reshaping our world through
the power of story
Throughout history, storytelling has been the primary method
of human engagement, weaving narratives that captivate audiences,
inspire action, and ultimately, help people to come together.
Today – in business, politics, and the arts – storytelling has become
more challenging than ever as leaders struggle to be heard
in increasingly noisy and fractured media markets.
What leaders need today is a firm grasp
of the timeless principles of storytelling
and a working knowledge of the new tools
that are available to them.
WHY?
We honor the timeless power of storytelling to connect people and inspire action. In diverse yet related arenas of business, politics, and entertainment, storytelling has evolved into a sophisticated discipline, part art, part science. Our goal is to be a leading voice in this new era of communication, blending the modern art and science of storytelling in an age of rapid technology transformation.
Our work supports critical stages of the audience engagement cycle, from strategic planning to campaign management and measurement. In collaboration with our corporate and civic clients, we continually refine our methods to meet evolving needs and challenges. In addition, Remote – our media project incubator – is pioneering innovative approaches to storytelling in the age of AI, building on an award-winning streaming theater project that we launched at the start of the pandemic.
As the narrative landscape evolves with AI, we remain at the forefront, understanding the balance between technological augmentation and human authenticity in storytelling, working with emerging generative AI tools as extensions, not replacements, for human creativity Our approach offers brands the opportunity to harness AI tools while retaining the essential human touch in their narratives.
With a prestigious list of past and present clients and partners – including major brands and civic institutions – our founders have a proven track record of success in reshaping narratives for today's world.
WHAT?
We offer clients a range of strategy and implementation services across the entire customer/citizen engagement journey. We prioritize results while optimizing for costs by creating teams that are led by seasoned strategists with the most trusted on-the-ground execution specialists.
Education
This is the place where many clients begin. Businesses and nonprofits looking to elevate their market presence start by exploring best practices in digital communications but are often unfamiliar with the principles and technologies for effective storytelling in the digital age. The Lab has created a curriculum for half/day and single-day workshops designed to educate internal leaders – from marketing managers to C-level professionals – on understanding and applying the rules and tools of modern storytelling, with an additional focus on the application of generative AI.
Research
StoryBoard ™Using an in-house methodology for understanding competitive trends, and a licensed consumer sentiment platform, we help organizations understand the opportunities to go to market with a story-driven approach to marketing and communications.
Positioning
StoryBook ™ Based on our Storyboard research for our clients, we create a detailed positioning statement with a multi-sided repository of stories for engaging any number of stakeholders – customers, partners, employees, industry, and industry analysts.
Campaigns
Based on the research and story development, we develop and execute multichannel marketing plans leveraging owned, earned, and paid media directing in-house experts and trusted partners in public relations, content creation (text, audio, video), and analyst relations to execute in real-time. We have a reputation for directing some of the most impactful company launches, product launches, and long-term marketing campaigns.
Measurement
In today’s competitive markets, measurement cannot be an afterthought. It must be monitored proactively and in real-time. We provide our clients and partners with dashboards that are populated as soon as the data are collected. This enables our teams to pivot at the speed the market turns, a capability that’s critical to have during market shifts and crises.
Coming: StoryGen™
Under development: StoryGen is a dynamic technology service designed to empower organizations with the ability to effortlessly generate captivating narratives from customer data. Through sophisticated sentiment analysis algorithms, StoryGen sifts through vast troves of customer feedback, pinpointing the most pressing challenges and desires of your target audience. With StoryGen's innovative capabilities, businesses can seamlessly craft a myriad of engaging story ideas tailored specifically to address these insights. From developing compelling marketing campaigns to creating immersive social media content and insightful blog posts, StoryGen equips brands with the tools to connect authentically with their audience.
WH0?
The Lab has a core of three principals and an extended team of best in class practitioners in marketing management, executive management, graphic arts, film, music, sound. We partner with two other boutiques when additional capacity is needed: The Brooklyn Story Lab — a spinoff of the Lb that focuses on communications and leadership for social good — and OnDemand CRO/CMO, a firm that specializes in fractional C-level engagements.
