Fiction is wonderful.

Not only does it allow us to imagine we’re in a different world, era and situation, it enables us to safely become aware of different ways of thinking.

When we’re reading or watching fiction, we know it is a made up story – even if it might be based on something real that happened.

It is when the lines between truth and fiction are blurred that trouble ensues.

Making up a story about your business brings the same problem.

Not knows what to believe. Trust is eroded.

Now the headline for this article is a tweak on 1960s advertising gury Bill Bernbach’s dictum ‘the most powerful element in advertising is the truth’.

And given the sophistication of advertising and the influence of the internet, it now means your advertisement is your story and your story is your advertisement.

If your story doesn’t ring true – and people are remarkably clever at sensing any lack of veracity – then you’re shooting yourself in the foot.

A well-told truthful story trumps advertising spin any day.

The truth resonates, a non-truth dies.