Content Strategist Katja Hertin: A Flair for Stories

Katja, you started your new position as Senior Content Strategist at “In A Nutshell” in July. How was your debut?

Katja Hertin: I was lucky enough to be able to attend the agency's summer party back in June. This allowed me to get to know the team in a private and relaxed atmosphere. We spent a weekend in a hut near the Zugspitze, barbecued, chatted and enjoyed our time together. I also climbed the Upsspitze with the two managing directors Jonna Gaertner and Timm Rotter. At an altitude of 1,300 meters, we had the opportunity to experience ourselves outside the comfort zone of the office. For me as an outdoor fan, it was a very nice and unique onboarding experience. Since my official start in July, I have been familiarized with various projects and given extensive training. I particularly like the open exchange within the team and the willingness to learn from each other.

Marketing: companies are willing to invest in high-quality content

You spent the first part of your career in journalism, including at “Freundin” and “Focus Online”. You've been working in brand communication since 2019, first at “Avantgarde” and now at “In A Nutshell”. What made you switch sides?

Hertin: The common thread in my life is a passion for storytelling. Even as a child, I wrote my own stories, later studied German and completed a traineeship at the “Tagesspiegel”. After various positions, such as deputy editor-in-chief at “Freundin” and co-founder and editor-in-chief of “Donna”, I switched from print to online journalism due to the growing interest in digital media. As deputy editor-in-chief at “Focus Online”, I was able to get to know the rules of journalism on the Internet. That was exciting. But the fact that most people don't want to pay for online content makes it difficult to establish successful business models. In the agency world, the financial conditions for creative work are better, as companies today are often more willing than media brands to invest in high-quality content. This means that stories can be researched and told more elaborately.

What were the biggest changes for you when you switched from journalism to PR?

Hertin: In the editorial department of a magazine or an online magazine, you work on a joint product. In an agency, on the other hand, the work is very project-driven in constantly changing teams, which requires a different mindset because every project is individual. In addition, corporate storytelling always begins with an analysis of the client's communication goals. Many stakeholders from the respective companies contribute their wishes for the content, which makes the creation process more challenging.

What accents would you like to set in your new position?

Hertin: There are a lot of B2B companies out there that don't even know how many good stories they have and how they can tell them in an exciting way. This is especially true for industries that don't sound so sexy – I'm thinking of banks, insurance companies, health tech or the manufacturing industry. Together with “In A Nutshell”, I want to support companies in discovering their stories and telling them in a lively way. I bring in my journalistic perspective by focusing on the end consumers and stakeholders.

What makes good storytelling in 2024?

Hertin: Blanket messages hardly catch people anymore. Society is fragmented into many different communities. Companies should know which of these groups are relevant to them and build targeted relationships with them. This includes telling stories that correspond to the interests and lifestyles of these communities. In addition, people currently want approachable, personal content that creates real connections.

Personal and credible content creates a connection

Does that explain the success of podcasts? The voice is something very personal.

Hertin: Certainly. A voice conveys a much more intimate feeling than written texts. It gives an immediate impression of the speaker and creates a strong connection. The popularity of influencers can also be explained by the need for personal, credible content. At the agency, however, we don't think in terms of channels – it is always a question of goal, target groups and resources as to what a sensible media mix looks like. And this is always individual: LinkedIn, for example, can be the right platform for maintaining the corporate brand. However, we also have clients where we deliberately use other media – TikTok, for example, for recruiting younger target groups or newsletters for building opinion leadership in specialist areas.

Can cities be good sources of ideas for corporate stories? Do you stroll through the streets of Munich to get inspiration?

Hertin: Cities are real treasure troves of ideas. They offer a wealth of impressions - from posters to extraordinary people to demonstrations. During the European Football Championship, I experienced how people from different cultures and social groups celebrated together on Leopoldstrasse. I had several conversations with fans there. Such encounters help me to think outside the box and gain new perspectives.

How does your agency generally benefit from Munich as a location?

Hertin: Munich is a technology-oriented location, which is very beneficial for us as an agency. The topic of AI in particular, which is a central component for us, is very popular here with many companies and in science. The potential of AI and the lively exchange about it ensure that the players drive each other forward.

Could you explain the importance of AI at “In A Nutshell” in more detail?

Hertin: Generative AI was a topic here long before ChatGPT – so the agency was able to start giving workshops and training in this area very quickly when the hype started in early 2023. This gave rise to our subsidiary “disruptive”, an AI consultancy that specializes in training and education as well as AI strategies for companies. Our colleagues have already trained more than 40 companies. “In A Nutshell” benefits greatly from their knowledge because we also work a lot with AI ourselves and receive training. Our team also shares tips on AI tools and prompting in “buddy groups”. This makes it easy for us to build up valuable expertise. On a practical level, AI makes our work easier in many areas: it helps us come up with ideas, transcribes speeches and creates images and tutorial videos. Despite all these great possibilities, however, we should never forget that AI is ultimately just a sparring partner. In the end, it is essential that a human checks and develops the results in order to achieve truly unique and high-quality results.

What do you think is crucial for the optimal use of AI?

Hertin: Above all, prompting. AI uses existing content from the internet, which can lead to expected, superficial output if the prompts are too simple. This can be seen, for example, in the many similar LinkedIn posts in which users always present their top learnings or career advice in the same structure and style. If you prompt with more differentiated instructions, the AI can deliver truly original and varied ideas and content. Incidentally, this does not mean simply entering a command such as “be as creative as possible”, as this alone often leads to poor results. In our agency, we collect tried-and-tested prompts for various use cases and make them available to all colleagues. This saves us time and increases the quality of the results.

Another important topic of our time is sustainability. How do companies engage in effective storytelling here?

Hertin: It is no longer enough to proclaim values and visions. Instead, companies should take action and disclose what they are doing - even if it is only small steps and setbacks occur. This not only shows that they are dealing with the issue honestly, but also creates trust. In contrast, no one will forgive greenwashing.

Finally, I would like to know: Is there this one story, whether told by a person or a medium, that has left the biggest impression on you?

Hertin: Several years ago, I had the opportunity to interview Natascha Kampusch, who was abducted as a child and held captive in a cellar dungeon for eight and a half years. It was overwhelming to talk to her and see how these traumatic experiences shaped her. It really got under my skin. Even though it was a while ago, I will never forget this encounter.