The Future of Marketing: Sparking a Story-Driven Mindset Across Your Company

We recently decided to take on an audacious task: articulate what brand storytelling means to us. We were inspired by discussions we’ve had with peers, partners and even the occasional family member who asks, “Now remind me what the hell you do and what this whole ‘brand storytelling’ thing is?” Well, here goes! 

Audiences Crave Connection to a Brand’s Values

Brand storytelling is the future of marketing. There, we said it. 

In today’s world, brand storytelling is not a nice to have, it’s a need to have. Gen Z is demanding more from brands. They want to connect with brands on a deeper, more emotional level. They care about a brand’s backstory, mission, values, impact and the people behind the brand. So it makes sense that brands that can connect to relevant, complex and important cultural themes through the power of storytelling will win the hearts and minds of consumers.

To us, brand storytelling is a mindset, not a singular piece of content. It’s the highest order of marketing, which is to say that it is NOT about communicating product features and benefits, but rather articulating a brand’s values in a way that’s authentic, emotional and breakthrough. The focus is on WHY a brand or company is doing something rather HOW they’re doing it. Don’t get us wrong, there’s a role for product marketing too, but it’s not an either-or proposition. You need both.

A brand’s ability to articulate its values, purpose and build an emotional connection with its audience holds just as much importance for board members and HR leaders as it does the CMO. And it’s not just consumer-facing brands that stand to benefit. We believe B2B brands have the most to gain when it comes to brand storytelling - creating a more intimate, human-centered relationship with their audience versus the often-perceived stiff, corporate language of B2B.

A Company Culture Shift is Needed, And It Starts With Innate Curiosity

Of course, knowing where to start is always the biggest challenge. We have found that whether it’s a film, series, article, podcast, or otherwise, there’s one thing each starting point has in common: it all starts with your own company’s curiosity. A curiosity and desire to get your own culture to start replacing “how we do it” thinking with “why we do it” thinking. A mindset shift is the very first step within the organization, democratizing storytelling and infusing it as a values-driven, cross-functional way of thinking.

We’re not big fans of companies who crown a single person the “Chief Storyteller.” We think it can send the wrong message that this is a superpower only to be bestowed to the very few. (Now, don’t get us wrong. The actual execution and development of creating powerful stories both big and small is a skill that incredible creatives spend their lives perfecting and as such should be recognized). But the mindset piece is something that can be adopted by everyone; the “always on” eyes and ears of spotting that nugget of a story, interesting character, or event that just needs to be shared in a meaningful way. These stories are happening on a daily basis with customers, patients, employees, audiences, consumers, innovations, small gestures, breakthroughs, and even failures. You just have to know what you’re looking for.

Once culture is ignited, the notion that storytelling can take on the shape and form of anything can be incredibly inspiring to an organization. And so, it brings us back to the start, which is the notion that brand storytelling isn’t just one piece of content, but rather rooted in the mindset of the brand or company and the desire to bring forth and express their values in a deeply emotional and authentic way.  

Stay tuned as we dig deeper into the spectrum of breakthrough brand storytelling and share some of our favorite examples from films to events, web series and beyond.