“Millennials are more technologically advanced than any previous generation [and] survey data has shown a correlation between age and reading preferences [where] younger people listen to more audiobooks than older Americans”- State University of New York
“Spoken word audio listening is up 40% in the past seven years, and up 8% year over year”- National Public Radio Organization and Edison Research
“73% of the U.S. 12+ population (an estimated 209 million people) have listened to online audio in the last month, up from 68% in 2021”- Edison Research
“The storytelling process yields positive impacts on internal and external stakeholder outcomes including increasing employees’ thriving and meaningful work, as well as the attitudes and trust of multiple external stakeholders”- Journal of Strategic Marketing
“Researchers have shown that storytelling strengthens the connections consumers have to brands, so that to a great extent what a brand means to a consumer is based . . . on the narratives he or she has constructed that incorporate the brand.”- Journal of Business Strategy
“Stories are a device… [that] provide managers with a form of social and intersubjective interaction that reflects belief systems, role expectations, interpersonal norms and conditions for work behavior”- International Journal of Management
“Storytelling that starts with the persona allows us to tap into these deeper recesses, where the influence of attitudes and emotions is greater… loyalty and trust are found there”- Journal of Business Strategy
“Storytelling is essential to successful branding, since your brand is the sum of all your corporate behaviors and communications that inform your customers’ experiences with your product or company”- The Journal of Business Strategy
“Corporate storytelling is suggested to help demonstrate the importance of the corporate brand to internal and external stakeholders… as well as help a firm to bond with its employees”- Product & Brand Management
“[onboarding] can also aid employees in identifying values congruence which is critical to career contentment and commitment which can significantly impact retention to both the field and the institution long-term” - Journal of Research, Assessment, and Practice in Higher Education
“Audiobooks have had a big shift in popularity in 2018 where for the first time, “a full half of all Americans ages 12 and older have listened to an audiobook, up from 44% last year”- Forbes
“Narrative presentation of corporate strategy, comparative advantage, is more effective at producing a consistent and confident choice of competitive advantage among an audience than a presentation of corporate strategy using a PowerPoint style, bulleted list approach”- Journal of Strategy and Management
“Storytelling that integrates a moral and spiritual component can transform an organizational culture so members of the organization begin to feel connected to a larger community and a higher purpose”- Journal of Business Ethics
“Online audio (podcasts, radio shows, music and audiobooks) has become more popular than ever before”- Publishing Research Quarterly
“Story-telling is an important element… involving the sharing of experiences and creation of mental-maps of the environment in which people are motivated to perform to their full potential”- Leadership and Organization Development Journal
“As technology evolves, people have more options available to them, which may explain why [reports] found younger adults to be more likely to opt for audiobooks and the multi-tasking they enable”- Forbes
“The corporate world cannot ignore the demands and expectations of Millennials, who are devout in their desire to associate with companies aligned with their values”- Center for Social Impact Communication at Georgetown University
“19% [of Millennials] say they have paid in the last year for a subscription service for eBooks or audiobooks such as Kindle Unlimited or Audible”- American Press Institute
“When it comes to digital storytelling for branding, there is, a more positive attitude towards the company when the employer branding message is using digital storytelling”- Management Dynamic in the Knowledge Economy Journal
“Brands can bring their CSR (corporate social responsibility) efforts to life through authentic storytelling [and] Millennials want to know what companies are doing to make the world a better place”- Center for Social Impact Communication at Georgetown University
“Audio narrative has recently benefited from profound cultural shifts in media consumption associated with on-demand television’s binge watching revolution and the advent of digital longform storytelling”- Journal of Radio & Audio Media
“There are currently about 1000% more titles published since 2011”- Audio Publishers Association
“A focus on social responsibility is particularly important to attract, retain, and increase the commitment and engagement of Millennial employees and talented women”- Center for Creative Leadership
“There is value in a story that is, designed to drive the simulation and to elicit the [employee’s] best performance”- Society for Human Resource Management
“[the way employees are on-boarded] sets the tone for the culture of a place, the people, and the values of a new institution and can have a significant impact on employees’ sense of belonging”- Journal of Research, Assessment, and Practice in Higher Education
“The audiobook market share shifted from 42% digital copy sales in 2009 to 87% digital copy sales in 2017”- Audio Publishers Association
“Over 71 thousand audiobook titles (were) published in 2020, a 39% growth between previous years”- Statista
“64% of Millennials consider a company’s social commitments when taking jobs and will not work for a company if they do not have strong corporate social responsibility (CSR) values”- Cone Communications
“83% of Millennials would be more loyal to a company that allows them to contribute to social and environmental issues”- Cone Communications
