Brand storytelling is the craft of weaving the who, what, when, where, why, and how of your brand into one coherent narrative that engages audiences and earns their trust.
“When someone can connect with your story, they become a lifelong customer and perhaps even a fan that would share what you do with their friends,” Sarah Chisholm, founder of Wild Rye baking company, says on Shopify Masters. “There are so many different ways to tell your story: You can tell it on the side of your box, you can tell it over social media, you can tell it on a podcast.”
This article covers what to include in a brand story, brand story examples, and how to craft your own brand story.
What is brand storytelling?
Brand storytelling is when companies weave their origin story and brand values into a cohesive narrative that creates an emotional connection with their target audience.
A great brand story contains all the same elements as your favorite book or movie:
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A main character. This could be a founder or CEO, or a mascot who appears in advertising and social media content.
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A problem. A relatable problem helps create an emotional connection with the audience and sets them up to understand how the brand can offer a solution.
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A solution. The solution is an explanation of how the brand’s product or service fixes the customer’s problem.
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The brand’s identity and values. Brand identity should determine what to highlight in your brand story. A company with a funny brand personality might include a few jokes in its brand story; an eco-friendly business might include sustainability certifications in their brand story.
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Tangible facts and expertise. A good brand story cultivates a deeper understanding of the company alongside feel-good content, explaining how materials are sourced, the location of the brand’s headquarters, or the demographics of the team, for example.
5 brand storytelling examples
- Elavi relates to customers on social media
- Kloo commits to craft
- Avocado emphasizes transparency
- Megababe focuses on problem-solving
- Rocky’s Matcha centers education
When your brand shows up with the same narrative everywhere your intended audience sees it, it creates continuity. These storytelling examples show different types of narratives and different approaches to communicating them.
1. Elavi relates to customers on social media
Two friends were on a mission to create healthier desserts, and together they founded the protein snack brand Elavi. The brand leverages the relatability of the founders to connect with customers on social media.
On Instagram and TikTok, Elavi cofounders Michelle Razavi and Nikki Elliott post behind-the-scenes content focused on how they launched a successful brand. The messiness of social media, Michelle says, lends itself well to telling personal stories in a relatable way.
“People’s lives aren’t perfect,” Michelle says on Shopify Masters. “So why should someone online be? I personally don’t like following people who have this perfect, curated life. When I think about what kind of content I like to see, I use something that’s empowering and uplifting but also messy as my North Star.”
2. Kloo commits to craft
Claudia Snoh founded coffee brand Kloo with her mom Mariella, who’s a Q Grader—that’s like a sommelier for coffee beans. Early on, Claudia got feedback from consumers that people who’d heard her tell the brand story understood what differentiated Kloo from other coffee concentrates. “People who discovered us randomly online mostly thought that we were just another coffee concentrate brand with a cool bottle,” Claudia says on Shopify Masters.
To share Kloo’s story and underscore the brand’s commitment to quality, Claudia invested in a brand storytelling Instagram Reel. The video explained the brand’s mission, the founders’ journey, and what a Q Grader is. “That ended up being a huge success,” Claudia says.
3. Avocado emphasizes transparency
Sustainable mattress brand Avocado uses its brand story to emphasize its core values and mission: to create a mattress that’s actually organic. In the About Us section on its website, Avocado tells the story of how the brand came to be: The founders were looking for a truly organic mattress but couldn’t find one. It documents their production methods and sustainability certifications, like the Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS).
The brand then shares these certifications across other portions of their site. This transparency demonstrates the brand’s nitty-gritty commitment to sustainable practices.
4. Megababe focuses on problem-solving
Katie Sturino founded her beauty brand Megababe to solve problems that were embarrassing to talk about. On the brand’s About page, Katie explains that she started Megababe because she experienced chafing, sweating, and body odor but couldn’t find products to solve those problems. She also writes that the Megababe brand exists to solve these problems through innovative products and have a positive impact by normalizing the regular things bodies do.
