How to Tell Brand Stories That Customers Actually Care About

Brands can fill a content calendar with product announcements, polished taglines and clever campaigns yet still struggle to give customers a reason to care. With audiences being constantly bombarded by marketing messages, saying more isn’t necessarily helping. In fact, a 2026 Gartner survey found that 81% of U.S. consumers say they try to ignore or tune out ads.

But that doesn’t mean all marketing is ineffective. A brand’s story can yield big returns—if it’s genuine and written with the audience in mind. An April 2026 Emplifi survey found that 93% of U.S. and U.K. consumers say authentic engagement builds trust—and 85% said they’re willing to pay more to patronize a brand they see as authentic. Clearly, people want something they can connect with and believe, not just another variation on a familiar promise. For CMOs, the challenge is distinguishing a story that genuinely earns attention and connection from messaging that merely sounds good in a conference room.

So how can marketing leaders recognize a compelling brand story and help their teams consistently create narratives that resonate with audiences? Below, members of the Senior Executive CMO Think Tank, a curated group of experts in brand storytelling, customer engagement and digital marketing, share what they look for when evaluating brand narratives and offer practical guidance for moving beyond claims, features and slogans.

“The best brand storytelling turns the organization’s promise into something audiences can see themselves experiencing.”

– Kurt Allen, Vice President of Enrollment, Marketing and Communications at Notre Dame de Namur University

SHARE IT

Put People at the Center of the Story

“A compelling brand story is not what an organization says about itself; it is what people experience and remember about it,” says Kurt Allen, Vice President of Enrollment, Marketing and Communications at Notre Dame de Namur University.

He encourages CMOs to look not only for stories with a human at the center but also those that include genuine tension or transformation, along with evidence that the brand made a meaningful difference. He shares what’s resonated best from his own organization.

“At NDNU, our strongest stories are not about programs or institutional claims,” Allen says. “They are about students changing careers, faculty mentoring them through challenges, and graduates creating impact in their communities.”

He encourages marketing teams to begin the journey to telling more powerful stories by asking a few fundamental questions.

“To move teams beyond slogans, I encourage them to ask, ‘Who benefited? What changed? Why does it matter?’” Allen says. “Features provide information, but stories create connection. The best brand storytelling turns the organization’s promise into something audiences can see themselves experiencing—and gives that promise credibility through real people and outcomes.”

Look Beyond the Messaging Deck

“A compelling brand story usually isn’t hiding in the messaging deck. It’s already happening somewhere inside the company,” says Evan White, Founder of Evan White PR and Fractional CMO of ERIN.

White offers several places marketers can start looking.

“Find the customer who did something remarkable with your product. The employee with an unexpected story. The founder moment nobody talks about. The weird origin story. The failure that changed the company. Then tell that story exceptionally well.”

For White, the distinction between producing basic marketing content and finding memorable stories comes down to the approach teams take.

“Features are facts. Slogans are promises. Stories are evidence people remember,” he says. “Great marketing teams become story hunters, not content factories.”

Anchor Messaging in Human Experiences

Paul L. Gunn Jr., Founder of Signal & Anomaly, believes CMOs should ground their storytelling efforts in the experiences and concerns of their brand’s customers.

“Stories anchored in something people deeply care about because of the ecosystem of human experience should be where CMOs devote their energy,” Gunn says. “These stories often reflect a frustration someone has carried, a problem that needed resolving, or an aspiration they are or were pursuing using a product or service.”

He urges marketing teams to consider the broader context behind the messages they develop.

“There is often a tendency to immediately promote features or claims without understanding the human-system component being addressed,” Gunn says. “A compelling story can reveal why a product or service matters to someone. Finding that tension before writing the message, rather than simply relying on a slogan, may be the wiser place to focus.”

He explains that a brand that makes a real connection with its audience doesn’t have to manufacture meaning—it’s already operating with an existing human framework.

“The opportunity is to understand what people are already carrying and allow the story to connect with it,” Gunn concludes.

“To move teams beyond claims and taglines, ask them to show the idea rather than describe it.”

– Erin Lentz, Executive Director of Design at ArtVersion

SHARE IT

Make the Brand Promise Visible

Erin Lentz, Executive Director of Design at ArtVersion, approaches brand storytelling with an emphasis on credibility and clarity.

“CMOs should look for the kind of specificity that makes a story believable,” she says. “A compelling brand narrative has to have a clear point of view, something at stake and enough truth behind it that people can recognize themselves in it. It should explain not only what a brand offers but also why it matters and what changes because it exists.”

For marketing teams developing those narratives, she offers a straightforward approach.

