Telling Tales: The Narrative Revenue Opportunity

by Dr. Bill Nichols, Astrophel group

‘Narrative, narrative’ everywhere. It’s a staple of consultancy creds. Every PR campaign and every brand, apparently, should have one.

But how exactly do you sell it? Make money? And, as a client, what are you buying?

Cynics say 20 years of narrative chat is just consultant re-packaging – backstories and news agendas remixed. A case of: ‘the sun shone down, having no alternative, on the nothing new’ – to quote a favourite narrative opening! (‘A’)

Maybe. But my own research review is surprisingly positive. It comes with two caveats. That: (1) PR folks really are the great storytellers; and (2) PR consultancy management teams really want to exit their traditional comfort zone and exploit their intellectual assets (e.g. storytelling).

So what are the prospects? This little narrative is a ‘will-they-do-it? And like ‘whodunnits’, we need means, motive and first…

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(A) Beckett, S, Murphy (1938);