Telling Tales: 5 Voices Writing The Book on Brand Storytelling

  • Brand
  • Storytelling
  • Science

Veritas Co-founder Dr. George Church once said, “You can’t just hoard your ideas inside the ivory tower. You have to get them out into the world.”

Think about that for a second — what if Einstein kept his equations in his head? Or what if Francis Crick and James Watson kept their groundbreaking discoveries in the lab?

It doesn’t matter how smart you are if you can’t tell your story to your audience. How we talk about our science is just as important as the science itself. But it’s not just limited to science. Here’s a collection of brands and individuals across various fields who have mastered the art of storytelling.

The omnipresent DeGrasse Tyson wears many hats: college professor, best-selling writer, NASA booster and (our favorite) absolute animal on the dance floor.
Neil Degrasse Tyson
But, whether it’s in his hit podcast Startalk or his (inter)stellar 2014 update of Carl Sagan’s Cosmos, it is the scientist’s commitment to compelling storytelling that ultimately wins him massive audiences.
2. Airbnb
Peruse AirbnbMag.com and you’ll find everything from lifestyle tips to whimsical historical travel pieces. Unlike other travel content, it’s not all fluffy and positive.

Airbnb Alexander Hamilton

Illustration by Roberto Parada from “How to Eat, Drink,and Hang like Alexander Hamilton”

And, unlike other travel websites, you won’t see any “click here NOW for cheapest rates” kind of pressure tactics. Instead, the company tells stories that focus on the places you can visit.
IFL Science is a great resource for anyone, from the casual science fan to the published Ph.D. Short, informative pieces separated into categories like environment, space and policy are accompanied by beautiful photos.
iflscience
Poking around this site certainly doesn’t feel like studying, but you’re guaranteed to learn to quite a bit.
Bookish, smart and stylish through and through, Warby Parker not only makes affordable eyeglasses, but high quality online content as well.
Warby Parker
Learn what’s in Mrs. Dalloway’s bag and look at hand-drawn infographics for literary pet names. Their content gets us excited about their brand and mission—we can *ahem* “see” what makes Warby Parker such a great company.
As the go-to point of service platform in hundreds of restaurants across the U.S.A, chances are you’re a Toast customer and you don’t even know it. The Boston-based company runs a top-notch blog that appeals to pretty much anyone associated with restaurants. This content gives an inside scoop on food service, from telling the world why you opened your restaurant to launching your property’s video marketing campaign, there’s a steady stream of solid storytelling from these guys.
Toast I Opened Because
In every industry, the really good companies do so much more than just sell their products: they tell engaging stories. They create relationships with their audience that aren’t simply transactional. This is exactly why we have worked so hard on creating informational resources, such as our Cinema Veritas and FAQ series, and continue to find new ways to tell the world about the benefits of whole genome sequencing.
These ideas can help all of us. We just have to get them out of the ivory tower, and into the world.

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