Brands trying to wrest greater control of their narratives are asking for ‘storytelling’ skill sets—without a campfire in sight
By Katie Deighton of The WSJ. Excerpts:
"Corporate America’s latest hot job is also one of the oldest in history: storyteller.
Some companies want a media relations manager by a slightly flashier name. Others need people to produce blogs, podcasts, case studies and more types of branded content to attract customers, investors and potential recruits. All seem to use the word differently than in its usual application to novelists, playwrights and raconteurs.
“As storytellers,” a Google job ad said last month, “we play an integral role in driving customer acquisition and long-term growth.”
The listing sought a customer storytelling manager to join the company’s Google Cloud storytelling team. One article the unit published this year was titled, “Lowe’s innovation: How Vertex AI helps create interactive shopping experiences.”
Microsoft’s security organization meanwhile is recruiting a senior director overseeing narrative and storytelling, described as part cybersecurity technologist, part communicator and part marketer. Compliance technology firm Vanta this month began hiring for a head of storytelling, offering a salary of up to $274,000."
"USAA . . . has begun to employ storytellers who write blogs, reports, scripts and other material to connect with members"
"calling salaried communications professionals “storytellers” and the practice of storytelling appears to only have picked up in popularity."
"The percentage of LinkedIn job postings in the U.S. that include the term “storyteller” doubled in the year ended Nov. 26, to include some 50,000 listings under marketing and more than 20,000 job listings under media and communications"
"Executives meanwhile said “storyteller” or “storytelling” on earnings calls and investor days 469 times this year through Dec. 11, compared with 359 times in all of 2024 and 147 times in 2015"
"The percentage of LinkedIn job postings in the U.S. that include the term ‘storyteller’ doubled in the year ended Nov. 26"
