So codifying and disseminating those stories at the corporate level has become another form of knowledge management, and a particularly trendy one at that. You add all those stories up, and you've got a community of stories. Atchley also teaches executives how they can use the same tools, namely video cameras, scanners and software, to capture their own employees' stories and transform them into corporate legends. In a business environment where 'branding' has become a mantra of power, many companies are beginning to think of advertising as an opportunity to tell their corporate story to the world. Some could potentially lead to legal action.
Some companies skirt the issue neatly by inventing their own corporate stories wholesale.
They succeeded so well, The Wall Street Journal reported, that people still ask if they can meet the couple. Such lapses in veracity are legion in the advertising world, of course. They felt betrayed. And in many cases, the pros say, the fact that a story works is usually more important than its adherence to fact. But, if so, the company seems to have risen above it.