“The universe is made of stories, not atoms.”
Muriel Rukeyser

I love Muriel’s words of wisdom! They popped into my mind when I came across this headline in The New York Times: “Telling Stories, Selling Beauty.” This feature in the Style section was all about QVC, the global television shopping network and the surge in its cosmetics sales. One of the reasons for the upswing has been the boost that personalizing the stories behind the cosmetics has given this category.

As QVC’s beauty director, Claudia Lucas, observed, “We learned that unless you do something with a major brand in a really original way, customers don’t respond. It’s all about finding something that’s authentic, that’s credible, that has a strong and compelling story….”

Storytelling has even proven of value in selling fragrances on television, which is especially challenging since customers can’t smell them. One brand called “Baby Grace” was created by the founder of the Philosophy line when she was having her first baby and the woman selling it described it this way: “It was an innocent and nurturing security blanket fragrance, something you just wanted to wrap around yourself.” Guess what? Those bottles of “Baby Grace” flew off the shelves!

No, I’m not suggesting that we become QVC pitch people. But I am fascinated by the all-powerful influence of storytelling and how it is woven into every aspect of our lives. Our mission as storytellers puts us at the heart of the universe. Write on!