narrative Archives

Strategic Narrative

How a Strategic Narrative Helped DevOps Institute find its ‘Why’

“Catapult’s narrative process played a powerful role in shaping DevOps Institute’s messaging and offerings,” said Jayne Groll, CEO of DevOps Institute. “Through the narrative, we adopted a human-centric focus that has driven everything we do. We wouldn’t be where we are today without looking for an external resource to help us hone in on our ‘why’ and create a company vision that we continue to pursue several years later.” Who is DevOps Institute? DevOps Institute

Christin Jeffers December 7, 2022

Strategic Narrative

Join Catapult for a Strategic Narrative Storytelling Panel

A compelling narrative sets a company apart from the competition. At Catapult, we’ve dedicated decades to helping companies tell a more meaningful story with an industry narrative. Next week, our Co-founder and Chief Narrative Officer, Guy Murrel, is partnering with SOFTWAREcolorado and local marketing leaders to discuss important insights around strategic narrative storytelling. Marketing leaders and CEOs will learn how an industry narrative can help their company stand out and create better alignment. You can

Christin Jeffers April 21, 2022

Uncategorized

Narrative Consultations for B2B Tech Companies

Catapult PR Now Offering 30-minute Narrative Consultations to Help B2B Tech Companies Engage Their Community and Lead the Industry Category Free narrative consultation includes a review of the current company story and offers applicable tips for a stronger narrative BOULDER, Colo., Dec. 10, 2020 —Catapult PR-IR (www.catapultpr-ir.com), a narrative-driven public relations agency for B2B tech companies, today announced it is providing free 30-minute narrative consultations. Catapult PR offers more than two decades of communication leadership

Christin Jeffers December 10, 2020

Market Leadership

How to Achieve Narrative Authenticity in 2020 and Beyond

“Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom” – Aristotle What separates an ordinary business from a market driver that propels an industry forward? It’s not just about the company’s products and/or services and it goes beyond being ‘cool’ or ‘edgy.’ You have to look a little closer and see what is woven into the fabric of these organizations. Simply put, these companies are all about narrative authenticity. They stay true to who they are

Christin Jeffers February 4, 2020

Market Leadership

PR Predictions for 2020: The Great “PR” Revival

Over the summer, my family and I spent a long weekend at a cabin in the Colorado mountains. Having two young children, a campfire and S’mores were an essential part of our plans. The kids asked about 100 times when we were going to have S’mores – and on our final night, we made it happen. To my husband’s surprise, a chocolate ad promoting S’mores popped up in his Instagram feed the next day! This

Christin Jeffers December 9, 2019

Uncategorized

Live From DevOps Enterprise Summit Las Vegas

This week, the Catapult team traveled to Las Vegas to provide PR and social media support at the DevOps Enterprise Summit (#DOES19). The DevOps Enterprise Summit is the premier industry conference where business and technology leaders gather to learn how to develop and deploy software faster and win in the marketplace. We absolutely love being a part of this event and we’ve had the honor of supporting it since its beginning in 2014. Over the

Guy Murrel October 29, 2019

Strategic Narrative

We’re Celebrating Our 19th Anniversary as a High Tech PR Firm

Wow – it’s hard to believe that we’re celebrating 19 years in business. Time flies when you’re having fun – and boy do we know how to have fun. As we reflect over almost two decades of hard work and success, we can’t help but feel a sense of pride as we think about all the good work we’ve done to help our tech company friends build awareness, thought leadership and create attention-grabbing positioning and

Terri Douglas September 11, 2018

Market Leadership

Catapult Adds Zype to B2B High Tech Client Roster

We are pleased to announce that Catapult has been retained by Zype, a video content and distribution company out of New York, for PR and Strategic Narrative Marketing services. Through our Narrative Practice service offering, we will help position Zype as a market category owner in the rapidly growing direct-to-consumer streaming video market. Zype CEO, Ed Laczynski, shared his thoughts on this new partnership: “We’re excited to position Zype as an industry leader with Catapult’s narrative

Christin Jeffers August 30, 2018

Market Leadership

Narrative + PR = Category Winner

It’s harder than ever to stand out — with most companies saying the same thing as competitors. It’s even harder to seize the top spot within your given category. Despite all the digital automation and intelligence available to marketers, effective public relations still provides the most credible path to winning the market positioning battle, especially for startups and B2B tech firms. Don’t get me wrong… Growth hacking is great. As is paid digital marketing that

