advantage and persuade customers to act.
Storytelling is the art of conveying messages through stories that evoke emotions and captivate the audience. It’s not just about telling a tale but about creating an emotional connection that influences decisions and behaviors. Corporate storytelling is the practice of telling stories that reflect the values and identity of a company. It allows a business to communicate its values and content through compelling stories, drawing customers closer and capturing their attention. By using an appropriate language and engaging tone, these narratives create an emotional bond that strengthens trust in the brand.
How to Build a Business Story
One of the best ways to improve your storytelling skills is by listening carefully to accomplished storytellers. Ask yourself what made the story and its telling engaging? What techniques did the speaker use that you might adopt? As Annette Simmons says, “Great storytellers are compulsive story listeners.” Becoming a great storyteller is a journey, and every journey begins with a single footstep. Higher education institutions are also increasingly adopting digital storytelling as part of their branding and marketing strategies.
Integrating Storytelling for Learning
As shared earlier in this article, classrooms are important places to share stories and integrate storytelling as a teaching and learning tool. The framework of storytelling in the classroom embodies the following proverb “Tell me a fact and I’ll learn. Tell me the truth and I’ll believe. But tell me a story and it will live in my heart forever.” Indian Proverb. I remember some of my best teachers, professors and each was a storyteller. One in high school who shared stories of history and related it to current events and civics, was fascinating. In my first year of college another history professor had good stories but also a great style of storytelling that made you believe you were there whatever the period of the topic.
Stories can serve multiple functions in the classroom, including sparking student interest, aiding the flow of lectures, making material memorable, overcoming student resistance or anxiety, and building rapport between the instructor and the students, or among students themselves. Another tool to help the students begin to understand stories is have them create one.
In a course I taught, the task assigned was to define a problem or issue for a business and create a story around that problem or issue and be able to produce a video to tell the story. There is a lot of technology these to help this effort, and a faculty member can set up the goals, and the students need to plan and then create a storytelling video. The pressure was on for students, and all had a video premier in class. They were required to identify the issue, pre-select (visit your location before filming) the filming shots, people, décor, design, and develop the questions and frame the answers needed. Students also had to develop a script and make sure they got permission from the business owner.
To create a video story students needed to plan their work. Resources for video story development are available online. I shared resources and background development sources we integrated it as part of the course at the time. The outline below can help develop these media related stories and think about storytelling online and in general.
Scripting:
Video Resolution
Video Size and resolution-Optimizing your video for YouTube
Accessibility
Accessibility in videos involves ensuring that content is usable by all viewers through features like captions, audio descriptions, and adjustable settings, making the video experience inclusive for a wider audience.
The goal of this assignment was to tell a story well and share the story with classmates and business owners and then process the facts and generate alternative actions. Not all the stories were perfect but from where I sit, the process of creating a new generation of storytellers had begun.
Good luck with your storytelling journey!
Reprinted from the Hotel Business Review with permission from www.HotelExecutive.com.
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