24 / SEEDWORLD.COM SEPTEMBER 2018 CONTENT MARKETING 101 — create and distribute consistent, relevant and engaging content that attracts a defined audience and ultimately drives action. Regardless of the channel, your content should tell a story. Why? Storytelling is one of the best tools for generating an emotional response. Content that gener- ates an emotional response is more likely to be remembered. When I was a kid, instead of reading me books, my father would tell me stories. Sometimes the stories were about his life. And sometimes the stories were made up to simply entertain me. I know a good story, and I have been privileged to have grown up around a talented storyteller. Yet, I don’t consider myself a good story- teller. Since storytelling does not come naturally to me, I have had to dissect and closely observe storytelling. Storytelling is an art that starts with a great plot line. There is a structure to a great story. Here’s what I have learned about the architecture of a great story. Every story can be broken down into three segments: the problem, the journey and the solution. 1. The most powerful stories are human. A good story starts by introducing char- acters. Who are the characters, and what makes them relatable? Once you have begun to paint a picture of the characters, introduce the problem that they face. Remember: stories thrive on conflict and drama. 2. How did the character(s) address the problem? What was the character’s journey to a solution? Here is where you can introduce or build upon themes, which are crucial to a story. Without a theme, you are basically listing events, not telling a story. Not to be confused with messages, which are specific examples, the theme is a general principle. Themes may include: ambition, discovery, free- dom, etc. 3. The story progresses to the grand finale: the solution. How will the char- acters resolve the problem? The resolu- tion may be a mistake made and lesson learned with the problem still existing. However, the story still needs to aim toward a close. Where a product should never be a main character, a product can be part of the solution. Storytelling is a skill, honed over time with practice. Use your story as practice. Everyone has a story to tell. What’s yours? The Architecture of a Great Story KELLY SAUNDERSON, ISSUES INK DIRECTOR OF CLIENT SERVICES @Issuesink • ksaunderson@issuesink.com • issuesink.com/create-by-issues-ink AGRICULTURAL MARKETS ARE no stranger to consolidation. American farms have been shifting production to larger and larger acreages for more than three decades. It stands to reason that the product and service providers to a consolidating industry inevitably deal with the same pressures. Through history, the seed industry has certainly seen its fair share of consolidated business. We now find our- selves in the latest “round” of consolida- tion, driven by low commodity prices due to four years of bumper crops, increased stockpiles and the realization that corn (or switchgrass or whatever) may never replace petroleum. Consolidation is not so much a straight- line growth path as it is a natural business cycle. The cycle inevitably creates large, well-funded organizations that are very focused on a business plan. In our current business environment, corporate plans are many times driven by shareholder value and place secondary priority on things like customer relationships, needs or demands. At this point in the cycle, there is room for a niche to be exploited. Start ups or diversifying businesses come in the back door to serve areas left ignored. Smaller, adaptable companies with lower overheads may find places to profit where larger companies couldn’t. Merging companies are often the true innovators. They are eager to meet chang- ing customer needs versus carrying out an established plan. Our business has a plan to work in this changing environment, and we have made some assumptions about needs of seed conditioners in this cycle. Large scale seed companies with multiple facilities have to be concerned with consistency. Consider the complexity of producing homogenous product (not Consolidation …Where Do You Stand When The Dust Settles? JON MORELAND PETKUS NORTH AMERICA MANAGING DIRECTOR moreland@petkus.de • petkus.de to mention doing it at the same capac- ity and cost!) from multiple conditioning sites, no two are alike even within the same company. The differences in pro- cesses and equipment can be surprising from site to site. Mergers and acquisitions stand to multiply these issues. Surely there will be opportunities to help com- panies evaluate and implement consistent conditioning lines from facility to facility. By doing so, these companies can con- tinue to deliver value through economies of scale. For the niche provider, specialization and differentiation have to take priority. Maybe you have considered diversifying into alternative markets (think organic or hemp) that fall outside the plans of your large competitor. Through early innova- tion and nimble adaptation, the niche provider continues to be a key provider to the industry.