Well, hello there!

I’ve just finished a very interesting book called ‘The Fairy Tellers’*. It has absolutely nothing to do with journalism.

But it kind of does.

In it, the author, Nicolas Jubber embarks on his own adventure to find out about the people who first brought the fairy tales we know and grew up with. After all, while we all know the story of Beauty and the Beast, what do we know about the story’s origin or author?

Well, Em. I hear you saying. That’s nice, and everything. But why bring it up here?

I’m getting to that. Two ticks.

Stories reveal a lot about society - and the context in which they’re written impact that. A lot of those stories were written in part as social commentary, or as a way to share political ideas or critiques. They are, it turns out, a great deal more than a brainstorming session at a Disney writers’ room.

Don’t share a fact, when you can tell a story

The best stories ‘show, don’t tell’. Metaphors as explainers are endlessly useful, and beguiling - and feel more robust and memorable than a bland recitation of the facts.

Emotion is powerful.

When we put the story of Little Red Riding Hood into our User Needs Playground, it returned a 100% ‘Emotion’ result. The system knew it was dealing with a certain kind of writing, that does a certain thing, a certain way. We tried it again later with a less well known fable. Same result. It’s a clever piece of kit.

There’s a famous six word short story (attributed to Ernest Hemingway, but never confirmed to be his). Our User Needs Playground assesses this to be 100% emotional as well. This is interesting: why doesn’t it decide it’s an advert?

I added three extra words: “£20. Collection locally”

Now the picture is very different.

Have a play in the playground yourself. Understanding where the pull of a piece of writing lies is incredibly useful in planning:

*where to post it

*when to share it

*how to create follow ups or story chains

Fancy an AI explainer from an expert?

Last month our Chief AI Officer set about explaining how AI works in the context of what we do here, and you can read that blog here. After that, you should be able to understand a little more about how the playground works. I can’t promise it’s a simple read, but it is a fascinating one.

WEBINAR ALERT!

Another reminder that our next webinar is fast approaching and if you haven’t already signed up for it, why the Dickens not?

Why tagging is an important part of data analysis, and how AI can help

13 August 2024, 3pm CET

  • Why is tagging important?
  • What is automated tagging?
  • How can smartocto recognise and categorise user needs using AI?
  • What challenges arise when tagging content automatically?
  • How can media organisations start integrating these practices into their newsroom?

And lastly, just for funsies….

Looking at great examples of communications from outside our sector is never a bad thing.

In the UK, the national post service, the Royal Mail, is currently hiring. And their ad campaign couldn’t be more relatable or evocative.

A blend of ‘feel’ and ‘do’ content. Perfect for an ad campaign because it taps into an emotion and a strong sense of nostalgia before its CTA. Of course, ad copy is a different beast to newsroom copy. But if you’re producing any kind of context-driven work, tapping into cultural capital (the general information and background knowledge people accrue over their life’s experiences) is a good way to stand out in a sea of content. Like most things, it won’t work all the time, but in the right circumstances, it might.

Don’t forget to have a play in the user needs playground today. You don’t ever have to wait your turn to go on the swings.

Until next time!

* Summer vacation reading tip alert! The Fairy Tellers by Nicolas Jubber