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Time flies when you’re hanging with Bigfoot.
“What an incredible week,” shares Erma Ratliff, a storyteller for Kanokla Networks in Kansas. “I’m feeling inspired after learning new ways to tell the Kanokla story and the stories of our members.”
“StoryConnect did my heart good!” adds Jamie Dopp, a White River Valley Electric Co-op storyteller from Missouri.
Marketing professionals from across the country converged on Hood River, Oregon, in April for StoryConnect, Pioneer’s largest story-swapping event to date. So many folks wanted to come, we had a waitlist — attendance was capped at 100. After all, Bigfoot is notoriously shy, and it’s hard to share stories in a crowd.
For folks who couldn’t join us, here are the top story session highlights, as rated by attendees.
1. There Is No Finish Line: Lessons Learned from 20 Years at Nike
“As marketers and storytellers, it is really important to stay connected to your mission,” Nike leadership veteran and NEXT VENTURES founding partner Melanie Strong says. “The way a brand makes you feel, the way they connect those feelings to products that you will buy — that is fascinating.”
Melanie transitioned from teaching first grade students to building a world-class brand. She shared stories of storytelling success and failures at Nike.
“You have a moment to tell a story,” she reminds everyone. “Every day, you have to earn that moment again with your customer. Every day, someone else has the opportunity to take that loyalty and love away.”
Melanie’s session culminated with strategic steps to build an engaging and supportive staff culture to keep your brand story on track.
- Keep Staff and Mission Aligned: When Nike shifted its focus toward revenue targets, it led to a disconnect between the employees’ sense of purpose and the company’s goals. This misalignment can result in a loss of motivation and engagement among staff. It’s crucial for organizations to ensure their mission resonates with employees and that staff members feel connected to the broader objectives of the company.
- Get Employee Feedback: Want to know what employees think about you? Make sure you build authenticity and trust into your employee survey process. Combat skepticism around such surveys by ensuring anonymity and demonstrating how feedback will lead to change. This helps create a culture where employees feel heard and valued, which in turn fosters a more positive, productive work environment.
- Stay Connected Though Change: It’s essential for leaders to communicate effectively and maintain a connection with their teams during times of transition. Understanding how to connect with people starts with the leaders’ own practices and extends to how the company markets itself to consumers. Consistency in the employee experience is key to building a brand that staff can be proud of and advocate for.
- Embrace Team Insights: Nike’s global presence requires a localized approach to storytelling. By empowering local teams and embracing insights from diverse communities, Nike was able to create marketing campaigns and products that resonated on a local level while still aligning with the global brand mission. This approach fosters ownership among employees and drives innovation and relevance in different markets.
Sound hard? Just do it. Your utility might not be Nike, but every story benefits from a stronger staff culture.
2. How to Be Smart About Artificial Intelligence
Almost two-thirds of marketers used generative A.I. in a marketing campaign by the end of last year. How? Ideas and inspiration top the list, led by creating outlines and drafting content according to Hubspot.
Pioneer Brand Storyteller Megan McKoy-Noe shared both the latest AI trends and how to create prompts, or instructions for AI bots, to support your stories.
Throughout the session attendees learned how a host of new tools can help Utility Pioneers:
- Refine ideas
- Repurpose content
- Increase your reach
But at the same time, it’s important to set your policy and ensure human review for any and all AI-generated content.
“You are the trusted tech experts in your community,” cautions Megan. “You must edit anything AI provides. These tools can help you work smarter, but only with thoughtful prompt design and human review.”
Links for technology showcased at StoryConnect are at pioneer.coop/aitools, and you can find everything we’ve written about this developing tool at pioneer.coop (tag: artificial storytelling).
3. In Search of the Wild Tofurky
Why did the tofurky cross the road? To prove it wasn’t chicken. That’s how Seth Tibbot, founder of Tofurky, kicked off his StoryConnect session.
The smiling, soft-spoken founder talked about the importance of community and the role rural generosity had in building his multimillion-dollar brand.