Guy Murrel June 27, 2018

Strategic Narrative

30 Quotes on “Narrative” and its Impact on Storytelling

As stated in the previous “50 Quotes on Narrative that Change the Way we look at Storytelling” blog post – a picture may be worth a thousand words, but the narrative itself is priceless. As marketing and PR pros, we must unpack the truth in what makes a narrative resonate with our audience, thereby incentivizing our desired call to action. It takes time and dedication to create a powerful narrative – a constant drip of

Charles Trowbridge June 6, 2018

Market Leadership

Five Reasons why Category Building is Marketing Gold

True market leaders own, define and/or lead market categories. Think about the Apple’s, Netflix’s and Airbnb’s of the world. They disrupted competitive and dynamic markets, intentionally created new and innovative categories in markets where technology was forcing change – and the results have been extremely prosperous. Marketers should be REALLY excited about this because it’s not easy to stand out in crowded digital platforms – and it’s getting harder to bring new people in. Consumers

Christin Jeffers May 17, 2018

Market Leadership

Women-in-Tech Narrative Aims to Empower and Inspire

This article is reposted from Business 2 Community. Read the original posting here: https://www.business2community.com/leadership/women-in-tech-narrative-aims-to-empower-and-inspire-02052220 An industry narrative presents a great opportunity for organizations of all types to stand for something higher than “what they do.” Crafting a narrative that aims to inspire industry change is the stuff that sets true market leaders apart and determines business winners and category champions. Sometimes it’s hard to grasp how a strategic narrative – not traditional messaging or storytelling – can

Guy Murrel April 30, 2018

Market Leadership

Narrative Spotlight: A Strategic Narrative Can Sweeten Social Media and Drive Real Change

In many respects, the social media narrative is souring as its worst qualities have come to light. Anyone who follows the news has seen countless stories about data breaches, election meddling, its addictive nature and even its impact on mental health – and studies back these claims. For instance, social media is now reportedly linked to depression in teens. A study completed by the Royal Society for Public Health in the UK revealed that Instagram,

Christin Jeffers April 24, 2018

Strategic Narrative

The Rise of Strategic Narrative In Marketing

The following is an excerpt from an article published in Forbes by Guy Murrel It’s no secret that a person who talks endlessly about themselves is a bore. For years, businesses have been guilty of this “look at me” approach when it comes to positioning and messaging. Mission statements, inward value manifestos and the overuse of self-serving superlatives result in a dead end of unfocused and uninspiring brand messaging. But the use of narrative in

Guy Murrel March 29, 2018

Strategic Narrative

Introducing the Strategic Narrative Assessment

Today we are excited to announce the launch of our Strategic Narrative Assessment that is now available on Catapult’s new and improved homepage. The assessment looks at a company’s core messaging and offers feedback and a scorecard detailing how it translates to the market, stacks up to competitors and addresses industry mega-trends and leadership. And, it’s completely free of charge! Here’s what our co-founder Terri Douglas shared about the assessment: “Strategic Narrative Marketing helps companies change

Christin Jeffers March 14, 2018

Strategic Narrative

Strategic Narrative Marketing in Forbes

We are excited to see Strategic Narrative Marketing featured in a recent Forbes post about creative ideas for driving an organization’s brand. We believe that every company can benefit from Strategic Narrative Marketing, and that adoption of the approach creates industry leaders and category owners. Read the full article here. Strategic Narrative Marketing challenges companies to look higher than what they do or offer, and focus on the industry. By following the approach, a company

Christin Jeffers March 1, 2018

Market Leadership

Narrative Spotlight: Mavenlink

The narrative movement is gaining traction among industry leaders. An industry narrative is higher-level than storytelling and that alone forces companies to think differently. By participating in this movement, companies have the opportunity to offer a unique voice and contribute to the overall betterment of the industry. What we’re talking about rises above products and services. It is the essence of who a company is and its vision for the industry. Many companies that have

Christin Jeffers February 14, 2018

Strategic Narrative

Narrative Spotlight: Patagonia

Welcome to the first in our Narrative Spotlight blog series, dedicated to recognizing organizations that we believe have hit the narrative mark! So, what does it mean to hit the mark? This is all based on how well a company’s current messaging matches with the principles of Strategic Narrative Marketing. This approach gets organizations to stop talking about themselves and instead address industry trends and challenges head-on to create a unique, industry-nurturing and inclusive narrative.

