Navy SEAL commander Randy Hetrick he had trained for many things. Sitting in an abandoned warehouse in South East Asia waiting for the GO order from Washington was not one of them. To escape the boredom, he started tinkering with different ways to work out his “pull” muscles (SEAL Teams need to be able to climb the sides of ships without being noticed). He grabbed a jujitsu belt, some rubber boat webbing and a few boat tools he had lying around. Before long, he’d invented an entirely new form of exercise. TRX Training was born, and today has grown into a thriving $75 million dollar business.
As the Content Director for TRX, I told this story many times and it worked well. The press loved it, major athletes and trainers connected with it, and even the Pentagon was swayed by it. Why?
The human being is a storytelling animal. It’s how we interact with each other about values, share experiences, counsel each other, comfort each other, and inspire each other to action. This has always been true.
Smart brands have picked up on this and approach their entire marketing program as a storytelling exercise.
