A lesson in storytelling

Brand storytelling is an increasingly popular marketing method, tapping into our innate human need to form connection through shared experiences. In 2003 Gerald Zaltman a professor at Harvard Business School claimed 95% of our purchasing decisions take place in the subconscious mind, the part of our brain that holds accumulated experiences, memories, cultural influences, and personal values. Highly effective brand storytelling taps into this. To be successful though it must be authentic, portraying real life challenges and victories.

A recent undertaking by our School has been described by Nic Hayes from Media Stable as ‘a masterclass in publicity’ but in the words of F.Scott Fitzgerald, “I shall tell you what occurred, and let you judge for yourself.” 

Over a year ago I mused to my Head of Communications that we needed to celebrate the School’s 40^th anniversary in a big way. She went away and came back with “I’d like to transport all students and staff from our Carramar & ELC campuses to our Duncraig campus, then have everyone form a human 40 on the oval and take a photo”.  I instantly approved of the idea, it would be a lovely community event, bringing our campuses together in shared celebration.

A few weeks passed before she came to me again, “If we’re going to get over 2000 people in the same place at the same time, let’s go big, let’s celebrate so loudly the rest of the world will take notice.”

Her idea ticked all the boxes for brand storytelling, but it came with risk and if it failed the school would suffer significant brand damage in our value areas of Service, Care and Community.

Not to be deterred the Communications team put together a business case outlining the possible benefits to the school that included positive news stories, community engagement and the fact our kids would love it. The idea was green lit, and the team began the task of organising the largest event in the school’s 40-year history, attempting the Guinness World Record™ for the ‘most people launching confetti cannons simultaneously’.

Aligning ourselves with a brand like Guinness World Records comes with instant emotional attachment. Many people remember poring through the books as children, with the international franchise being in operation since 1955. You don’t become one of the world’s most recognisable brands without stringent guidelines and our team worked tirelessly ensuring every rule and stipulation was adhered to. The confetti used needed to be commercially available, environmentally friendly and biodegradable, there were pre-approvals on participation wristbands, correct disposal of confetti cannons, counting methods and a myriad of requests that all needed to be completed prior to the attempt taking place.

Running in tandem to the Guinness World Records requirements were the logistics of the largest excursion in the school’s history, 800 permission slips were sent to parents whose children would be taking buses to the Duncraig campus. Specific photo permissions were obtained from over 2000 students. A plan for how students would be housed and then led section by section, single file to the oval through designated entry points was also worked out.

The Communications team controlled every variable in the lead up to the event, but there was one element they could not control, the weather. Four days out, the decision was made to postpone the record attempt. Perth was going through an unprecedented heatwave that would have seen our students standing in direct sunlight on a 41-degree day. We wanted to break a world record, we wanted to celebrate everything that made our school unique, demonstrate how our community can do anything we set our minds to just like our founders did in 1984, but we would never compromise the wellbeing of our students and staff for such a goal.

Fast forward two months and the big day finally arrived, Friday the 19^th of April. The turnout was simply sensational, Channel 9, 10, the ABC, 94.5FM and SonshineFM were all in attendance. The energy was electric, there was a sense that we were all part of something greater than ourselves.

Thirty minutes after our students and staff showered the oval in confetti we had confirmation, St Stephen’s School now held the record title for the ‘most people launching confetti cannons simultaneously’ with 2,013. Our School and our students were featured on every major news bulletin that night and not just in Perth, with reports of coverage in Adelaide, Sydney, and Japan.

In the end the success of the event, all pales in comparison to the sheer joy and excitement I saw in our student’s faces. The hundreds of thousands of dollars in free advertising, the increase in new student registrations, the positive brand awareness of our School across Australia is brilliant. However, it is a rare joy and privilege to know you’ve been part of an event that has created a permanent, positive memory in the lives of thousands of children. 

“That was amazing! It was a really good experience and something I will always remember!” – Kiaan Kotecha, Year 6.