Christin Jeffers February 7, 2018

Market Leadership

Selfless Marketing is a Thing (Let me Explain …)

Believe it or not, a company’s messaging does not have to be self-centered. Stay with me for a moment and let me explain what I mean. I know, I know the very word “marketing” means promoting and selling. So how can marketing be selfless? Isn’t the purpose of marketing always to increase the bottom line? Shouldn’t a B2B company focus on advertising and promoting its solutions? Sure, those activities matter and good marketing will end

Laura Balboni January 29, 2018

Strategic Narrative

Catapult Wins TWO National Industry Awards for Strategic Narrative Marketing

We are honored to share that we recently received two national awards for our Strategic Narrative Marketing (SNM) messaging framework that helps organizations define and own categories. We are now the proud owners of a Gold Stevie Award for PR Innovation in the 2017 American Business Awards™, and Silver for New Products and Services in Advertising, Marketing and Public Relations in the 2017 Golden Bridge Awards. “This is a big milestone for Catapult as we work

Christin Jeffers August 18, 2017

Market Leadership

50 Quotes on “Narrative” that Change the Way we look at Storytelling

While a picture may be worth a thousand words, the narrative itself is priceless. As PR and marketing pros, we strive to develop (and nurture) a strategic narrative that will help our clients leapfrog their competition and win in the marketplace. While this is not an easy feat, taking the time and making the effort to create a powerful narrative (at the industry level) helps establish thought leadership and the opportunity to “influence the influencers.”

Jeremy Douglas July 18, 2017

Strategic Narrative

Five Things You Need to Know From Digital Summit Denver

Last week I attended the Digital Summit Denver and soaked up fresh knowledge from some of the brightest minds in the digital world. This was my second Digital Summit experience and what I find most impressive is the quality of speakers each year. It’s hard to pick one session when there are five concurrent sessions all with juicy, enticing titles. The good news is that I left fired up and filled to the brim with

Christin Jeffers July 7, 2017

Strategic Narrative

An Industry Narrative Helps CEO’s Align Company Culture Around a Common Goal

A company that finds its voice and truly leads an industry often changes the world with new innovations and new ways of thinking. By blazing a path through unknown territory and beckoning others to follow, true industry leaders shape the future. It’s these brands that we remember through the decades, whose products become household names. Not only do organizations that achieve this kind of success provide good products or services, they offer a new way

Laura Balboni June 30, 2017

Strategic Narrative

The More You Give, the More You Get

I generally find that the saying “the more you give the more you get” holds true when applied in life and business. In life, the rewards of giving are more intangible and somewhat spiritual – feeling good inside, aligned and centered, and riding the wave of a positive force. It’s more of a karma thing. But what about in business? How much should you give and share with the market, even competitors? When I look

Guy Murrel June 22, 2017

Strategic Narrative

Strategic Narrative Marketing 101: What is a ‘Messaging Space?’

We (Catapult PR) talk a lot about our unique approach to positioning and messaging called Strategic Narrative Marketing (SNM). The approach defies traditional company-centric messaging because it challenges a company to look at messaging from a higher-level and focus on the industry. When this is done correctly, the company has an opportunity to be more strategic and develop a narrative that is unique, compelling and actually means something to the industry. When we share tips

Guy Murrel June 1, 2017

Strategic Narrative

How to Turn Industry Misperceptions into Education Opportunities

Turning lemons into lemonade is a skill that any PR or marketing agency should have. At the end of the day, any press is good press, right? As professionals in the lemonade-making business, the answer is yes – and no: ‘yes’ because press presents opportunities; ‘no’ because if you fail to capitalize on negative press – or a misperception being perpetuated – the effects are typically not positive. For companies playing in industries constrained by

Charles Trowbridge March 24, 2017

Strategic Narrative

Demand Grows for Strategic Narrative Marketing Services

Today Catapult PR announced strong momentum for our new Strategic Narrative Marketing services after launching our book, “A Practical Guide to Strategic Narrative Marketing.” Strategic Narrative Marketing (SNM) is a new approach to market positioning that focuses on higher-level industry vision and category-building, giving organizations unique, compelling and useful messaging to communicate to the market. Read the full press release here to learn more. To learn more about the SNM Workshop, visit: http://www.catapultpr-ir.com/strategic-narrative-messaging-workshop/

Guy Murrel March 21, 2017

Strategic Narrative

Prepare for Launch | Part 11

As we draw closer to the end of our Strategic Narrative Marketing Series, we will explore how to put the industry narrative into action. If you’re new, Strategic Narrative Marketing is a bold approach to company positioning and messaging that speaks at the industry level and challenges organizations to be more strategic. When Strategic Narrative Marketing is properly executed companies stand out as leaders in their industry because they have something to say that is

Guy Murrel January 23, 2017

Market Leadership

Crafting Your Strategic Narrative Statement | Part 8

To continue our ongoing series on “Strategic Narrative Development: Elements of Success,” we’ll take a look this week at actually creating a strategic narrative statement. Last week, we discussed the elements most important to conducting a workshop and developing a category: gathering the right people, thinking at an industry level, using the workshop for discovery and not to answer questions, and to hold an extensive discussion that allows the team to consider all its options

