Brand Storytellers Wanted
The rise of meaning in the throes of AI upheaval
Hi friend,
Good to see you here.
If you’re following my stories for a while, I can definitely see you as a marketing communications professional, or as anyone who believes in the power of storytelling to move hearts and minds.
For the past couple of years, if your focus has been on producing creative content, I bet you’ve likely been thinking that after the explosion of AI, all your career prospects are gone:
“AI can now do my work much faster and cheaper.”
Well, think again.
I graduated from the School of Journalism & Communications at the University of Florida in the mid ‘90s. The whole rage at the time was extending news media to the Internet.
Imagine that!
Creating a “digital twin” for the local paper, the Gainesville Sun, using that grey-colored NSCA Mosaic website! The first generation of web browsers.
It looked something like:
Back then, my MA program was called “Electronic Publishing Management,” and the whole emerging space — “New Media.”
Indeed, human naming strategy is fascinating.
The Internet was that shiny object of its times people learned how to drive with new job titles emerging like Webmaster, Web developer, Web Designer, SEO Expert, and more.
To me, AI is no different. It’s just another tool we need to master and apply our unique brand narratives to.
Throughout your career, you’ve likely served in various corporate communications or marketing roles covering several functions, like copy, design, or video.
You dreadfully watched the initial shockwaves AI has caused in the communication landscape, from massive layoffs in news media and corporate communications to the joint strikes of creative professionals in Hollywood demanding better AI regulations, back in 2023.
What’s happening now is the grand wake-up call.
It’s in essence, the rule of Diminishing Marginal Value, which in plain language says this:
The first orange you eat is incredible, but the 100th one - not so much…
Now apply this logic to what we’ve seen with AI.
The ease of producing visual stories has created an onslaught of content that no doubt has elevated everybody’s creative and communication skills.
After the initial wows, and with the rapid AI advancements, greed and speed banded together to create poor, unrelatable content - aka AI Slop.
Ready to boost your storytelling with AI—while keeping it authentically you?
Book a call!
Add to that the recent release of Claude Code and Claude CoWork, which wiped out $2 trillion of market capitalization for SaaS companies.
Companies realized that one of the last moats or bastions of defense they have is their brand.
Trust can’t be replicated with better tech.
You build trust over time with human-centric, meaningful stories that prove your value day in and day out.
As this WSJ story indicates, this has created a tremendous surge in demand for true brand storytellers by combining old functions like communications, product, marketing, and media into a single storytelling powerhouse.
This is why I tell my clients and students when deciding if their plot lines are any good: “if you don’t believe the story you create, no one will.”
Meaning is the new game in town:
It’s the chase of relatable authenticity that immediately captures people’s attention and, if repeated enough times turn into empathy, trust, and action.
Savvy brand storytellers, from the early days sitting around campfires, are essential for engaging people with stories adapted to each stage of the buyer’s journey.
The bottom line, it’s never been a better time to leverage the latest tools for telling compelling, meaningful stories that bring your brand to life.
Good thing, you and all of us humans still have this “special code line” that allows us to connect with others by carefully listening and telling memorable stories.
How are you spreading stories people care about these days?
See you next time!
Best,
- Shlomi
Shlomi Ron
Founder, Visual Storytelling Institute
story > visual > emotion > experience
shlomi@visualstorytell.com
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