12 powerful examples of
brand storytelling
Brand storytelling is one of the most powerful tools that marketers have, as it taps into the eternal human appetite for great stories and new perspectives.
However, when you're focused on meeting deadlines and targets, you can lose track of the essential story behind your content marketing. You might find yourself storytelling without a purpose, repeating narratives that other brands have already used.
You might even find yourself telling stories which directly contradict the rest of your brand identity and don’t fit with your marketing strategy — or your brand's mission.
The best brand storytelling examples inspire customers, donors, investors, and employees alike. A great brand story is also immersive and interactive, drawing readers into the heart of the story. In this guide, we've rounded up some compelling high quality brand storytelling examples that you can draw real-life inspiration from, without needing an eight-figure marketing budget.
We'll cover:
Start creating with Shorthand
It's the fastest way to publish beautifully engaging brand stories, reports, internal comms, and more.
Looking for a definition of brand storytelling or the fundamentals behind it? Read our introduction to brand storytelling. Below, we're focusing purely on standout examples and what marketers can learn from each one.
12 powerful examples of brand storytelling
University of Oregon: Grateful Ducks offers a celebration of music and innovation
This timeline story ends on Grateful Ducks, a campaign from the University of Oregon celebrating innovation. It is a fantastic piece of brand storytelling, tracing two very different names in innovation from Eugene, Oregon: Nike and The Grateful Dead. Exploring the humble beginnings and growth of each, while centering the university as a hub and starting point, the story is also branded in the University of Oregon’s colours — making it a brilliant and engaging brand asset from the start.
Why it works:
This story succeeds because it connects institutional identity to a larger cultural narrative. By linking the University of Oregon to both The Grateful Dead and Nike, and framing the piece around a shared origin in Eugene, it creates a story that feels distinctive, place-based, and memorable rather than purely promotional.
What marketers can learn:
Strong brand storytelling often comes from finding an unexpected but authentic connection between your organisation and a broader cultural moment. When you can root that connection in place, history, or community, the story feels richer and more ownable.
Manchester City Football Club: Bananas!
This walk down memory lane revisits a colourful chapter in an otherwise “dull period” for the football club. On Boxing Day 1988, City fans donned fancy dress and brought inflatable bananas along to a match. The story contains a trove of archive crowd shots and is adorned in a bright yellow theme — a departure from Manchester City’s usual blue brand notes, but one that fits the story perfectly.
Why it works:
This story works because it turns a quirky piece of fan history into a vivid expression of brand identity. Instead of talking abstractly about club culture, Manchester City brings it to life through a specific moment — the late-1980s inflatable banana craze — using nostalgia, character, and first-hand detail to show the humour, loyalty, and self-awareness that define the fanbase.
What marketers can learn:
Some of the strongest brand stories come from community lore rather than official milestones. When you spotlight a memorable, human story that audiences already feel ownership over, you can reinforce brand identity in a way that feels authentic, distinctive, and emotionally resonant.
University of Essex: Sixty Stories
To celebrate its 60th birthday, the University of Essex launched ‘Sixty Stories’, a campaign hub linking to 60 interesting stories celebrating its thinkers and innovators from over the years. One terrific example, ‘Saving Tattoo Art’, follows Senior Lecturer Dr Matt Lodder on his journey to document, study, and save historic tattoo collections.
Why it works:
Saving Tattoo Art sits inside a much bigger editorial world. The University of Essex’s Sixty Stories for Sixty Years campaign gives the university a clear narrative frame — 60 years of “making change happen” — and then proves that message through a wide range of stories about students, staff, research, and partnerships. That makes the brand feel dynamic and credible: instead of relying on anniversary messaging alone, Essex uses the hub to show its identity through dozens of specific, human examples over time.
What marketers can learn:
A campaign hub can be far more effective than a one-off anniversary page when it gives a brand a flexible narrative structure to build on over time. By creating a central theme and then expressing it through many different stories, brands can turn heritage, values, and impact into an ongoing editorial experience rather than a single promotional message.
Cancerfonden: Kristian Pietras, Årets cancerforskare 2025
This story from Cancerfonden, Sweden’s largest cancer charity, profiles Kristian Pietras, who was named Cancer Researcher of the Year for 2025. It uses scroll-interactive imagery and full-width video of Kristian and his colleagues in the lab to focus on important medical work in a way that remains accessible and engaging.
Why it works:
This story makes complex cancer research feel understandable, hopeful, and human. Cancerfonden frames Pietras’ work around a clear central idea — that cancer grows within a wider “environment” of blood-vessel and connective-tissue cells — and uses that insight to tell a bigger story about how research can open the door to new treatments. That gives the piece both emotional resonance and authority.
What marketers can learn:
When your subject matter is technical, lead with the human significance of the work rather than the complexity of the science. A strong story can translate specialist expertise into something wider audiences can grasp by focusing on one clear idea, why it matters, and the change it could make possible.
