Rethinking the Creative Assembly Line for the Modern Era: Q&A with MakeMake’s Angus Wall
There has long been a structural disconnect at the heart of creative production. Ideas are developed in one place, executed in another, and refined...
Using Cultural Specificity to Reach Global Audiences: Q&A with Elias Gallego and Dave Meyers
There is a persistent instinct in brand storytelling to smooth cultural edges in pursuit of global reach. The assumption is that the more specific...
Modern Media’s Three-Way Street: How Convergence and Echobend Are Redefining the Brand-Creator-Studio Relationship
The relationship between creators, brands, and studios is still finding its footing. Creators have migrated to the center of audience attention, and the brands...
Speaking the Language of Growth: What Brand Storytellers Can Learn from the CMO’s New Reality
Today, the most important conversations in brand storytelling have moved from the writer’s room to the boardroom, where marketing leaders are being asked to...
Closing the Hope Gap: Afdhel Aziz on Building Good is the New Cool and Scaling Impact Through Storytelling
Control has long been the default setting of brand communication. And yet, in a cultural moment defined by what researchers have termed a measurable...
Using Deep Archives to Serve Digital-First Audiences: Q&A with Little Dot’s Alex Hryniewicz
What kind of content is possible to produce when audience insight, archival depth, and platform-native thinking are treated as creative inputs? Moons of Our...
BrandStorytelling 2026: Taking Stock and Next Steps
Entering 2026, brand storytelling sits firmly in its second act. The question is no longer whether story belongs in brand strategy, but how it...
This Week in Brand Storytelling
It’s ‘Food, Not Boobs’ in Carl’s Jr. and Hardees’ Brand Refresh Our tip of the day; invest 3 minutes and 16 seconds in watching...
Artists or Influencers?
Shay Carl Butler, widely known as ShayCarl, describes himself first as a father & husband, and secondly as a “YouTuber.” One of the most...
Digitas Newfront: Q&A with Scott Donaton, Global Chief Content Officer of Digitas
I first met Scott Donaton back in the late ‘90s when he was Editor and Publisher of Ad Age. It was during his tenure...
This is Elevate
Elevate, the industry building retreat for brand storytellers and their partners, kicked off Sunday night with a full showing of the best and brightest...
Cannes Film Festival and Breaking Old Models
As the global advertising community sips Rose in France and congratulates themselves on another year of great work, the business model that underwrites this...
Data Superpowers – May The Best Stories Win!
I’ve been obsessed with telling stories for as long as I can remember. But I was always a cynic about using data to inform...
Why don’t advertisers own NFL teams?
The answer is simple; because the NFL won’t allow it. That would mess with their whole business model. I was amongst the 100 million+...
VR Storytelling; Is it Time for Brands to Dive In?
It’s a question that brands must ask: “When do we start really investing in VR content; is it worth it now or should we...
Part II: Takeaways on Elevating the State of Brand-Funded Content
Elevate, the industry-building retreat for brand marketers and their partners, was designed to address the opportunities and challenges facing marketers in a media environment...
The Sun Sets on Elevate
Elevate has comes to a close, but only after two full days of idea sharing, content conversations, storytelling, and wonderful music. Brand marketers, agencies,...
Mapping the Trails: Realtor.com’s Andrew Strickman Discusses Elevate’s ‘Measurement’ Trail
Week by week, Brand Storytelling has been bringing you exclusive insight into each of the Elevate “trails” (our clever name for the panels at...