What's the Story, Jerry?

If you lived in the NYC area in the 70's you have heard Gerald Rosenberg's voice a million times. But you probably never knew his last name.

Jerry was an American television direct-response advertising salesperson most notable for promoting local businesses. His distintive balding scalp, rotund body, thick Brooklyn accent and impassioned sales pitches made him a recognized television presence in the USA, primarliy in the "New York Megalopolis." 

Starting back in 1971, Rosenberg's ads were always they same: "What's the story, Jerry?" and the ads ended with the off-screen line "So that's the story, Jerry," in which he would reply in his trademark accent "That's the story!"

It was more like "Dat's the STOOORRRRRREEEEEE"

If you do remember Jerry, if you were living in the NYC tri-state area in the 70's, or if you had TV coverage from the New York market in the 70's, I just gave you an earworm - sometimes known as a brainworm, sticky music, stuck song syndrome, or Involuntary Musical Imagery (IMI). 

Your welcome. 

We just had the Super Bowl. We've come a long way from TV ads in the 70's and 80's. Radio was still king, with drive time radio spots out performing TV. The winning ads, the ads that we talked about at work on Monday, were all about the story. Yeah, some ads were cute, some were funny, but the ones that win the awards are mini movies - they are all about the story. 

Earlier this month I did a video podcast with Chris Brogan.

Chris is the Yoda of Storytelling for Business. 

Did you see what I just did there? That one word - Yoda - you know EXACTLY what Chris Brogan does - because there is a 99.9999% chance that if you are reading this blog, you have seen Star Wars, and you know EXACTLY what it means to say that someone is "the Yoda of" anything. 

All because of.....the power of story. 

I could have said that Chris Brogan is an author, keynote speaker and business advisor who helps companies tell their company story better. Or, I could have said that Chris believes that business storytelling is a necessary tool for 2020 and beyond.

I had you at Yoda. 

Now that TV and Radio have been replaced by "the cloud" and all things instant global mass media - it is even MORE important to know:

It's not who has the best story.  It's who can tell their story the best.

So that's the story, Tommy?

Dat's the STOOOORRRRRRREEEEEEEE!!