The most impactful sentence I heard at last year’s AMA Symposium for the Marketing of Higher Education came from R. Ethan Braden, vice president and chief marketing officer at Texas A&M. Ethan was speaking about how Texas A&M created a storytelling engine to bring the school’s story to life. To do that, he said they “went from being short-order cooks to a media company”. That line fascinated me, so recently I asked him about the distinction. His answer did not disappoint!
Q: When you said you turned your team from short-order cooks to a media company, you said you went from reporting and covering to telling stories. In your eyes, what is the difference, and why is that difference important?
Reporting and covering document what the institution does. Storytelling helps people understand why it matters.
The “short-order cook” model is largely reactive: Someone holds an event, announces an initiative, or earns an award, and the communications team is asked to produce something about it. The result may be accurate and well executed, but it is often disconnected from a larger institutional narrative.
A media-company mindset begins with the audience and the story, not the assignment. It requires editorial judgment: What is distinctive? What creates tension or emotion? Why should someone outside the institution care?
Our job is not simply to chronicle Texas A&M. It is to find and tell stories that reveal what Texas A&M means and the difference it makes in people’s lives. That distinction matters because higher education does not have an information shortage. It has an attention and relevance challenge.
Facts establish credibility, but stories make those facts memorable.
What I love about this answer:
I firmly believe that storytelling is a school’s most valuable asset today, and what I love about this answer is Ethan explains why that’s the case.
Storytelling goes beyond the facts of what happened to explain the significance of those facts.
Storytelling demonstrates potential.
Storytelling drives at emotion.
Storytelling delivers impact.
The most compelling stories succeed because they are audience-centered. When you start with your audience in mind, you can craft your story to make sure it speaks to their questions and needs.
Effective storytelling makes the audience feel like the story is for them.
When that happens, they are able to answer the questions Ethan posed.
What is distinctive?
What creates tension or emotion?
Why should someone outside the institution care?
The short-order cook model he described is internally focused. Something happened, and you need to cover it. That’s not putting the audience first.
By switching to a more intentional, storytelling model, not only do you put your audience front and center, but you help them understand how your institution can help them learn, grow, and make a difference in the world.
Is your school doing more “short-order cook” reporting or more impactful storytelling? I’d love to hear.
Also, if you’re going to be at AMA this year, drop me a note and let me know!
