Owning the Whole Story: Harnessing Narrative Power in the Age of Disruptive Technology
My Journey with Disruptive Technologies
In this article, I draw upon my nearly 30-year experience shaping narratives that inform foresight, insight, design, value propositions, and marketing communications for disruptive technologies. Since 1993, I have been a part of, or led, teams responsible for investigating human behaviors, mental models, and social dynamics that influence why and how people embrace leading-edge technologies. Through this work for companies such as Microsoft, Google, Intel, Motorola, Mozilla, AT&T, BBCi, Honda, Ford, HP, Samsung, etc., I have gained an appreciation for how critical it is for a company to own the right narrative in the marketplace to earn the trust and loyalty of their customers when leveraging innovative technologies.
The Strategic Role of Narratives in Technology
I propose that in the fiercely competitive market of AI, the entity that owns the narrative will ultimately earn the largest market share. Let me first clarify what I mean by a narrative.
A narrative is defined as “a story that connects and explains a carefully selected set of supposedly true events, experiences, or the like, intended to support a particular viewpoint or thesis” (Dictionary.com).
For the purpose of this article, I would like to introduce the phrase “the whole story.” This phrase is often used in spoken language and closely aligns with my understanding of a narrative.
I prefer the phrase “the whole story” to the word “narrative” because “narrative” may suggest to some that the narrator is in control. The truth is, “the whole story” about any disruptive technology emerges through the socialization of ideas, opinions, and beliefs surrounding the disruption. The narrator is only a co-creator of the whole story; other stakeholders, such as industry partners and customers, help bring wholeness to the story by discussing, challenging, and refining it to a relatable form. The real challenge for a company is to engage sufficiently in the socialization of the story so that the story they want to tell fits the whole story as people understand and relate to it. Often, companies are too focused on telling their own story and miss paying attention to the whole story. An interesting project we did for Microsoft several years ago perfectly exemplifies Microsoft’s openness to gaining awareness of the whole story.
Several years ago, we conducted a global research project for Microsoft to understand how people build their ecosystems of products and services. The project emerged from a recognition within Microsoft that people have many choices in the marketplace to build an ecosystem of devices and services. They do not want to be walled into devices made by a single brand. They would rather build an ecosystem of best-in-category products that are compatible with each other. While the project provided insights about what people seek in each component of the ecosystem, it also revealed the importance of the whole story of connected experiences. In that story, people told us which technologies, features, services, or competencies (of the company) they consider critical when considering how components of the ecosystem work together.
Looking back, it may not seem like a surprise today, but at that time, the importance of the cloud and narratives of how the cloud becomes the hub of various connected experiences became the central theme of the whole story.
Over the next several years, we explored the evolving story of the cloud from the perspectives of customers of companies like Microsoft, Motorola, Intel, and BlackBerry. It became clear to us that if a company’s value proposition for a new product or service did not incorporate a connection to the cloud, then no matter how good their product was, their narrative fell short in fitting the whole story. A good example would be BlackBerry. They had an excellent product, but their product narrative did not fit the story of a cloud people trusted.
I would like to give another example where neither a product nor a service was the center of a whole story.
Cricket Communications, a wireless service catering to the economically disadvantaged sections of the US, invited Lunar Design to develop a strategy for uplifting the brand image and the user experience of its various services. The project brief included an example of Target Corporation, which has in the past used design intervention to upgrade its brand image and products. Lunar Design invited SonicRim as a research partner. Our brief was to conduct ethnographic research to develop a framework and a narrative for transforming the perception and experience of the Cricket brand, products, and services. Our team spent several weeks observing and talking to various stakeholders of Cricket – its executives, salespeople in the stores, and the customers. We visited several stores and observed their customers in their homes. We also shadowed them through a typical day. The synthesis of insights gained from this study revealed a critical component of why Cricket customers trusted and were loyal to the brand. They had a sense of belonging when they went to a Cricket store. They felt cared for. They could relate to the people they met. Unlike in some medium to high-end stores where they felt looked down upon, Cricket made them feel at home. The sense of belonging was the critical core of the whole story of Cricket for them. They did not want their perception of Cricket to change through a design upgrade. This realization helped us make recommendations focused more on strengthening the brand rather than upgrading it. A few years later, AT&T bought Cricket Communications because it had a loyal customer base that sees a distinct, relatable story in Cricket.
Building the AI Narrative Together
Today, technology companies have a good understanding of what generative AI can do. Software engineers can develop algorithms to aggregate domain knowledge in specialized fields to make information access, analysis, and inferences faster. Numerous startups have mushroomed to enhance productivity, improve decision-making, and enhance creativity. Yet, there is neither a clear narrative nor a whole story emerging about the role of AI in improving lives. Fears of negative impacts of AI, such as copyright infringement, misuse of deepfakes, and loss of jobs, are interfering with the emergence of a clear story. Without a whole story, there isn’t a clear mental model that people can reference to understand the capabilities and limitations.
Developing AI-powered products without real-time foresight and feedback about how they are understood, learned, and used will lead to confusion, misuse, and/or failure in adoption. On the other hand, becoming a part of the evolving story of AI through direct observation and dialogue with people who are using it will help conserve resources, minimize risks, improve chances of success, and help set clear expectations.
Eventually, those who participate in the creation of the whole story of AI will have an early lead in gaining market share. The products, features, and interfaces that align with the whole story will create clarity, delight, satisfaction, and loyalty.
