6 lessons in ‘story-doing’ from the government shutdown

Businesses are buzzing about storytelling. They should be—storytelling through content marketing is quickly proving to be a consistent and effective marketing path in a constantly changing consumer-driven world.

But there’s a problem: In order to tell a good story, you have to have a good story to tell. Content marketing will never work for you if you’re simply regurgitating your marketing collateral or press releases.

In a recent Harvard Business Review blog post, author Ty Montague explains the difference between companies that tell stories and companies that create their own stories through authentic action. He calls the latter “story-doing companies.” He says:

In times of stress, strife, and negativity, story-doing companies make change happen—such as during the government shutdown.

Here are six examples of companies that have done some good during the government shutdown—and though some are more serious than others, they all caught nationwide attention: