How do you position new products and services, so people sense that it will change their life (in a good way)?

That’s the goal of the product story, the fourth element of my strategic narrative system.

And this is the topic we explored on Thursday during the Strategic Narrative Underground Session #8.

Watch the replay here, and play the game of “How do you cross a canyon in Nepal?”. You’ll see, it’s pretty fun.

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Talking points of that session

1. Great narratives are always inspired by people who see new possibilities. But they are most importantly enabled by innovative tools.
2. For example, the Klondike Gold Rush was enabled by the outfitters of Seattle, who provided the tools that people needed to look for gold.
3. The question that the product story addresses is “What will we use?” (To achieve the opportunity framed by the narrative).
4. The attributes of the product story: it makes the path to success easy, it is tangible, it offers gradual options, it makes things actionable, and it calls people to action.
5. To illustrate how to frame your product story, let’s imagine that you have a business in Nepal to help travelers cross a canyon. How many ways do you have to help them cross the canyon?
6. Many possibilities are ranging from slow and safe to fast and risky.
7. Your strategic choice will depend on your decision to either optimize a conventional way to cross a canyon or transform the way people normally cross.
8. If you go with a transformative product, you must change the narrative about crossing a canyon. Therefore, the story that you will use will focus on this goal.
9. Your product story can be thought of as a trade-off: trading risk against speed, in the case of crossing a canyon in Nepal.
10. A basic archetype for your product story: our product enables you to ……(the outcome) without …… (the trade-off)
11. Don’t start with your product story. It’s the last one people need to hear in the context of a new narrative. Instead, the origin, the opportunity, and the perspective provide the indispensable context that people need to believe in the value of your product.
12. Of course, figuring out who your client is is another important aspect to consider when framing your product story.
13. Sometimes, the product story is dictated by external forces that make it mandatory to change our behavior and the narrative we go by.
14. The product story is part of a system based on values and predefined expectations you must work with… unless you decide to innovate and change the narrative.

Enjoying this? Join us next Thursday, June 24th, at 9:00 am Pacific. It’s FREE.

I am inviting you every Thursday at 9:00 am Pacific to attend a free 30-minute talk+conversation about one of the strategic narrative principles of the book I am writing. I call these meetings Strategic Narrative Underground Sessions.

It is an opportunity to connect, learn and provide input on a piece of work that you might end up using for your own benefit. For me, it’s a chance to test new ideas.

If you’d like to check out what we’ve covered so far, you can now watch the recordings of our previous sessions here on Youtube.

Register in advance for this meeting here.

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

A bientôt!