“To move teams beyond claims and taglines, ask them to show the idea rather than describe it,” Lentz advises. “Where does the promise become visible in the customer experience, the product, the service or the way the company behaves? When there is real evidence behind the message, the story becomes much easier to follow—and much harder for a competitor to copy.”

Name the Moment Behind the Message

Hastimal Jangid, Co-Founder of Coozmoo Digital Solutions, offers a quick clarity and authenticity test for brands: Test whether the story survives with the logo removed. 

“If it still sounds specific and true without the brand name, you have a story. If it collapses into something any competitor could claim word for word, it’s a slogan wearing a story’s clothes,” he says.

Jangid draws a distinction between a narrative that engages audiences and one that simply presents a positive outcome.

“A compelling story has real tension—a decision that could have gone wrong, a problem that wasn’t obvious to solve,” he says. “Claims skip straight to the resolution: ‘better, faster, trusted.’ Nobody remembers a resolution without the tension that made it matter.”

His suggestion for marketing teams is to rethink the questions that guide their creative process.

“To move teams beyond slogans, ask, ‘What actually happened that surprised us?’ not, ‘What do we want to say?’” Jangid advises. “Real stories come from specific moments, not a brainstorm about brand attributes. If your team can’t name a real moment behind the message, you’re writing copy, not a story.”

Let the Customer Be the Hero

According to Bob Pearson, Chair of Pearson Advisory Group, a common marketing mistake is thinking a brand creates the story about itself that matters most.

“The reality is that it’s the story customers tell themselves about what a brand means to them personally that matters,” he stresses. “The brand does not need to be the hero; it can simply be the enabler.”

Pearson points to a legendary product as an example of this approach.

“You give a child a handful of LEGOs, and there is no limit to what they can build,” he says. “The child is the hero. LEGO expands their imagination. It’s a powerful combo.”

Pearson encourages marketing leaders to always ask themselves what the audience will remember—down to what individuals would tell their friends about the brand.

“Our customers are more than willing to tell us what our narrative could be—we just have to listen,” he says. “Once you know the narrative of your audience, you can build a powerful and long-lasting brand narrative in support of their vision. Skip the audience, and you’ll start talking about integrated learning solutions or corporate creativity assets—terms that serve a better purpose as sleep aids.”

“Great storytelling isn’t about telling people how good you are; it’s about showing them why what you do matters.”

– Heather Stickler, Vice President of Strategic Operations at Michael Baker International

SHARE IT

Show How Your Work Makes a Difference

“If a competitor could swap in their logo and tell the same story, is it really compelling?” asks Heather Stickler, Vice President of Strategic Operations at Michael Baker International. To pinpoint a truly unique story, she encourages marketing leaders to take a closer look at the work happening throughout their organizations.

“Some of the best brand stories are hiding in the work our teams do every day,” she says. “The key is moving beyond capabilities, features and generic claims to uncover the real challenges, human experiences and meaningful outcomes behind that work.”

She also emphasizes the value of drawing on expertise from across the business.

“CMOs should encourage marketers to ask better questions, collaborate closely with subject matter experts, and bring authentic stories to life,” Stickler says. “Great storytelling isn’t about telling people how good you are; it’s about showing them why what you do matters.”

Creating More Compelling Brand Stories

• Show how your brand changes someone’s life or work. Build narratives around real people who experienced a meaningful transformation, making clear what changed and why it mattered.
• Hunt for stories in unexpected places. Look for overlooked moments in your company’s history, surprising employee experiences, unusual customer successes or failures that led to important lessons.
• Identify the emotional stakes before writing the message. Explore the frustrations, challenges or aspirations that motivate customers, then connect your narrative to what matters most to them.
• Make your brand’s promises tangible. Use specific examples from customer experiences, products, services or business practices to demonstrate that your claims hold up in the real world.
• Find the defining moment that makes your story unique. Look for an unexpected development, difficult decision or genuine conflict that gives the narrative substance and distinguishes it from competitors’ messaging.
• Let customers take the starring role. Build stories around their goals, achievements and experiences, positioning your brand as the catalyst for their success rather than as the center of attention.
• Turn subject matter experts into storytelling partners. Work with employees across departments to uncover the real-world challenges they tackle and the meaningful outcomes their work produces.

Make Every Brand Story Worth Remembering

A compelling brand story does more than communicate what a company offers. It gives audiences a reason to care—and something meaningful to remember. By looking beyond polished marketing messages, listening closely to customers, and finding authentic stories throughout their organizations, CMOs can help their teams create narratives that build trust and distinguish their brands from competitors.

As audiences grow increasingly selective about the content they consume, the ability to tell stories that genuinely resonate will become even more valuable. In a world where every brand has something to say, the stories that stand out will be those that give people something worth remembering—and sharing.