B2B Marketing | The power of Story-Telling

Marketing is about great story-telling, so pull up a chair and listen. It’s a good lesson on how things are sometimes not what they appear to be.

Once upon a time there was a tiny village cursed by a ferocious monster who blocked the only road leading into and out of the village.

Many courageous knights set out to fight the monster, but no matter which weapon they chose, the monster with his magical powers would match the weapon with more than double the power.

The monster bellowed:

“None shall pass without a fight.
Choose your weapon, dark or light.
I’ll more than match you, wrong or right!”

Three brave young knights accepted the challenge, brandished weapons and attacked the monster. But the results were not good.

• The first knight, who brandished a club of wood, was flattened by a club of wood twice its size.
• A second knight tried to burn the monster with fire, but was sizzled to a crisp when the monster blew a fire twice as hot back at him.
• A third knight attacked the monster with a sword of steel, but was sliced in half by the monster’s magical sword - twice as sharp and long.

The fate of these knights convinced the townspeople that the quest was useless and they lived with their suffering.

One day Jack, the village fool, announced he would vanquish the monster with his new idea.  Almost everyone laughed at Jack.  But a handful of curious people marched out with him.

The monster raised up to its full height and roared, causing the ground to shake.  He glared at Jack and the townspeople trembled with fear.  But Jack took a apple and walked right up to the monster.  “Are you hungry?” Jack asked. The monster opened his massive mouth and roared. A lady fainted with fear.

But the monster gently took the apple and ate it.  Then he raised it up in his fist and brought it down in front of the crowd.  When he opened his fist, the crowd was shocked to find two apples — juicier and redder than before.  In the same way an clay urn of water was given to the monster, only to be replaced by two clay urns, with sweeter and clearer water.

The crowd ran back to the town to share the news of this miracle.  When they returned, they found Jack and the monster side by side, smiling broadly.  Now they realized what they thought was a curse, was actually a blessing.

Adapted from Ed Stivender’s retelling of Aaron Pipers “The Giant Who Was More than a Match.”

Want to engage buyers and develop better relationships?  Learn to tell great stories.

“Find New Customers can certainly help your business dramatically improve the flow of sales-ready leads to salespeople.” Paul Dunay, Buzz Marketing for Technology.