When I started my first business in 2003, this wasn’t even on the radar of most businesses. In 2014, the year we started Storyforge, we struggled to get business leaders to even talk about it. Over the last 18 months, this shift has become so obvious that there isn’t a single client of ours not building their business around it. Yet, many founders and CEOs will still miss it because they’re so focused on the symptoms and not the underlying shift that it will be too late before they realize. A big announcement yesterday by one of the world’s largest companies proves out this shift is happening and being addressed by the companies that invest the most in market research. Time for all businesses to acknowledge and address this shift, perhaps? Have you/how have you seen this show up in your business?

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Barry Chandler is the co-founder of Storyforge, a strategy company focused on helping companies discover their purpose, forging their unique story, building preference and driving margin.

Barry has been building award-winning businesses since launching his first company in Ireland in 2003. His last company, a digital marketing agency, was acquired in 2012 by a California-based publicly traded entertainment company which then hired him as Chief Marketing Officer. It is his belief that the greatest brands seek to change the world, improving the lives of their associates, partners, and customers.