Guy Murrel December 20, 2016

Market Leadership

The New Standard for Quality Content

My son, a kindergartner, is learning how to read and write. He tends to rush through his assignments so he can move on to more important things, like recess. His teacher, on the other hand, is a big proponent of “quality work.” She encourages him to take his time. My husband and I (also supporters of quality work), make him slow down when we practice with him outside of school but, he doesn’t quite get

Christin Jeffers December 16, 2016

Market Leadership

Five Ways to Get More Value from your PR Firm

After you’ve selected a PR firm to help your organization define and share a strategic narrative with the world, you need to make sure you get the most value for every PR dollar spent. The success of a PR initiative is not completely dependent on the agency, however. While a good agency knows how to work around unique quirks or challenges a client brings to the table, there are a number of decisions and actions

Laura Balboni December 9, 2016

Market Leadership

Strategic Narrative Development: Elements of Success |Part 7

In our previous Strategic Narrative Marketing Series post, we discussed the value of conducting a discovery workshop to uncover raw, honest insights into your company’s view and vision for the industry. Without having any experience, these discovery sessions can be difficult to conduct and it’s easy to fall off course. We highly recommend looking into an expert third party to conduct the workshop for you. But, if you are determined to go at it alone,

Guy Murrel December 8, 2016

Market Leadership

Differentiating Yourself From the Crowd Without Fake News

The more we look around the current tech landscape, the more we see examples of just how important a strategic narrative is in differentiating yourself from the crowd. Take, for instance, the latest controversy surrounding Facebook and its “fake news” problem. Facebook has long positioned itself as a data collection company masquerading as a social networking organization. However, with its move into live broadcasting and, apparently, news curation, it’s clear that the company has moved

Charles Trowbridge December 2, 2016

Market Leadership

The DevOps Enterprise Summit San Francisco Was Everything We Hoped For and More!

We (Catapult PR) just returned from an action-packed three days at the 2016 DevOps Enterprise Summit San Francisco (DOES16) where 1,300 DevOps luminaries, business leaders and practitioners united to unpack current DevOps trends and predictions, share success stories and collaborate for the betterment of Dev and Ops practices at large, complex organizations. The conference featured a jam-packed schedule including speakers from some of the world’s biggest brands, such as Target, Verizon and Disney, who shared

Terri Douglas November 17, 2016

Market Leadership

Unwrap Your Company’s Strategic Narrative | Part 6

If you’ve been following along with our Strategic Narrative Marketing blog series, you’ve learned how your organization has a unique opportunity to be heard in the face of today’s oversaturated content and digital marketing channels. You’ve learned how a Strategic Narrative can help elevate your organization above the competition with a higher-level, strategic approach to positioning and messaging. You’ve also learned some of the key building blocks of a Strategic Narrative – including tenets to

Guy Murrel November 15, 2016

Market Leadership

Strategic Narrative Marketing: Core Tenets of an Industry Narrative | Part 5

Today we are diving into Part 5 of our Strategic Narrative Marketing Blog series. To guide you through this new, unique approach to company messaging and strategy, we’ve broken down the key pillars of what makes up a marketing-based Strategic Narrative. Our aim is twofold: 1) help those of us in charge of “messaging” create a more industry level industry narrative and, 2) provide a guide that is open and available to make a meaningful

Guy Murrel November 7, 2016

Market Leadership

Get to Know the Mind Behind, “A Practical Guide to Strategic Narrative Marketing”

A few weeks ago we announced a new book by Catapult co-founder and principal, Guy Murrel. The book, “A Practical Guide to Strategic Narrative Marketing,” is a brief ‘how-to’ guide for those looking to lead their market and stand apart from competitors while embracing a new messaging strategy. I asked Guy a few questions this week to get his perspective on what Strategic Narrative Marketing is and what it means to the PR and marketing

Terri Douglas November 2, 2016

Market Leadership

Strategic Narrative Themes: Creating Messaging that is New and Meaningful | Part 4

For the past several weeks we have been writing about key Strategic Narrative Marketing practices on our Catapult blog. We’ve looked at how you can find your company’s voice, think higher than a mission statement, and guide strategic direction with a strategic narrative. Today we look at creating entirely unique strategic narrative spaces and themes. What, exactly, do we mean by that? Let’s start with the common understand that to standout in the marketplace, you

Guy Murrel October 28, 2016

Market Leadership

5 Ways Strategic Narratives Guide Strategic Direction | Part 3

A common catchphrase emanating from boardrooms these days is, “we need a new narrative.” With business landscapes changing quickly – from the advent of new technologies, global competition, evolving customer behaviors and more – it’s no longer enough to say, “we make widgets” or, simply, “our services are the best.” As a leader, you want a powerful narrative that inspires employees, excites partners, entices customers and engages influencers. A message that is succinct, but also

Guy Murrel October 20, 2016

Market Leadership

What Is a Strategic Narrative Workshop?