Giovanni Réne Rodriguez
Founder and CEO
Gio René Rodriguez is founder and CEO of The Silicon Valley Story Lab, an award-winning venture that provides branding, positioning, and communication technology advisory services to organizations in markets that matter. His mission: to elevate and democratize the art and science of storytelling for a more engaged and responsible global citizenry.
Gio is also an opinion writer for Forbes, and founder of Remote Theater, a project born during the pandemic to advance the art of an emerging communications medium it calls "live cinema." In 2021, Remote was honored by the Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle (BATCC) for “its distinguished work online while live theater was closed during the pandemic.” Among other honors, in 2023. Gio recently was named one of 101 community leaders in Silicon Valley “who have made extraordinary contributions to the region and beyond.” Past and present clients include Google, Intel, Unilever, SAP, VMware, Wipro (India), dunnhumby, Stanford University, Kaiser Permanente, the AARP, the DNC, and The Obama White House, and dozens of startups from entry to exit
A survivor of end-stage liver disease, he is in the process of documenting his journey in a work of narrative nonfiction called, “The Stories We Tell Ourselves.” He is a graduate of Princeton University, where he studied religion and anthropology.
I have been working with Gio for more than two decades, spanning three client acquisitions and integration at British Telecom, Google, and Wipro. It’s a been a lifetime of study and bold experiments about branding, positioning, and storytelling. Gio is the master of all three. He's constantly innovating at the edge of several professions — business, civics, and the arts — while helping to democratize the art and science for everyone."
Dan Seyer
VP marketing, cybersecurity, Wipro
“Gio is that rare marketing professional who can see a market move before it happens. He has the rare ability to respect and address your near term needs while also seeing 'around the corner' to position your company and brand for optimal long term success. He is brilliant, creative and a pure pleasure to work with!”
Don Thorson
Serial Entrepreneur
"Gio was a powerful and resourceful member of the DNC’s drive to turn out the Hispanic vote in 2012. Among other things, he developed a surrogate plan for Hispanic voters in swing states using an innovation involving social media."
Jose Rico
former executive director
White House Initiative on Advancing Educational Equity
“I have been working with Gio since early 2000s. His uncanny ability to see trends before they materialize and his devotion to the timeless rules of storytelling have always positioned him to compete with the very best and largest strategy firms."
Denise Vardakas
Co-founder, On-Demand CRO
Practice Leader, Communications
Theresa Smith
Theresa Smith has more than 25 years’ experience in developing and implementing the media relations strategy for a number of emerging and established companies focusing on artificial intelligence, e-commerce, online shopping, retail, business intelligence, business analytics, data security, data mining, customer relationship management solutions, call center solutions, customer service, banking, data storage, financial services, predictive analytics, and data warehousing. Theresa’s clients have stretched from the Silicon Valley to the East Coast. She has also directed public relations projects on behalf of Silicon Valley Story Lab, Kickstart Consulting, Ogilvy, and Cyberspace PR. Current and past clients include Guy Kawasaki (technology and social media evangelist, investor, entrepreneur and author), Microsoft, NV5, Bandai America, DemandTec Dunnhumby, Digital Insight, Firstlogic, Higher Logic, iManage, Infonet Services Company, Informix Corporation, Insightful Corporation, Onelogin, Palisade Systems, Quantum Spatial, Soha Systems, UCLA VC Fund, Torchlight and Winshuttle.
“During my tenure as Assistant Editor of CRM magazine, I found that there were two types of public relations professionals: ones who blindly went after media placements just to make their quota, and ones who clearly favored quality of work over quantity of hits. Theresa was most definitely the second of these — having worked with her on numerous occasions, she had the rare ability to not only provide me what I needed for a story, but also truly understand how it all fit into the broader scope of my coverage. I felt comfortable enough to bounce ideas off of her for upcoming pieces, and she was more than happy to take the time to listen — even if at the end, it meant that it wasn’t the best fit for her client. To have that type of relationship with a public relations professional in the competitive media industry is not just rare, but one you should hang onto for as long as possible. If you’re looking for someone to help you with your communications and media relations initiatives, definitely give Theresa a ring.”