Megababe’s focus on solving “taboo” problems is woven into everything the brand does, from the products themselves to their copy on their website. The brand uses a funny and clever brand voice. A fungal cream, for example, is named “Fun Gal Stuff.”
5. Rocky’s Matcha centers education
Rocky Xu, founder of Rocky’s Matcha, has made good storytelling and education a core part of his brand. “People are always asking, ‘What does the color of this tin mean?’ or, ‘What does that mean?’” Rocky says on Shopify Masters. “So we put something out to try to educate.”
Rocky’s Matcha explains the traditional matcha production process on its website. After flying to Japan to source the matcha, Rocky wanted to make the producers part of the brand’s content strategy. This has helped consumers become active participants in the brand, since they use Rocky’s Matcha in their journey to learn about matcha.
The brand features illustrated step-by-step guides and other how-to articles on the site, emphasizing education, authentic sourcing, and ritual at the same time.
How to create your brand story
- Define your mission and values
- Figure out what makes you different
- Choose a main character
- Draft your story and create visuals
Creating a compelling brand story helps ensure your brand stands out and becomes memorable. But taking the customer on the brand’s journey requires synchronicity between the content, the presentation, and the people delivering the message. Here’s how to create an authentic and consistent brand story.
1. Define your mission and values
Align your brand mission, values, business practices, and messaging to help what you’re saying ring true. When you sit down to define your mission and values, don’t try to include too much. Focus on what you can actually stand behind and practice on a daily basis. Ask yourself:
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What’s the most important goal of the business beyond making a profit?
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What values does the business prioritize over others?
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What gets you excited to show up for work every morning?
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Who do you focus on when producing and designing your products?
Find the common theme among the answers to these questions to home in on what is most important for the brand to stand by.
2. Figure out what makes you different
Whatever it is that sets you apart, put that front and center in your story. That’s what people will remember.
Elavi’s focus on superfoods and clean ingredients sets it apart from other protein snacks with long ingredient lists full of unrecognizable names. Megababe is one of the few personal hygiene brands that created a line of products around “taboo” issues.
Do some competitive research to determine what angles other brands are already owning and where you can carve out a unique space you can own.
3. Choose a main character
Oftentimes, your easiest main character is going to be your founder. Think about what problem they set out to solve, the innovations they discovered along the way, and the lessons they’ve learned. Those trials and tribulations can make your brand relatable.
If it’s not a founder, maybe your main character is a head food scientist or clothing designer. Your brand story might even feature multiple employee stories. If your brand storytelling involves bringing customers on an educational journey, the customer might be the main character, as Rocky’s Matcha has chosen to do.
4. Draft your story and create visuals
Once you’ve gathered the essential building blocks, it’s time to put them together into something logical, compelling, and consistent. A brand story one-pager with approved language shows the people telling your story, like copywriters and brand ambassadors, what to say to stay on-message. Consider hiring a copywriter or using AI content tools to help draft something snappy and sophisticated.
The same goes for visuals. Build a library of brand assets your team can use over and over to accompany or illustrate your brand’s story, keeping everything eye-catching and consistent across marketing channels. Everything visual that represents your brand should support the brand story, from the website design to the social media graphics.
Brand storytelling examples FAQ
What is brand storytelling?
Brand storytelling is the weaving together of a company’s origin story, ethos, and competitive advantage into a compelling narrative. Brand storytelling should involve a main character who the audience can relate to, heightening consumers’ personal attachment to the brand and product.
What is an example of brand storytelling?
One famous example of brand storytelling is Apple’s origin story: Founders Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak started the tech giant in a Silicon Valley garage. While the prototyping didn’t just take place in the garage, the story has stuck around as a symbol of the brand’s home-grown ingenuity.
What should be included in a brand story?
A good brand story should include a main character, a problem, a solution, useful information about the company, and expressions of the brand’s values. Compelling stories feel authentic to customers, not just part of a marketing strategy.
Where do you publish your brand story?
Your brand story should be published on your About Us page, but elements of it should be infused into everything your brand does. You can put brand story information in product pages, in traditional advertising, on your blog, and in social media posts.
