What makes an experience unforgettable? Why do some ideas, brands, museums, and attractions merely inform us while others permanently change how we think, feel, and act?
In this episode of The Soul of Enterprise, Ron and Ed welcome Bob Rogers, founder of BRC Imagination Arts and author of Deep Story: The Complete Guide to Creating Transformational Themed Attractions. Drawing on decades of experience designing award-winning visitor experiences for organizations ranging from Disney and NASA to Coca-Cola and the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum, Bob explains the difference between entertainment, engagement, and true transformation.
The conversation explores the power of storytelling to shape identity, create lasting emotional connections, and inspire action. Bob shares the principles behind “Deep Story,” the framework he developed for creating experiences that move audiences beyond awareness and into meaningful change. Together, the hosts and Bob discuss what business leaders, educators, marketers, and experience designers can learn from the world’s most successful attractions—and why the future belongs not merely to the Experience Economy, but to organizations capable of creating transformation.
Whether you’re building a brand, leading a firm, teaching a subject, or simply fascinated by the art and science of storytelling, this episode offers a masterclass in creating experiences people never forget.
ABOUT BOB ROGERS
Bob Rogers is the founder of BRC Imagination Arts, a globally recognized design and production company that creates transformative visitor experiences for leading brands, museums, and cultural institutions. A filmmaker, inventor, writer, and master storyteller, Bob has earned Academy Award nominations, received the IAAPA Thea Award for Lifetime Achievement, and helped shape attractions for organizations including Disney, NASA, Coca-Cola, and the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum
SHOW NOTES
Segment one
So what is Bob’s book about? “If you seek to change the world, permanently and measurably increasing your visitors’ interest in your subject or your brand, read on. This book is for you.” More here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1963714156?lv=shuf&channelId=500&plpRedirect=mhFallback
The famous quote by baseball legend Yogi Berra is, "If you don't know where you are going, you might wind up someplace else."
Coined by Joe Pine and Jim Gilmore in their framework on the Transformation Economy, an “invitational transformation” is a marketing experience where a company invites customers to evolve or change their identity. This is right up Bob’s alley for our conversation today.
"Story telling implies a one-way communication. I’m telling you something. Story making is […] participatory. It’s reacting to what the audience or the customer is doing. And it allows the customer or the audience to be a participant in deciding what happens next." —Bob Rogers of BRC
Segment two
Here is a direct link to the book Ron “begged” you to get at the beginning of segment two: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1963714156?lv=shuf&channelId=500&plpRedirect=mhFallback
“If you want to connect the heart of the audience with the heart of the subject you go deep into the audience and deep into the subject or the brand. And what you’re looking for […] is an emotional trigger.” —Bob Rogers of BRC
Regarding the emotional trigger and how we can find it. “They start with the technology they want to use; they start with the design of the building they want to use…instead of something that the audience is actually interested in.” —Bob Rogers of BRC
Bob Rogers was fired from Disney three times. This is not an embellished story. Bob has told this story before including on The Soul of Enterprise today.
Segment three
Bob Rogers earned a Guinness World Record for producing and writing “Impressions de France”, which achieved the title for the longest-running daily screening of a film in the same theater. https://www.bobrogers.com/awards
Bob has a STRONG process for arriving at an objective statement at the start of each project. He shared the start of this process on the show today, “Talk about what’s the difference in behavior and make it observable and measurable.” —Bob Rogers of BRC
Today I learned: Joe Pine says that Bob Rogers introduced him to the idea of “invitational transformations.” Pine initially questioned whether that was really a transformation, but came to believe it was and subsequently incorporated the concept into his own thinking about the Transformation Economy. More here: https://transformationsbook.substack.com/p/deep-story
Segment four
Two projects that stand out to Bob Rogers: BRC Imagination Arts itself (Bob has been building this company for 45 years) and “the next one” (It’s always the next one as Bob says)
“In the end, this is a service. The client has a vote in it. It’s their ‘visitor center’. You want them to be happy. So if they direct us to do something that we think is not their best choice, we have a responsibility to tell them. I think you’ve got a better choice.” —Bob Rogers of BRC closing words on The Soul of Enterprise today.
A big THANK YOU to Bob Rogers of BRC Imagination Arts for joining us today. Folks, you need to read his book, Deep Story. Seriously. More at this link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1963714156?lv=shuf&channelId=500&plpRedirect=mhFallback
Bonus Content is Available As Well
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