The Strategic Storyteller. Jutkowitz Alexander

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      Strategies of Delight

      Until now, I've focused on wisdom and wonder.

      But the deployment of pure delight is a powerful strategic asset. Along with the quest for power and riches, the simple pursuit of delight has shaped history.

      To see what I mean, let's consider a form of delight that is universal and consumed in discrete units, but which is by nature devoid of any messaging: food.

      When asked how he planned to restore the international reputation of France, the great diplomat Charles‐Maurice de Talleyrand said, “I don't need secretaries as much as I need saucepans!”5

      Talleyrand was famous for his understanding of how power and influence really work. He was an aristocrat who kept his fortune after the French revolution when most of his peers not only lost their fortunes but also their heads. And he was a politician who worked for every warring faction in France for over 60 years. And in 1814, he pulled off what is still one of the most amazing feats in the history of public relations.

      That year, representatives from all over Europe were in Vienna to restore the international order that Napoleon and his French armies had wrecked in 12 years of war. When the post‐war government of France needed somebody to represent it in the aftermath, it booked Talleyrand. Think of him as one of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries' ultimate fixers.

      Within months of setting up his new embassy, Talleyrand had dissipated much of the fear and mistrust then directed at France. He gained the trust of the leaders of the German‐speaking, English, and Russian alliance that had very recently been France's bitterest enemies. And he came to be seen by smaller nations and ordinary people as a champion of justice.

      And he did it all with rich sauces, fine wine, and choice meats. He knew he couldn't best his opponents at the negotiating table outright, so he charmed them at the dining table first. His chef even named dishes after the diplomats they were buttering up, including Nesselrode pudding, named after the Russian ambassador, a rich dessert of cream and alcohol‐soaked currants still on the menu in Vienna today.

      Like a skilled content strategist, Talleyrand looked deep into his organization, located sources of delight, and made good strategic use of them. Then as now, everybody found high French cooking irresistible, whatever their opinion of the French people.

      By the end of the yearlong negotiations, everyone was fighting over invitations to the lavish dinner parties at the French embassy. Talleyrand understood that visceral, positive feelings experienced in the moment can rewrite the pathways of memory. To reset a conversation, he didn't need persuasive ideas or even any ideas at all. He just needed a mechanism to disseminate delight. This is a strategic insight that will never go stale.

      Your company cannot and need not literally feed everybody it wants to influence. A steady diet of absorbing stories and useful information is enough. Even in our oversaturated, overcrowded media environment, there will always be room for another good story.

      The creation of pure delight, devoid of actual content, is something that content strategists have actually managed to deploy today, with remarkable skill and inventiveness.

      In partnership with Rémy Martin's cognac brand Louis XIII, John Malkovich made a film called The Movie You Will Never See. Written by Malkovich and directed by Robert Rodriguez, the film was locked in a specially made safe, along with a bottle of Louis XIII. The safe is programmed to open automatically in the year 2117, 100 years – not from the premiere but from the launch party. Three trailers, each imagining a different future, in a range from utopia to dystopia, were released on the Internet.

      1

      Jill Rosen, “Super Bowl Ads: Stories Beat Sex and Humor, Johns Hopkins Researcher Finds,” January 31, 2014, http://hub.jhu.edu/2014/01/31/super‐bowl‐ads/.

      2

      Harrison Monarth, “The Irresistible Power of Storytelling as a Strategic Business Tool,”

1

Jill Rosen, “Super Bowl Ads: Stories Beat Sex and Humor, Johns Hopkins Researcher Finds,” January 31, 2014, http://hub.jhu.edu/2014/01/31/super‐bowl‐ads/.

2

Harrison Monarth, “The Irresistible Power of Storytelling as a Strategic Business Tool,” Harvard Business Review, March 11, 2014, https://hbr.org/2014/03/the‐irresistible‐power‐of‐storytelling‐as‐a‐strategic‐business‐tool.

3

Josh Gowin, “Why Sharing Stories Brings People Together,” Psychology Today, June 6, 2011, https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/you‐illuminated/201106/why‐sharing‐stories‐brings‐people‐together.

4

Paul J. Zak, “Why Your Brain Loves Good Storytelling,” Harvard Business Review, October 28, 2014, https://hbr.org/2014/10/why‐your‐brain‐loves‐good‐storytelling.

5

David King, Vienna, 1814: How the Conquerors of Napoleon Made Love, War, and Peace at the Congress of Vienna (New York: Three Rivers Press, 2008), chap. 18.

5

David King, Vienna, 1814: How the Conquerors of Napoleon Made Love, War, and Peace at the Congress of Vienna (New York: Three Rivers Press, 2008), chap. 18.