“The generosity I found was deeply encouraging,” Seth says when explaining how he found his initial location near Hood River. “The universe was letting me know that I was in the right place.”
Tofurky’s storytelling uses humor to build engaged fans.
“I think humor is underutilized in marketing a lot,” Seth says. “Humor really is a way to connect with people, and that became our mantra at Tofurky.”
Seth shared stories about how he uses smiles to generate sales, including:
- Quirky Branding: The brand embraces a quirky sense of humor, which is evident in its marketing materials and product packaging. This approach helps it stand out in a crowded market and connect with customers on a more personal level.
- Creative Contests: Tofurky has held creative contests, such as imagining what a “Tofurky” would look like in the wild, encouraging artists to submit their interpretations. This not only engages their community, but also reinforces the brand’s fun and imaginative image.
- Humorous Storytelling: The founder of Tofurky shares humorous anecdotes from the company’s history, such as the story of being voted “least likely to succeed in business,” and the challenges of starting a vegetarian business in a nonvegetarian world. These stories humanize the brand and make it more relatable.
- Marketing Campaigns: Their campaigns often feature humorous elements, such as the “Tofurky Trot” or playful takes on traditional meat-based products, which can amuse and attract customers who appreciate a good laugh.
“Taste is king, value is queen,” Seth said in closing. “Everything else is marketing.”
More StoryConnect-ions
Both Melanie and Seth’s keynotes made a strong impact on how attendees view their utility story.
“Listening to their stories and how sticking to the mission statement of their companies helped them be great leaders in their industry goes to show that staying true to your company’s mission isn’t just a slogan,” Erma says. “It’s what keeps you grounded and guides your team through the highs and lows, ensuring everyone is moving in the same direction.”
Photography sessions with Chris Pietsch, the Idea Exchange — featuring 18 three-minute peer ideas — Anne Harvey’s media mix discussion also ranked high on attendee evaluations.
“The StoryConnect content was timely and valuable,” says Elizabeth Brown, a storyteller at PTCI in Oklahoma. “My notebook and mind are full of notes and ideas for future implementation.”
We asked staff to share their favorite moments, too.
“There are so many great takeaways, but for me, I noticed most the connections that were made,” says Pioneer Account Manager Julie Burke-White. “Whether it was sitting around a table, or conversations during the Blazing Story Trails, communicators were discussing great ideas and trading information. It was like a breath of fresh air to see people from all over willing to lift each other up and share knowledge/expertise.”
“During the CEO panel, I was inspired by hearing from some naturally talented communicators who never got complacent and always strive to be better,” says Pioneer Vice President of Marketing Andy Johns. “Libby, Scott and Shep all talked about how they looked for ways to not just excel at their jobs, but to find ways to cross-train and learn aspects of business and management where they weren’t as familiar. Sometimes those opportunities were inside their organizations, and sometimes they were outside interests or academic programs. To me that was a good reminder that: a) you can learn skills outside of your 9-5 that can be applied to make you a stronger team member, and b) we should seek opportunities to learn hard things from the people inside our own organizations who have mastered them.”
“What stood out to me was the unexpected, and unstated, ‘grow where you are planted’ theme,” adds Pioneer CEO Michael Shepard. “Both our keynote speakers, Seth and Melanie, spoke passionately about what small-town living and/or small-town roots taught them or brought them. Their comments were reinforced by so many of our industry communicators and leaders who are doing truly inspirational things that are making a difference for their communities and their utilities.”
StoryConnect moves to the East Coast in 2025.
The date and location will be announced soon, and be sure to register early. The event sold out this year and is likely to again in 2025! Learn more at StoryConnect.coop.
We used SpeakAI.co to transcribe audio recordings of Seth and Melanie’s sessions and generate a summary of each session. Then Megan, who attended both sessions, edited and added to the summaries. The tool saved about an hour of time. Thinking about how AI can help you tell stories more efficiently? Learn what your peers think.