The Journey

A micro novel on diversity and sustainability in technology. Filled with facts, startups and real role models.

Author: Alice N. York. Editor: Niall Sellar 

A silent shiver rushed down Masha’s spine. The displays flashed everywhere, no matter where she looked. All of a sudden, every flight was delayed. The feeling that something was wrong had sneaked in a while ago. Somehow, she seemed to be hanging in limbo a lot these days. The master‘s degree was in her pocket. But what came next? Where would she end up after leaving the Technical University in Munich? In Portugal, she hoped to find answers. Her flight from London to Lisbon should have left over an hour ago. Long queues had also formed at the other gates, nothing seemed to move anywhere.

“Attention: we have a lockdown. Please stay calm. Stay close to your gate. We will inform you as soon as new information is available,“ the announcement came from the loudspeaker. A man at the window was emitting expletives like an automatic rifle. The toddler next to him turned to his mother in tears. Groaning crept through the room, but most passengers surrendered to uncertainty in silence. It was almost as if this situation was a symbol of something. But what for? She was on a journey. What surprises were waiting for her?

Masha took a deep breath and tied her long brown hair into a knot. She had been on the road for fifteen hours since saying goodbye to her friend Jelena in Boston. She hadn‘t slept much on the plane. But as long as there were no police squads patrolling the airport or tanks thundering across the airfield, it couldn‘t be that bad. No need to panic.

After all, she had time for another mocha now. She sent a short message to Aldo, whom she wanted to meet in the Portuguese capital. They had worked together on a transnational project last semester. Back from the café across the aisle, she leaned against a column at the gate.

“Good idea. I should get myself some tea,” a man smiled shyly next to her. An Englishman, Masha guessed. He had come on the same flight from New York. About ten years older than her, although the short-cut, well-kept full beard could be deceiving. He wasn‘t wearing a tie, but for a technical nerd, he didn‘t look the part either. His style was too upscale for a journalist and his act too reserved for a typical founder. “Almost feels like being part of a thriller,” she turned to him. “Life is stranger than fiction,” he replied genially.

Graham was English, after all, and stories were his passion. He worked for one of the most renowned newspapers in the world, Masha was thrilled to learn. In early 2014, the company had recognized that stories – if done well – could be a very effective marketing tool for companies. A brand studio had been founded in New York. A few years later, Graham had come on board and helped establish the international arm of the studio as Creative Director.

Strict separation from the independent editorial department of the newspaper was extremely important to maintain the credibility of journalistic news. Masha thought of Jelena‘s mother, who was a journalist and had recently reported on the first genetically modified baby in China. Who would take such a story seriously if it had been sponsored by a diaper or baby food company?

The studio was a sheer success and showing sustainable growth, so Graham had moved from London to New York a while ago. In the American industry, content marketing had already been well established. The market had assumed a worldwide pioneering role. All signs were pointing to expansion. Customers in other continents were to be convinced of the benefits.

Great Britain quickly jumped onto the bandwagon, with France and Italy following suit. The latter for the same reason as Hong Kong and South Korea: luxury goods qualified by nature for the integration into good stories. James Bond had produced evidence on any number of occasions. Masha saw that right away.

The projects Graham and his team worked on were not feature films. Still, they were complex creations combining text, images, and video, where suitable. She scrolled through the story of a beer brand on the studio‘s website. At the end, however, she did not feel the need to buy a beer right away. According to Graham, content marketing was not primarily about direct selling. It was not simply a bigger ad.

It was more a matter of shaping a company’s brand or influence how one of their products was perceived by the customer. Their readers expected a certain quality for the stories, he said. For decades, the editorial department had set the bar. And it was high.

“How do you decide which format to use for the stories?” Masha wanted to know. A flood of social media channels or the newest developments in virtual and augmented reality offered sufficient opportunities to inform consumers about a wide variety of topics. Her master‘s degree in management and technology meant that marketing would certainly play a role in her future work.

“We always start with the idea for the story and only then decide on the narrative form,” Graham replied. In storytelling, the story came before the telling. Simple as that. The mobile Internet had had a huge impact, no question, but each story didn‘t always have to be told in different ways through all available channels.

In apps like Snapchat, the reader’ attention span often was a few seconds long, in the subway on the way to work, for example. During lunch break, however, readers would delve into a long story if the topic and telling were gripping. For coming up with the right idea, it was important to know which values a brand already conveyed, or which perception the company wanted to create.

This was particularly important after a crisis. What feelings and thoughts should the reader have at the end? How could this be achieved? In an entertaining or an informative way? The core of the story, therefore, had to have the same value as the brand message.

Three things were crucial: a thing or person the story was about, a conflict, and the solution. Graham compared the marketing story to a first date: if you told too much about yourself, there probably wouldn‘t be a second date. Only when they had agreed on the idea the narrative form and the appropriate technology were decided on. The last thing to be discussed was the platform for publication. On it depended whether you reached the customers you intended to reach.

Movement began to stir around them. The displays suddenly flashed with new departure times. It looked like they would reach their destination after all today. The story of the lockdown was quickly told by the airport staff. Drones had been sighted over the airfield and eliminated. Security was restored. There was no terror threat. Boarding for her flight to Lisbon would begin shortly. Just before she switched off her phone, Aldo sent a mysterious message. She‘d be in for a surprise.

Masha pulled the thick woolen scarf tighter around her shoulders. She was tired and felt chilly. London slowly disappeared below them. She closed her eyes and thought about the last two weeks with Jelena. In the past, they had used to snowboard or mountain-climb, had boxed, and covered countless lanes in the swimming pool before hitting the bars of the university town at night.

But a trip to Las Vegas two years ago had had a brutal bearing on her girlfriend‘s life. How could Jelena have known that she got into the crosshair of a lunatic and become tied to a wheelchair? Laughing had been her favorite activity, nothing had upset her easily.

During this visit, though, Masha had come to realize how much Jelena struggled to fight the demons. The move from Chicago to Boston had not had much effect. Seemingly out of nowhere, the abyss of despair opened up in her mind, and she would burst into tears. Or a panic attack robbed her of air. What exactly happened in these moments and triggered the agony, was something Masha could not grasp.

Medicine and psychology were not her specialties, even though she had supported aid organizations as a volunteer on several occasions. Taking Jelena to Niagara Falls last week had been a highlight after all. Whereas New York City had been more of a rollercoaster mood-wise. If only she could help her friend. But how?