I think we’re past the point of talking about needing stories.

I think we’re at the point where we need to start breaking them down and figuring out why some work and some don’t and then practicing telling stories so we’re not caught flat-footed when the need arises.

This Week
This week I’m going to use two videos as my visual aides to talk about what I’ve learned about stories.

Both are ski videos, both have been watched over 25,000 times. Yet, to me, one of them tells a powerful, well-crafted story while the other fails to tell any story at all.

Here they are.

Nimbus: Compass
The first is by Nimbus from a series called “Compass”. The video I’ll be referring to this week is about Russia.

https://vimeo.com/78114792

Arc’teryx: Skiers Journey
The second is by Jordan Manley Photography from a series called “A Skier’s Journey” created for Arc’teryx. The video I’ll be referring to this week is about Dubai.

The Approach
For the next three days I’ll be looking at these videos under the lens of three elements that I’ve found to be present in all great stories.

On Tuesday we’ll talk about uncertainty.
On Wednesday we’ll talk about themes.
On Thursday we’ll talk about oscillation.

Then, on Friday, I’ll try my hand at telling a story of my own by applying these three principles so we can discuss, critique, and learn. After all, learning these lessons does nothing if we can’t figure out how to use them.

I always say this, but I really mean it this week: please, please, please share your thoughts along the way. I think this is a big, complex but vitally important topic.

About Gregg & SlopeFillers
I've had more first-time visitors lately, so adding a quick "about" section. I started SlopeFillers in 2010 with the simple goal of sharing great resort marketing strategies. Today I run marketing for resort ecommerce and CRM provider Inntopia, my home mountain is the lovely Nordic Valley, and my favorite marketing campaign remains the Ski Utah TV show that sold me on skiing as a kid in the 90s.