If there is one thing that the Covid-19 pandemic has brought to the fore, it is our shared need for connection. Whether it is in our personal, work or community environment—people feel less connected today than ever before and are longing for meaningful engagement.
After two years of adjusting to a pandemic environment that has affected the way we work and operate at the most foundational level, this article explores how a corporate story book project helps provide that value-focused and culture-reinforcing experience that brings executives, past and current employees, business partners, suppliers, and the community together at a time characterized by physical separation as many people continue to work from their home offices.
“In addition to sharing their foundational story, tuning in on their core values and reminiscing on the evolution of their company, our clients particularly enjoy the opportunity to bring long-time stakeholders into the interview process,” says Dr. Ulrich Frisse, founder and President of corporate history agency, Historical Branding Solutions Inc. “If done right, a corporate history book project is a major community engagement exercise that goes way beyond the value of the final product, which typically is a branded coffee table style book,” he adds.
Today, more so than ever, the corporate story serves a key function in any organization, be it a family business, corporation or not-for profit. People’s growing familiarity and acceptance of remote video conferencing tools like Zoom, Webex, Google Meets, and Teams as a means to communicate with each other has only added to the ability of corporate history service providers to work with organizations at a global scale in the creation of customized projects that organizational stakeholders will rally behind and enjoy as a collaborative experience that creates meaningful connection across all levels.
Whereas in the past, clients tended to be from a range of geographical clusters, today Historical Branding Solutions works with corporate and not-for profit clients regardless of their location. “Our physical location does not seem to matter as much as it used to for many of our clients,” says Dr. Frisse. As for the future of corporate storytelling in a post-pandemic environment, he is convinced that the new status quo is here to stay. “We fully embraced the virtual format early in the pandemic and quickly adapted our processes to this changed environment. There is no doubt in my mind that it is here to stay for many of our clients as we keep moving forward,” he says. Although he misses the travel and meeting clients face to face, Dr. Frisse likes to think of the pandemic-driven transformative changes to the way businesses operate as an opportunity for staying ahead of the curve: “We have been blessed with incredible success over the years, including during this pandemic. The opportunities provided by the virtual format to further increase our footprint and making our services available to an ever-growing community of entrepreneurs, business leaders, entrepreneurial families and not-for-profit organizations are immense.” Dr. Frisse concludes.
About Historical Branding Solutions
As North America’s leading corporate history agency and company history book publisher, Historical Branding Solutions Inc. is the provider of choice for the most distinguished family businesses, corporations and not-for-profit organizations when looking for a team of content creation and design professionals to create the finest corporate history books, company history books, business anniversary books, franchisee story books, foundations and start-up story books and entrepreneurial legacy books for legacy preservation, milestone anniversary celebration, and customer, employee, franchisee and community engagement. The HBS team serves clients across Canada and the United States.