University College London: Starring UCL
This fun magazine article centres University College London as the star of the screen, showcasing venues around campus and their appearances in film and TV. It’s a vibrant scrolling experience that encourages readers to engage more deeply by spotting and recognising shots from their favourite shows and films.
Why it works:
Rather than describing the university in conventional brand terms, this piece lets readers experience UCL through its screen appearances. By turning campus spaces into the stars of the story — with examples ranging from Inception to Poirot — it transforms place, heritage, and alumni connection into something visually engaging and genuinely fun to explore.
What marketers can learn:
Look for ways to tell your brand story indirectly. Sometimes the most compelling route is not to talk about your institution head-on, but to reveal its character through culture, history, setting, or the unexpected roles it has played.
Save the Children Norway: Barna du var med å hjelpe i 2025
‘The Children You Helped in 2025’ uses a series of interactive maps to zoom in on the lives of individual children in countries affected by conflict, disaster, hunger, and disease. Through striking video, full-width media, and intimate family stories, the article builds a clear sense of urgency around each child’s circumstances. At the same time, it balances hardship with stories of survival, care, and support, showing readers how Save the Children puts donations into action. The result is a powerful, human-centred story that gives readers a sense of agency and encourages them to consider further support.
Why it works:
This story works because it turns donor impact into a campaign narrative built around many individual human stories. Instead of summarising Redd Barna’s work in broad organisational terms, the piece uses a series of short portraits from Syria, Ethiopia, Gaza, Kenya, Pakistan, and beyond to show the scale of the crisis and the range of support made possible. That structure makes the brand’s mission feel both global and deeply personal, while the repeated “with your support” framing strengthens the connection between audience action and real-world outcomes.
What marketers can learn:
A strong impact story does not need to rely on one flagship case study. By bringing many stories together under one clear campaign frame, brands can show breadth, reinforce their mission, and give audiences a more immediate sense of the difference their support makes. When each example is specific and human, the larger brand message becomes more credible, emotional, and memorable.
Amazon: Inside the delivery station putting dozens of sustainability strategies to the test
Amazon News’ story introducing its new facility combines rich media, strong scrollytelling, and clever design to showcase its sustainability efforts to eco-conscious consumers. With icon cards, it explains sustainability features such as 170 EV chargers, circadian lighting, and rainwater recycling. To create a more immersive reader experience, it also includes a video title section and an interactive scrolling section that lets readers apply construction layers to the building as they scroll.
Why it works:
This story makes a complex sustainability agenda feel concrete by anchoring it in one real place. Instead of talking about broad corporate promises, Amazon shows how more than 40 technologies and systems are being tested in practice, which gives the piece credibility and makes innovation feel tangible.
What marketers can learn:
Use a specific location, project, or product as the lens for a bigger brand story. When you turn an abstract theme like sustainability into a vivid, on-the-ground example, it becomes easier for audiences to understand, trust, and remember.
Penguin: Lit in Colour’s Five-Year Progress Report
In this five-year progress report, Penguin reflects on the impact of its Lit in Colour project, which aims to increase the number of books by authors of colour on the English literature curriculum. Full-width video reminds us what the project is really about — students in the classroom — while scrolling data visuals turn research findings and progress updates into a more engaging reader experience. With scrolling imagery and video, all adorned with Penguin’s recognisable orange brand colour, it’s a strong piece of content marketing.
Why it works:
This piece works because it combines mission, evidence, and advocacy. Penguin uses five years of research and progress data to tell a bigger story about equity in education, including the finding that the share of GCSE students studying books by authors of colour has risen from 0.7% to 1.9% since 2020 — while also making clear how far there is still to go. That gives the story both emotional weight and real authority.
What marketers can learn:
Purpose-led storytelling is most effective when it is backed by proof. Instead of only stating values, show progress, acknowledge gaps, and use evidence to demonstrate why the work matters and what still needs to change.
Tripadvisor: 2025 Transparency Report
Tripadvisor shows how even reports need not be dry, and how they can play an important role in brand storytelling. Its “journey of a review” section is particularly strong: a five-step process of analysis and moderation backed by brilliant data visuals throughout the story.
Why it works:
This is a strong example of trust-based storytelling. Tripadvisor turns moderation, safety, and review integrity into a narrative about responsibility, backing it up with scale and specificity: the report covers 2024 contributions from a community that submitted 79.7 million pieces of content, including 31.1 million reviews and 38.1 million photos and videos. That combination of transparency, data, and behind-the-scenes process helps the brand make trust feel earned rather than claimed.
What marketers can learn:
Operational detail can be powerful brand storytelling when trust is central to the product. If your audience depends on your systems, showing how those systems work — and supporting that story with real numbers — can be more persuasive than polished brand messaging alone.
Manchester City: Georgia Stanway
Manchester City is an English football club with a global profile. The story it wants to tell is one of inclusion: fans and players from all over the world, and a chance for everyone to celebrate wins together.
