A simple, structured approach to clarity.

A narrative hierarchy has four core elements.

A great narrative helps people to connect to what you’re saying emotionally and intellectually.

It ensures that you are clear, resonant, practical and convincing.

A complete narrative may have more than these 4 elements, but this where you start.

Great narratives are powerful.

1. Great narratives resonate emotionally and intellectually with their audiences.
2. They can tell a thousand stories – for customers, prospects, investors, and employees. They naturally help marketing language become cohesive across assets, channels and time. Every new web page, whitepaper and presentation is easier to build and has greater value toward building brand value. They help ensure that product roadmaps reflect brand and market priorities. They help build pride in the company.
3. Great narratives are organic. They are easy for people to understand, internalize and explain to others. This means that your customers can easily spread the word, and every employee is an evangelist telling a cohesive story.
4. Narrative strength is measurable. A narrative can be measured against objective criteria. This helps teams to converge on the best solution with much less emphasis on opinion and internal politics.
5. Narratives evolve with time. Business is a dynamic concept, and so is narrative. Having it formally built and documented, however, helps to make changes clear and deliberate rather than clumsy and random.