Storytelling is not just a tool to describe products or services. It is a direct bridge to the listener’s memory. It is what differentiates brands that inform from those that excite. In this post, we bring you some campaigns that have managed to tell a real story. One of those that you don’t forget. And at the same time, we share why they worked so well and how you can apply these keys to your branding.
1. Nike – “You Can’t Stop Us”
During the pandemic, Nike launched a campaign that was not about products, but about resilience. Through millimetric editing, it united athletes of different disciplines, races and genders on a split screen, connecting their movements as one. The message was that sport, like humanity, moves on regardless.
Why does it work? Because it activates a universal emotion in a collective moment of vulnerability. Because it doesn’t sell us trainers. It sells us a brand identity. Indeed, storytelling is more powerful when it is not about you, but about what you awaken in others.
2. Estrella Damm – “Mediterráneamente”
Here we have a beer brand that doesn’t really talk about beer. Estrella Damm has turned its storytelling into a hymn to slow life, music, summer and small pleasures. Who hasn’t felt that its spots are more like a film than an advert?
Why does it work? Because they have created an emotional territory of their own. They don’t compete on product. They compete by belonging. Whoever drinks Estrella, ‘belongs there’.
3. Spotify – “Wrapped”
What could be a simple summary of yearly data, Spotify turns into a personal party. Every December, users around the world share their ‘Spotify Wrapped’ like a personalised pop horoscope.
Why does it work? Because it puts the audience at the centre of the narrative. It doesn’t tell you what the brand did. It tells you what you did with the brand. And that generates links, conversation and virality.
4. And in Incognito…
Yes, we also apply the story. For some months now, we have been collaborating with IFFpro, a professional football school, to give visibility to its values from a fresh, young and close narrative. We don’t talk about football. We talk about dreams, effort and community. And we tell it with T-shirts and videos on TikTok.
Why does it work? Because storytelling is not improvised. It is designed with strategy and heart. And when you do it well, you are not only remembered: you are recommended.
In short, there are three key elements that these campaigns share:
- They speak from emotion, not from the product.
- They make the audience the protagonist.
- They have a recognisable and coherent narrative universe.
And you, are you already clear about the story your brand tells?