As you’ve been reading in our blog, Strategic Narrative Marketing is an entirely new approach to what some folks refer to as “storytelling” or traditional “positioning and messaging.” Strategic Narrative Marketing elevates both of these to a much higher industry level that gets companies out of talking about themselves, their products, services, bits and bytes, and instead focuses on important issues taking place in their industries. It is a way for companies to not only

Terri Douglas October 12, 2016

Market Leadership

Find Your Voice with Strategic Narrative Marketing | Part 1

How loud is your company’s voice? No matter the industry, I’d be willing to bet that the vast majority of us are seeing heavy saturation when it comes to online publishing and content marketing. The noise has its advantages and disadvantages. While you have the opportunity to disrupt the marketplace on platforms that can reach big audiences through PR and marketing, you might find it difficult to make an impact amongst the noise. Here’s an

Guy Murrel October 6, 2016

Market Leadership

Strategic Narrative Marketing – A New Marketing Category To Help Companies Stand Out & Be Noticed

Today is a special day at Catapult. Strategic Narrative Marketing After years of helping our clients develop their stories and turn them into narratives and entire market categories, we have taken our own good advice. We have formally packaged up this proven service offering and are now making it available to clients, small and large. We call it “Strategic Narrative Marketing.” It’s a new marketing category designed to help lift organizations up above the fray

Terri Douglas September 27, 2016

Market Leadership

Life of a Ghostwriter

In a crowded, self-publishing digital world an organization will be noticed if they present a strong industry narrative through quality content. Most marketers would agree that good content goes a long way – and other stakeholders within organizations are starting to recognize its value as well. This is evident in the time and resources directed towards content development and marketing across industries. For many businesses, the content marketing strategy calls for thought leadership content “from”

Christin Jeffers September 16, 2016

Market Leadership

Cheers to 17 Years for Catapult in the high-tech PR trenches!

Today Catapult PR is celebrating 17 years as a boutique public relations firm in the high-tech B2B market. Since 1999, this agency has ridden the highs and lows of the tech industry. We’ve helped numerous companies lead markets, build and own categories and, in many instances, get purchased or lead to successful IPOs. Over the years, we’ve become a leader in developing our clients’ strategic narratives; increasing their visibility among industry influencers and their audiences;

Jeremy Douglas September 9, 2016

Market Leadership

Telling the Same Story? Look Higher at an Industry Narrative

Every brand has a story to tell. Content and digital marketing teams spend hours toiling over ways they can capture the hearts of their audience through storytelling. While there is a clear value in storytelling when it works, it’s not easy to come up with a compelling, sustainable and unique story that will grab your audience’s attention and make a difference in the marketplace. This is especially true for many B2B tech companies. Despite the

Christin Jeffers September 1, 2016

Market Leadership

Market Confusion – Obstacle or Opportunity?

Market confusion brought on by disruptive mega-trends, new legislation or shifting industry norms can be difficult. However, this confusion also can present a wonderful opportunity to stand out as an industry leader by actively clarifying any misperceptions that are adversely impacting your industry. Companies that lead markets will always play an active role in shaping a positive industry narrative, and proactively and consistently educating the market about the overall benefits, advancements and evolution of the

Guy Murrel May 25, 2016

Strategic Narrative Marketing-Be Unique-Catapult PR-IR

Market Leadership

Avoid Blind Spots with an Industry Strategic Narrative

At Catapult we run industry Strategic Narrative workshops that help organizations dig deep into mega trends, category dynamics, transformational shifts and future possibilities – focused primarily on leading industry success and maturity. Our intent is to create a higher-level messaging framework that defines and leads categories, and goes beyond storytelling to guide all forms of marketing. However, the process also serves as a forcing function to address key issues that ultimately guide the strategic direction

Guy Murrel May 20, 2016

Market Leadership

Three Reasons CEOs Need an Industry Strategic Narrative

Every great company benefits from clear vision and leadership. The dynamics of an organization’s culture is set at the top, and it is the job of every CEO to connect and inspire people to effectively move toward a common strategic goal. Here are 3 reasons why every CEO should have a strategic narrative that outlines the current state of the industry, vision for the category and role the organization will play to advance the overall

Guy Murrel May 10, 2016

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