Example of Corporate Storytelling in the wild: Volantio & United
I love reading an article and finding an example of Corporate Storytelling out "in the wild":
When Barodawala brought his idea to United, he used a metaphor involving three egg cartons, each lined up along their short sides. He filled them with a mixture of red- and green-dyed eggs: bargain shoppers and deep-pocketed business travelers. “What would you say,” Barodawala asked, “if you could move some of these red eggs (to empty slots in a different carton), and just replace them with green eggs?”
The executives lit up at the idea. As the board spitballed over how much this could represent to their bottom line each year, exorbitant numbers were thrown around: eight figures? Nine?
“If you can offer a buyout to a customer in advance, everyone will be happier,” he said. “For airlines, it represents a release valve — a way to shuffle people around when you’re capacity-constrained. This benefits the customer as well. You’re creating choice for them, and that’s what gets me really excited.”
Let me be clear: we didn't help Mr. Barodawala with his message. But I admire his use of an analogy and a prop to pitch and land a concept in a way that lit up the imagination and drove excitement within his client. And it worked: United is in the process of testing the Volantio solution with select travelers.
For those that have been through a Corporate Storytelling Workshop, you'll recognize this as a frame and a set of clear, compelling benefits.
I'll post more examples as I find them. I'd love to hear you share some of your frames - or examples of corporate storytelling you hear out in the wild.