Storytelling on the Singapore SMRT
Storytelling on the Singapore SMRT
thank you for sharing this Coen Tan
I have visited Singapore 15 times since the first two in 2001.
the SMRT and most of the street are filled with people
not paying attention to anything other than
their cells phones
laptops
tablets
newspapers
books
sleeping
staring into space
or maybe with a fellow traveler
Actually I have seen this same behavior on ALL
rapid transit systems I have ever traveled on
over the past 40 years around the globe.
Here is what Coen Tan posted on Facebook about Singapore and Storytelling on the SMRT
The power of storytelling.
After all the criticism received by SMRT over train breakdowns, SMRT has taken the route of telling stories of their everyday heroes, people like you and me, with families likes yours and mine.
Sadly, this becomes just "background noise" because people don't pay attention to their surroundings anymore these days, their attention are buried in their phones...
Just like me now as I am typing this post.
However, there is still lessons we can learn here about storytelling in business and communications. For stories to stick and inspire, they must fulfil the following conditions:
1) The Right Message.
The headline takes a conciliatory tone, softly admitting that they have messed up and so are working on it. However, I find it curious for them to remind people of the breakdowns by saying they are working on fixing it. People will complain all they want, but will still take the train because often there is just no next best alternative. So it's enough to just talk about the behind the scenes heroes, without needing to talk about working on things. It's just like saying "Don't think of the pink elephant!"
2) The Right Person
People analyse and process ideas, but they connect to people. That's why stories are powerful. However, that's only part of the equation. The characters showcased must be people that your target audience can relate to. 8 years ago when Singapore's table tennis women's team (with a team full of foreign-born paddlers) won the silver medal in the Beijing Olympics, Singaporeans' pride was tinged with comments that we "imported" a medal. Yet, 3 days ago when Joseph Schooling won the gold, social media was awashed with proclaimations that "one of our own" won it. Notwithstanding that the common folk in the street will unlikely be in the situation to compete for an olympic gold, people connect because they feel he's "one of us". In the story in the picture, by sharing the information such as "Father of One, Punggol resident", it helps the common folk to connect with him as "one of us". We are also less demanding and critical of such people, since he's "one of us" and we aren't perfect, so to make mistakes is normal. In storytelling, it's important to choose the right people that your audience can connect to.
3) The Right Place and Time
As I mentioned, on the train, people are just getting from place to place, and they're focused on whatever's on the mobile phone screens. It's unlikely they would have noticed anyway. Besides, do you really want to be reminded of (the possibility of) train breakdowns when you're on one? Would you really want an airline to talk of the tagline "thanks for flying xxx airline, the world's safest airline!" NO... When you step onto a plane, you don't think, you just trust (you'll be safe). I think such a story would have been more effective if it had been for a recruitment advertisement, and subliminal message of "join us! We can make it better"
Let me know what you think, if you agree, why? If you disagree, why?
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