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I recently realized that stories are at the heart of all the work I’ve done and the companies that I have built.  I wish I could say this was intentional – but the reality is my childhood made storytelling it a natural part of my process.  My grandma is a storyteller.  Everyone in the small community I grew up in knows her as “Mrs. English” and most can still remember going to story hour at the pubic library to listen.  I heard her tell most of her stories so often that twenty-five years later I still know most from memory. Great stories stick with you forever.

At Dorthy.com we’ve raised over five million dollars and attracted over 100 of the industries most talented collaborators around a simple story.  While our search technologies still haven’t matured – our story has – and it drives our shareholder’s current value. I think it’s our companies greatest asset and the only reason we’ve weathered the recession as well as we have.

Most people today don’t understand that no one care’s about their brand or company or whatever it is their offering.  The average consumer will forget about you in three minutes if you don’t have a story they like and that they can join. Today’s markets are made by consumer driven conversations ( or stories ). I’ve met with 16 Venture Capitalist in the last twelve weeks who each reminded me that the power of your brand is not in what it’s called or how it looks but rather in the volume of stories it is able to tell.  Money is flowing to businesses who can architect their communication in a way that fascinates consumers and gets them to join in shaping ( and paying for) their trajectory.

As Facebook matures we’ll see each consumers personal story become more and more pubic and more and more important.  Every industry is about to experience exponential change.  Businesses and marketers can no longer craft their own stories but must learn how to let consumers shape stories for them.  Hugh Macleod recently blogged “People will always, always be in the market for a story that resonates with them. Your product will either have this quality or it won’t. If your product fails this test, quit your job and go find something else. Just making the product incrementally cheaper or better won’t help you.”  Today’s best creatives and technologist understand that their “revolutionary new blah blah blah ” will only succeed if it’s able to join the narrative of consumer life.  Ideas are commodities – stories are forever.

Freeband – The Ambient Life from The QBF on Vimeo.

I am always shocked when I read about the money that’s still being made by applications for the iPhone.  But people are still doing very well.  Freeserve a company based in Brooklyn has made $181,000 from one game application in just one month.  The money is nice – but something much more interesting is happening here.

Your company or service or brand or all three can be sitting in people’s pockets and accessible and talking with them around the clock.  But we also must understand why a consumer would want this?  When will they get worn with the process of searching through dozens of screens trying to locate the application they are looking for?

While the NYT compares this to what AOL did in the early 1990’s I would say it’s more like what prodigy did before them – give companies a new way to communicate with their consumer.  The only problem is – consumers are being communicated with in so many places today that I think the messages are lost.  And with millions of applications available -how can a brand provide a digital service that isn’t already offered by hundreds of competing applications? Further – mobility is still missing a search solution that can intuitively connect consumers with the right application at the right time without them asking for it… but I’d guess services like this aren’t that far away.

By next year the number of applications available will triple.  I’d also guess that palm and black berry will have steadied their footing.  Smart hand held devices have changed technology.  Now how will we change our messages, services, and brands so they don’t become commodities in the clutter?

The gap’s new campaign is really good.  I think it is the first time they’ve been creative this decade – and now just maybe they will start to get their magic back.   The 2000’s have been a horrible chapter in the companies history but it appears under their new creative director’s watch not only is the merchandise regaining it’s edge – but the companies image is appealing again as well.

Gap Holiday Ad

Gap Holiday Ad

Maybe they’re not doing it in the office. Maybe they’re not doing it right this second. But definitely, some pair of people, like maybe that girl from sales, and that random tech guy, are totally boning. And if you don’t know about it, you are probably an idiot,* according to The Wall Street Journal, which looks at David Letterman and John Ensign’s affairs and uses them to make this important point.

Both of today’s stories serve as examples of how office affairs are often the worst-kept secret in any workplace. Such affairs aren’t uncommon.  What are your thoughts on office relationships?  What benefits can it bring and is there any ways that these can out weight the distractions?