Your company has a compelling story to tell. The people and enterprises that your company serves need to hear that story. At HAI, we believe that every company, association, and agency has an authentic history to share, and we are experts at creating curated corporate histories. These stories artfully capture your company’s story and culture so that your colleagues and other companies understand your origins and your company’s evolution over time. Your corporate history is an important component of your corporate brand, which is the cornerstone of your company’s story about itself. As your business continues to innovate and grow, your corporate brand will serve as a living document that testifies to your company’s past and gives shape to its future. At History Associates, our expert storytellers employ both creativity and careful study to meld past events into a seamless narrative with dramatic appeal. We can help you tell the story of how your company developed from an idea and collection of people into a corporate brand with a distinct identity.
What Makes A Good Corporate History?
Creating an effective corporate history is a craft that is learned and perfected over time. At History Associates, we have established, through experience, a series of steps to build up the essential components of a corporate story. We analyze and carefully consider these components, and then create an authoritative account of your company, from its origins to the present. Your company’s history already exists; we can help you curate it so that it contributes meaningfully to your company’s identity and its success.
We understand that corporations have specific aims in mind when developing their corporate history. Corporations do not share the same goals with nonprofits and universities, for example. Instead, they must consider the potential impact of their corporate brand on their business success and profitability. In addition, your corporate history is likely to be intended for multiple audiences; it must be informative and impressive to shareholders, and also work in service of the company’s marketing goals. Therefore, corporations are looking for ways to effectively target multiple audiences with a polished corporate history that functions as an effective marketing tool. In order to do this challenging work, your collaborators require both creativity and marketing skills—in addition to a deep knowledge of how to construct historical narratives. That’s where History Associates’ knowledge is particularly helpful—we are able to be creative storytellers while shaping your corporate history to play a variety of roles in the ongoing success of your company. Your company can expect a lot of creativity from our team as we collaborate with you to create a corporate history that goes beyond “just the facts.”
A good corporate history not only tells the story of your company, but is also future-oriented. Our team can help create a history that both narrates your origins and also makes its readers aware of your intentions for the future. In this way, a good corporate history doesn’t merely narrate the past but can contribute meaningfully to your company’s culture. According to the Harvard Business Review, when your team members know the history of the group to which they belong, they see events and themselves as part of a still-unfolding story and of something larger than themselves. This aids in recruitment, too—a potential employee can read or experience a skillfully created corporate history and come away feeling familiar with your company’s culture and knowledgeable about where your company is headed. In this way, a well-crafted corporate history can deliver a substantial return on investment in the recruitment process, as well as when onboarding new employees. Your new staff members will begin with not only the “facts,” but with a dynamic understanding of your company’s culture and history.
How Do HAI’s Experts Create Corporate Histories?
Our content and digital storytelling experts have experience curating the kinds of corporate histories that make employees want to join your team, and clients want to partner with your company. We focus on framing and communicating your narrative in a meaningful way. This begins with a deep analysis of your audience so that we can tailor your corporate history to the people most likely to read and be affected by it. We then find the most compelling, interesting, and persuasive information to include and determine the best medium in which to present your company’s story. Learn more about the process we engage in to create corporate histories here: Writing a Corporate History: the HAI Approach.
Partners with whom we have collaborated on corporate histories appreciate our fact-based, historical approach. While we understand that your corporate history will be used as a marketing and recruitment tool, we are not a marketing firm. We take pride in our ability to acknowledge and understand the events of your company’s history even as we shape a narrative that looks to the future. We provide political, economic, social, and cultural context for your story. In this way, we showcase the many dimensions of your organization’s commitments to its customers, its employees, and its industry.
Your company will have creative control throughout the process; as you partner with History Associates, you will be invited to help shape your company’s narrative. Particularly when your corporate history includes political, social, or economic realities that caused suffering or legal repercussions, shaping your narrative effectively can be challenging. History Associates’ approach is to provide facts to accurately represent history, but also to curate a story that will project your corporate brand into the future. We are not purveyors of flashy marketing; rather, we tell your company’s authentic story.
What Does History Associates Create for Companies?
Our expert historians can create a corporate history that is effective in a variety of forms. We can create artfully designed books or magazines that showcase your company’s history and can be sent to shareholders, potential employees, and corporate partners. Another company that is familiar with your company’s plans in the context of your rich history can enter into a partnership with a deeper understanding of your corporate brand and identity. History Associates can also develop web and video histories that are shareable on a variety of platforms. Our facilitated oral history projects can recover the stories that form the essence of your corporate identity and share these stories with your current employees and partners.
Your company’s history is a priceless asset and an invaluable resource. A rich history of events, innovations, and challenges overcome make your business what it is today. History Associates can help you leverage your story to establish a brand identity rooted in the past while maintaining momentum toward the future. Our services position you to craft compelling content and develop an end product that will preserve and share your story for years to come. We can partner with you through a strategic planning process to develop your company’s unique story, and the end result will inspire employees, engage the public, and make a meaningful difference to your company. Schedule a meeting with our insightful, collaborative Content & Digital Storytelling team to better understand how we can assist you in bolstering your corporate brand with an authentic, expertly created corporate history!
