No cliffhangers needed: Effective brand storytelling in the age of omnichannel marketing

The audiences’ gaze is glued as the stage curtain closes, the credits roll on screen, or the final page reads “…and they lived happily ever after. The End.”

All are universally familiar methods of completing a story in the entertainment world – and frequently in these instances, audiences are left with a certain feeling of closure regarding the piece of escapism they’ve just become engrossed in.

For brands, the trajectory of storytelling is quite different. Instead of feeling closure following a content engagement, when brand storytelling is done well, the audience may feel as though a door has been opened.

It is an omnichannel world with fierce competition. To be successful, brands need to employ cohesive storytelling throughout their content and campaigns. Three brands acing brand storytelling? Ben & Jerry’s ice cream, Billie razors, and Allbirds shoes. All three have successfully executed storytelling strategies that leave consumers counterintuitively embarking on a journey with the brand at “the end” of their content engagement.

Ben & Jerry’s ice cream: Vermont’s finest, authentically honest

Strolling through the freezer aisle in a grocery store, the options for ice cream pickings are bountiful (and admittedly slightly overwhelming). How do you choose between the seemingly infinite choices? Nearly 50 years since its founding, Ben & Jerry’s has cracked the code of how to stand out in the consumer’s mind: bold marketing and product tactics rooted in authenticity.

Ben & Jerry’s brand storytelling is propelled by their intertwined initiatives of supporting social causes with a flair of pop culture inspiration. When a consumer purchases “Colin Kaepernick’s ‘Change the Whirled’” flavor or “Chance the Rapper’s ‘Mint Chocolate Chance’”, they’re aware of not only getting a mouth-watering pint of ice cream, but also supporting something much bigger (and more important) than buying ice cream.

For Ben & Jerry’s, this is the key to effective brand storytelling: socially-driven authenticity that allows consumers to witness – and support – socially-driven causes coupled with familiar pop culture nuances. Through this partnership between company and consumer, the purchaser is actively helping craft the ongoing brand story that Ben & Jerry’s tells.

Ben & Jerry’s pillars of authenticity are only half of the equation in their brand storytelling – the other half being the content they put out on their various digital channels (notably their website, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and the infamous TikTok). Their posts are consistent across all platforms: new product announcements, “holiday” posts (like National Coffee Day) that relate to the company, and audience-engaging casual things like “What’s your flavor” based on Zodiac signs.

However, where Ben & Jerry’s really shines is when they put their philanthropic missions front-and-center on their social channels (which they do frequently). This allows for a full circle understanding of how a “chill” ice cream brand is trying to influence not just their product market, but also righteous global issues. The company strives to not only carve their own brand story, but also put a positive spin on the world-at-large through their involvement with causes like voting rights, climate change, and racial equality.

Through continuously raising awareness of these movements on their well-regarded business platform, Ben & Jerry’s actively practices brand storytelling that positively affects the globe, while simultaneously engaging consumers with their overall noble mission: “Peace, Love & Ice Cream”.

Billie, Inc. razors: Be bold like Billie

2015: the unofficial year of “Billie” in a tale of two industries. Singer Billie Eilish made her music industry debut, introducing listeners to a unique new sound, while Billie Inc. began their humble quest of taking the shaving and body care industry by storm through a direct-to-consumer ecommerce strategy.

Although unrelated, there must be something in the name “Billie” that empowers people to shatter the “status quo” whether that be in music, or in this analysis, shaving norms. Billie, Inc. is less than a decade old, but has already molded a bold story for their brand that continues to be fostered through the content they post across their various company platforms.

Billie’s approach to brand storytelling is boldly unapologetic and unorthodox: a shaving company that empowers consumers to maintain their body hair however they so choose and thus prioritizes customer preference over profits. And that’s the key component of Billie’s strategy in weaving their brand story: empowerment of the consumer, regardless of age-old societal norms.

So how does Billie effectively deliver this audacious brand story to their growing consumer base? As their primary target demographic is Millennials and Gen Z, all roads lead to a robust social media presence (mainly on Instagram and TikTok). There are two components to their media strategy that support the brand storytelling approach Billie is trying to actively narrate.

First, they frequently post cheeky content that honors both sides of the shaving spectrum, ranging from a repost that reads, “there’s a nice breeze blowing through my leg hair on this fine autumn day” to “bought my first billie razor and im literally bald all over.” And of course, there’s also the countless hysterical memes and videos you can scroll through on their feed. Using comedy as a main pillar of their brand storytelling approach helps them combat the backlash they might receive from challenging norms.

The other aspect of their content is much more traditional in terms of being created exclusively for the purpose of boosting the Billie brand. In one example, they made personified characters for each of the razors in their product line (a literal development of characters for the brand story continuing to unfold). Another campaign revolves around “The Rules of Body Hair”, a series of videos that demonstrate decades-old societal norms and standards around body care, and how Billie is trying to shatter these practices.

Regardless of whether the content is created in-house or a re-sharing of what someone else constructed, the message rings true throughout Billie’s entire presence in the content space: it’s about engaging consumers with a narrative of empowerment for all.

Allbirds: Leading the flock on climate initiatives (and comebacks)

It’s not being a Chicken Little to care about the fast-approaching dangers of climate change on the planet, which has become a main initiative of leaders worldwide as extreme weather becomes increasingly and alarmingly frequent. And there’s a new bird in town trying to do their part to combat climate disaster: Allbirds.

Founded in 2014, Allbirds is a sustainable shoe line that’s dedicated to eco-friendly footwear without sacrificing comfort or style. The brand’s story is demonstrated by the product line itself: encouraging fitness, comfort, and stylish fun from a modest position of putting “Mother Earth” as the primary stakeholder. A series of recent content campaigns on media platforms like Instagram and TikTok have allowed Allbirds to “lead the flock” in the climate battle from a corporate brand perspective.

A frequent strategy that Allbirds uses in their storytelling is posting about how they’re implementing actions, not just words, in their quest for eco-friendly products. They share information on what materials are used in their products (in addition to where they’re sourced from). Furthermore, they promote campaigns that not only aim to build brand awareness but are constructed with the planet in mind. For example, their “ReRun” line encourages recycling products or buying gently-used ones. Additionally, Allbirds continuously posts about their Flight Plan that aims to fully eliminate their carbon footprint (literally) by 2030.

Another content campaign that Allbirds uses to further their brand narrative – and admittedly an incredibly entertaining one – is a collaboration with Lindsay Lohan in a piece called “Lindsay Lohan the Unexpected Athlete”. A witty campaign that seamlessly uses nostalgic aspects from her hit film Mean Girls, the video is saturated with genius jokes and puns in reference to Tina Fey’s work, such as Lohan cheekily saying to “always avoid the plastics” as she reaches for a pair of Allbirds shoes that are pink (because it’s Wednesday, of course).

And as this ad seemingly nods to the claim that Lohan is on the comeback from her very public downfall, one can’t help but wonder if Allbirds is also saying Earth can be on the comeback path as well from a potentially grim future. Regardless, Lohan’s collaboration with Allbirds is the epitome of effective brand storytelling: engaging, humorous, familiar, and brilliant at lacing in the overall brand mission.

From these three examples, we learn that effective brand storytelling has a few indelible pillars: a “north star” with what the brand represents and stands for, a robust media presence that utilizes omnichannel marketing, and of course engaging pieces of content that immerse the audience and allow them to experience the brand. If all three of these pillars are utilized, then consumers will voluntarily continue turning the pages and help the brand story unfold.