Brand Storytelling
Helping creatives, businesses + brands
Tell stories people will love + share
BRAND STORYTELLING
What makes an engaging content story?
Most brands don't have a storytelling problem, they have a connection problem. They know what they do but they don't know why an audience should care. That’s where emotional creativity helps.
Of course story strategy and practical applications are important, and we can all learn those tools, but if your story doesn’t have human connections built into the structure well, sorry, nobody cares. Start telling less and start feeling more. Here's how…
What people loved
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“Carl is an inspiring professional, we always get great feedback from his D&AD masterclass."
Lisa Evans - D&AD
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“Carl quickly understood our brand. He successfully challenged our thinking."
Mostyn Thomas - D3O
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“Travel is a unique industry. Carl embraced the challenge + gave us an emotional update. "
Holly - Diverse Travel
Trusted by
Good Brief - Bad Brief
The gap between what you say and what audiences feel.
75% of consumers are more likely to remember brand story over brand facts. Brand storytelling has moved from a nice-to-have to a survival skill — but most brands are still leading with features, frameworks and function.
The problem with most briefs is not the lack of content. It's a lack of question - why should I care? Most briefs are written in logic. The audience lives in emotions. The gap between them is where most marketing budgets disappear.
Carl's approach starts at the level beneath the brief — finding the emotional truth that makes a story worth telling, and then building everything else from there. Solutions to questions like:
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Volume is not the answer. In an age of AI-generated content the brands that win make people feel something. Audience still know when it’s not your voice but a machine. More content without a clearer story is just more noise.
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This is a clarity problem, not a copy problem. The solution starts with finding the emotional truth at the centre of what you do — and building the narrative from there. Audience’s respond to real stories not power point presentations in text form.
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Without a clear brand narrative, every piece of communication starts from zero. A strong brand story becomes the consistent thread that runs through everything. For starters think about what emotion could reflect back your brand’ solution - what could hook an audience?
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Authenticity is the only thing AI cannot replicate. A brand story that comes from your genuine character, history and point of view is unique by definition. That's where to start. Be yourself don’t use a stock formula.
BRAND STORYTELLING — RESEARCH
What makes a brand
story actually work.
Brand storytelling is one of the most searched for and least understood disciplines in modern marketing. Here is what research tells us — and how Carl applies it.
Stories activate more of the human brain than data. When we read facts, the language areas of the brain processes the information. When we engage with a story, multiple areas light up — including those responsible for sensory experience, emotion and memory. This is not metaphor. This is neuroscience.
The implication for brands is significant: a story is not just more engaging than a list of benefits — it is processed differently, remembered differently, and acted upon differently. Brand storytelling is not a creative preference. It is a communication advantage with measurable neurological backing.
Carl's approach draws on 25 years of commercial learning — in film, advertising, brand strategy and the D&AD Emotional Creativity Masterclasses — giving brands a storytelling practice that produces real lasting results
HOW TO BUILD A STORY THAT CONNECTS
PRINCIPLE 1 — CHARACTER BEFORE MESSAGE
Audiences connect with people. Not products. Not brands. People.
Before your brand can have a story, it needs a character. Not a brand persona or a tone of voice document — a genuine personality, with values, contradictions and history. The most powerful brand stories are built from a clearly defined character that audiences can recognise, trust and want to follow.
PRINCIPLE 2 — EMOTION BEFORE LOGIC
Decisions are made emotionally. Logic justifies what emotion already decided.
The briefs that produce the weakest creative work are the ones that start with benefits, features and rational proof points. Effective brand storytelling reverses this: establish the feeling first, then give the audience the logic they need to justify the decision they've already made emotionally.
PRINCIPLE 3 — CONFLICT AS THE ENGINE
Without conflict, there is no story. Only description.
"The cat sat on the mat" is not a story. "The cat sat on the dog's mat" is a story. The difference is conflict — tension, stakes, something that needs to be resolved. Every effective brand story has a conflict at its centre: the problem your audience faces, the status quo your brand challenges, the gap between where they are and where they want to be.
PRINCIPLE 4 — CONSISTENCY AS TRUST
A brand story is not a campaign. It is a relationship that compounds over time.
The most valuable thing a brand story does is not generate a single campaign. It creates a consistent emotional thread across every piece of communication the brand produces — so that over time, the audience builds a real relationship with the brand based on knowing who it is, what it believes and what it will always feel like to encounter it.
Trusted by
Turn brand values into human stories
The emotional creativity formula
Supercharge your existing story with 4 key emotional additions
From the most shared videos of 2026 back to Dante + Shakespeare successful story structure has always been the same. So why not use Carl’s formula for emotional connection?