Christopher Musico
Assistant Editor, Information Today, Inc.
“Theresa is an exceptional and seasoned public relations professional. She is articulate, has strong relationships and understands what’s required to secure media and analyst coverage in a highly-competitive environment. Theresa is strategic helping companies tell their story in a way that is compelling and effective. I highly recommend Theresa for companies who need an agile, PR professional to move their business forward.”
Judy McOstrich, MBA, APR
Sr. Marketing Manager
Rusty Weston
Practice Leader, Content
Rusty Weston is an award-winning managing editor, writer, blogger, content marketer, social strategist, content strategist, researcher, and public speaker with two decades of leadership experience. In recent years he has written numerous reports on behalf of Harvard Business Review Analytic Services and Forrester Consulting. His writing has appeared in Forbes, the Financial Times, Wired, Fast Company, InformationWeek and Yahoo! He has written executive byliners or research reports for clients such as Intel, Google, Capital One, Broadcom, Dell, VMware, Symantec, McAfee, Viant and RingCentral among others.
Weston’s work demonstrates expertise in cloud, AI, big data, infrastructure, cybersecurity, management, collaborative communications. A data-driven storyteller, Weston is also a leader who can build and manage teams of writers, editors, strategists, designers, and analytics specialists that produce high-performing content programs for some of the world's leading brands.
A former Ogilvy VP, Weston built and managed highly productive (long form) content studios for leading tech, finance and science brands such as Intel, VMware, Barclays, and DuPont, devising strategies and executing content programs to heighten brand awareness and achieve deeper customer engagement. He is experienced in social strategy and developing content that performs in full-funnel, multichannel campaigns.
Weston is also an accomplished fine-art photographer whose award-winning landscape and portraiture has appeared in more than 30 gallery exhibitions on three continents. A journalism graduate of San Francisco State University, Rusty makes his home in San Francisco.
"If you were to dream up the ideal editor for your content program, your publication, or your brand, you'd envision Rusty Weston. He's got a great touch with language, a barrage of talented writers who trust him, enviable client management skills, a creative soul, management and organizational chops, and a rare and invaluable meticulous streak. This unusual collection of attributes makes him ideally suited to lead large, complex content and editorial programs, something he's done beautifully at Ogilvy. He's fun, wry, dependable, and a pleasure to be around."
Jeremy Katz
Worldwide Editorial Director
Ogilvy & Mather
"Rusty is the total package: on-target and precise writer and editor, accomplished researcher, savvy strategist, cool and effective manager with deep knowledge of B2B content and technology. He excels at building great teams by attracting and keeping top talent. He’s serious, frank, wry, well organized but flexible."
Joseph Maglitta
Founder, Head of Content, Events & Analysis
Maglitta Communications
We are not just storytellers for hire, but writers, visual artists, and producers in our own right. Our media project incubator, Remote Theater – an award-winning streaming media project we launched at the beginning of the pandemic – has become a sandbox for developing new projects that leverage new technologies and modes of storytelling. In 2024, Remote – which is organized as a non-profit – is now seeking support from corporate and philanthropic partners to help new media projects find national and global audiences.
Current projects:
• Jack London Slept Here: A mostly dark, mostly silent, comic film about the limited capacity of technology to meet essential human needs.
• Pathway: A near-future Sci-Fi streaming series that delves into society's reliance on technology for personal transformation and connection, and the hopeful, yet desperate belief that this will be humanity's last-minute savior.
• The Pitch. A live film about a global competition to win a strategy consulting contract with the most highly valued company in the world.
Do you like what you see?
Click on 'See all Projects' to see all the work we have done for our clients.