Its profile on top goalscorer Georgia Stanway, built with Shorthand, is part of a series about key players at the club. But unlike traditional sports reporting, it doesn’t just focus on her latest successes or game statistics. Instead, it’s the story of how an ordinary young girl became a global star.
This is a story with a powerful emotional hook. Many readers will relate to Stanway’s stories about her childhood and her fight to be the best. At the same time, they’ll be taking in Manchester City’s brand narrative of a club that is committed to women’s sport, encouraging young players and improving access for all.
Honda and Monster Energy: The toughest team on earth
This collaboration features two brands that like to tell extreme stories: Honda motorcycles and Monster Energy drinks. Their brand narratives are about being tough and seeking out amazing experiences.
So what better story to tell than the Dakar Rally off-road endurance race, 'the toughest rally on earth'?
This feature uses multimedia and a behind-the-scenes story to make the story as immersive as possible. It’s full of photographs and quotes from engineers, technicians, and racers on the course. With sections such as a day in the life of the race team, the reader is invited to imagine themselves in the driving seat.
Twitch and Amazon Ads: A Marketer's Guide to Twitch
Twitch is one of the biggest new streaming platforms in recent years. Twitch creators earn money from donations, subscriptions and, increasingly, from ads. In this example of brand storytelling, Adweek partnered with Twitch and Amazon Ads on a sponsored feature..
This story is instantly immersive because of its design, replacing Adweek’s usual article layout with a dark mode theme, animated illustrations and GIFs. Readers are instantly plunged into the world of Twitch instead of reading about it from the outside.
The feature's content focuses on creators and their authentic stories. The video clips and photos show audience reactions to highlight the impact that Twitch has on its viewers.
For our money, Adweek sets the standard for immersive sponsored content. Explore more examples of its beautifully designed native ads in our gallery of sponsored content built with Shorthand.
What these brand storytelling examples get right
While every brand approaches storytelling differently, the strongest examples tend to share a few qualities. Across the examples above, these are the characteristics that showed up again and again.
1. Immersive
The best brand stories do more than present information — they draw the audience into a world. Whether that comes through strong visuals, thoughtful pacing or a more interactive reading experience, immersion helps a story feel lived-in rather than simply explained.
2. Multimedia
Great brand storytelling rarely relies on copy alone. Images, video, audio, illustration and motion can all help bring a narrative to life, adding texture, emotion and context that deepen the audience’s connection to the story.
3. Structured
Even the most visually ambitious story needs a clear narrative shape. The strongest examples have a sense of momentum, taking the audience from one idea to the next in a way that feels purposeful, coherent and easy to follow.
4. Audience-focused
Effective brand storytelling starts with what the audience cares about. Rather than leading with the brand message, these examples are grounded in stories, themes and perspectives that feel relevant, interesting or useful to the people they’re trying to reach.
5. Consistent
The most memorable brand stories feel aligned with the brand behind them. Tone, visual identity, subject matter and message all work together to create a story that feels distinctive and recognisable, rather than generic.
6. Emotional
At its best, brand storytelling creates a feeling as well as a message. Whether it sparks empathy, curiosity, hope or inspiration, emotion is often what makes a story resonate — and what makes it stick.
Frequently asked questions
What do the best brand storytelling examples have in common?
The strongest examples above don’t just communicate their message; they turn it into an experience. The standouts are immersive, visually led, and emotionally resonant. Their effective brand stories stay aligned with brand identity and give the audience a reason to care beyond the brand itself.
How can brands turn one story into an ongoing storytelling campaign?
A single strong story can act as a chapter in a larger brand narrative. Owned media gives brands the space to go deeper and build stories over time, with each piece adding another chapter to a coherent whole. In practice, that means creating a repeatable storytelling format or series, like Manchester City’s player profiles or other recurring editorial features, so the audience starts to recognise the bigger narrative behind each individual story.
What makes a brand storytelling example feel authentic rather than promotional?
In the examples on this page, authenticity comes from specificity, human perspective, and emotional honesty. The strongest stories are not built around slogans; they are built around people, places, challenges, and lived experience. Brand storytelling works when it shows who you are and what you care about through stories that feel human and believable.
What can B2B, nonprofit and education brands learn from these brand storytelling examples?
You do not need a consumer lifestyle brand or an enormous ad agency budget to tell a compelling story. For B2B brands, the lesson is that expertise becomes more engaging when it is framed as a journey, challenge, or problem to solve. For nonprofits, the lesson is to combine mission with human impact, as Save the Children Norway does by connecting global crises to real lives and showing audiences the difference their support can make. More broadly, the page argues that every organisation has a story to tell — whether it is about helping people, solving problems, or bringing communities together — and that owned media gives brands the space to tell that story on their own terms.
Ready to join more than 2,000 global brands creating compelling brand stories and owned media with Shorthand?
Create your free account.
No commitment and no credit card required.
Built with Shorthand