Brands Seek 'Storytellers' To Drive Chosen Narratives

Microsoft's security group is seeking a senior director overseeing narrative and storytelling.Some 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 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. Productivity app Notion recently merged its communications, social media and influencer functions into one 10-person, so-called storytelling team.Military financial-services company USAA is hunting for its fourth staff storyteller less than a year since it hired its first. The company still recruits specialists for roles in media relations, speechwriting and the like, but has begun to employ storytellers who write blogs, reports, scripts and other material to connect with members, according to Tara Ford Payne, vice president of communications and public affairs.