“Maximizing success through onboarding by storytelling during orientations, [helps employees understand] the company's culture and values [and] its goals and history”- Society for Human Resource Management
“The most recent era in audio entertainment… users are asserting power over the medium to select particular content at particular times”- Mass Communication and Society Journal
“Should produce positive effects on key audiences, such as increasingly positive attitudes toward the company and eventually behavioral intentions to support this company”- Public Relations Review
“116% growth in spoken word listeners 13-34 years old in the past even years, with 18% growth in the last year”- National Public Radio Organization
“Employees have a deeper affiliation with the message through organizational storytelling due to aligning stories with their own experiences and understanding”- International Journal of Business and Social Science
“Three uses for storytelling in organizations: (1) to motivate employees, (2) for education and (3) to consolidate corporate culture”- Journal of Marketing
“Audio platform superiority was about the desire to use an audio platform that is perceived to be superior to other audio alternatives, including on-demand convenience (time and place) and content (vari- ety and uniqueness)”- New Media and Society Journal
“Employees have a deeper affiliation with the message through organizational storytelling due to aligning stories with their own experiences and understanding”- International Journal of Business and Social Science
“A poor cultural fit is frequently cited as one of the main reasons [an employee] decides to leave an organization… defining the organization's culture through storytelling should start with branding of the organization and continue through the interview and onboarding process”- Physician Executive Communication Journal
“Audiobook sales revenue has been on a steep rise since 2018, reaching 1.3 billion USD in 2020”- Statista
“The majority (79%) of Millennials want to work for a company that cares about how it contributes to society and 69% would refuse to work for a company that is not socially responsible”- Journal of Education For Business
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play_arrowCommunicate Company History and Culture to the New GenerationsNOW HEAR THIS!
Does it seem like your employees are getting younger? Every decade there’s a new generation that grew up with different experiences, different preferences, and different technologies. Their preferred form of communication changes with each generation, as well.
Probably the biggest change in the last ten years is a return to audio as a preferred means of education and entertainment. We say “return” because in the ‘80’s and ‘90’s audio was all the rage with books on tape and recorded lectures.
A Little History
At first, there were tape cassettes that fit into a slot in your car’s dashboard. Then the slots were designed to take CDs. Both formats provided entertainment and education and were especially appreciated on long trips. Then came the Walkman which allowed true mobile listening while walking, running, or just about anything else.
But even before all these advances, there was radio which is still quite popular. Instead of just reading stories, radio theater actually performed them with actors voicing dialogue in scenes with sound effects and music. This audio format seemed to die out with the arrival of television.
It wasn’t long after the advent of the smartphone that MP3 technology made it possible for audio to be downloaded to a mobile device. In the last five years, there has been an explosion in MP3 uses, from audiobooks to podcasts.
Preferred Educational Format
And since podcasts are free, they quickly became the preferred method of education and entertainment to the new generations that are working for you now. In other words, if you want to get through to your employees, you must get through their earbuds!
What Was Old Is New Again
We can learn a lot from the past and still offer folks something “new” – well, at least new for them. It’s the old-style radio drama approach to storytelling – actors, sound effects, and music. We can communicate with them where they are, on their earbuds, and hold their interest with an entertaining approach to education.
Compare the effectiveness of sitting them down, immobilizing them, and hitting them with a boatload of videos and manuals – versus providing them with a page-and-screen free dramatically performed story in an MP3 format they can download and listen to on their own time and while they are active. Which one will they remember?
Business Audio Theatre
That’s the promise of Business Audio Theatre. Meet them where they are, perform a story that has a message, and get their buy-in on that message.
And what is the message? It’s your message, your story, the story of how you put your business together, with all the ups and downs, challenges and successes, surprises and lessons. It’s the story of how the principles that guided you ultimately paid off.
What better way to have that new generation identify with your challenges, root for your success, and respect the principles that got you there! Make them part of the story where they all feel like they are writing the next chapter.
If you want identification with your story, engagement with your principles, and loyalty to your company, think Business Audio Theatre. Meet the new generations where they live and entertain them with a gripping story they will remember and lessons they will never forget.
Let an experienced team that specializes in business culture manage the production of your story with award-winning writers, directors, performers, and editors. When you perform your story in the new generation’s preferred format, they will listen, recall, and apply. Turn both your new and long-term people into advocates with Business Audio Theatre.