Character + Emotion + Conflict = Engagement
This is not a creative theory it’s how the human brain processes narrative — and it works on any platform, in any format, for any audience.
Now for the hard part. The part where you come in.
Are you prepared to take a long honest look at your creativity, brand or business? Does it have those 4 key parts?
Do people understand your brand’s character, why they should care?
Do they feel something when they look at your channels. Is your emotional value consistent on every platform?
Do they understand what you can help your audience overcome? What your services can do for them, emotionally? Are your services making their lives easier?
Do your metrics really say people are watching, listening?
If you answer no, not sure, maybe maybe it’s time to get in touch
Character
Who is this brand + why should we care? What do they believe? What have they sacrificed? What makes them distinctly themselves? Who is their community?
Emotion
What does your audience feel right now? What do you want them to feel? Which emotion serves your goal? What is the emotion of the moment?
Conflict
What is at stake? What problem needs resolving? How can you help your audience for the better? Without conflict, there is no story — only description.
Engagement
Work that connects, stays connected and builds the relationship that turns audiences into customers — and customers into advocates.
Emotional stories - the results
Science shows us that a strong storytelling strategy will produce longer lasting results across all platforms regardless of algorithmic challenges
95%
OF PURCHASE DECISIONS MADE SUBCONSCIOUSLY — DRIVEN BY EMOTION, NOT LOGIC
78%
OF UK CONSUMERS NOW CHOOSE BRANDS WITH AUTHENTIC HUMAN STORIES OVER PRICE ALONE
55%
MORE LIKELY TO REMEMBER A BRAND AFTER A STORY THAN AFTER FACTS OR DATA ALONE
The emotional brain processes information 80,000 times faster than the rational brain. Decisions are made before conscious thought kicks in — the logic comes after, to justify what the feeling already decided.
Every piece of brand storytelling work Carl does is built on this foundation. Start with the feeling. Find the character. Create the conflict. Build the resolution. The framework is the same whether it's a 30-second film or a 12-month brand strategy.
It's the same framework that underpins the D&AD Masterclass in Emotional Creativity — used by brands and agencies internationally to build work that connects where it counts.
Brand Story Services
Three ways Carl can work with your brand, business or creative team
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From one-to-one projects to entire campaigns, Carl has a whole host of ways you can work together. It’s your choice but the minimum is a day .
Services can be accessed remotely via Zoom or in person.
Jobs are quoted on an individual basis - no agency stnadrads.
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With bigger projects, especially content creation and video marketing, Carl usually involves some of the other team and specifically with Brand Storytelling that might be:
A bespoke creative director
A copywriter or tone of voice specialist
A typographic psychologist
No matter the marketing or advertising job that team will always be regular members of the Unit Creative agency.
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Brands, businesses and agencies often already have a team. Carl can work as part of your team like a freelance consultant , creative director or video and content creators. Ho breadth of experience in all creative and strategy areas means he doesn’t have to learn what you do on the job as he’s already been there. Specialities are:
Brand development / Start up to existing
Creative campaigns
Content creation from onlien campaigns, to social, cinema and OOH
Workshops
JOIN A MASTERCLASS
Supercharge your story - join a Masterclass or Workshop
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D&AD APPROVED PROGRAMME
Masterclasses
Three hours. A proven programme. Immediate tools.
BEST FOR
Teams and individuals who want a structured proven programme with clear practical outcomes. Available as public sessions or private company bookings.
DURATION. 3 hours per session
FORMAT Online or in person via D&AD or Direct · Private sessions available
GROUP SIZE Open enrolment or private group (10–35)
SESSIONS Emotional Storytelling · Adding impact to social campaigns · Creating impactful Video
OUTPUT A framework + tools you build yourself during the session
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HANDS ON. BUILT AROUND A BRIEF
Workshops
Half or full day. Generic or personal our briefs.
BEST FOR
Organisations with a specific creative or strategic challenge who need more than a public session can provide.
DURATION Half day or full day
FORMAT. In person preferred · Online available
GROUP SIZE 5 – 20 · Larger events on request
BESPOKE Starts with a brief call — content built to your challenge
OUTPUT. A campaign brief, strategy framework or content plan your team built in the room
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PERSONAL · DIRECT · CONFIDENTIAL
One To One
Carl's full focus on your specific situation.
BEST FOR
Senior leaders, founders and individuals who want Carl's thinking applied directly to their brief or creative challenge. Not a course. A conversation with consequences.
DURATION Full day + · Ongoing available
FORMAT In person · London + travel
GROUP SIZE Individual or small leadership teams (up to 6)
FOCUS Your brand, brief, content strategy or creative challenge
OUTPUT A clear diagnosis and a specific next step — agreed before you leave