Essays, insights, and field notes from the cutting edge of brand storytelling.
Eli Lilly recently released a 60-second film that runs during the Emmy Awards, in the Sunday New York Times, and on the sides of buildings in Midtown Manhattan. It's a pharmaceutical advertisement. And it's one of the most human pieces of brand content produced this year. What they understood about intention is what most brands never figure out — regardless of budget.
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There is a job description circulating right now. You may have seen it. You may even be hiring for it. This is what it's actually saying.
In 2012, we made a short film for a Jacksonville contractor losing leads despite doing exceptional work. That film is still on their homepage and has helped close several million dollars in business. Here's what that says about storytelling, shelf life, and why founders can't tell their own story.
I've been back to the Appalachian Trail four times since producing Made to be Broken. The trail is the same. I'm not. What a decade of returning to the same trail — and a five-year-old looking for the next white blaze — taught me about the difference between work that documents something and work that lasts.
AI is generating content at scale. Celebrities are endorsing products at scale. Engagement is falling at scale. Here's what neither AI nor star power can replicate — and why it's the most defensible content advantage your brand has.
Virality is a sugar high. Legacy content is compound interest. The brands chasing spikes — through algorithmic tricks, celebrity deals, and Hollywood-scale productions — are feeding a machine that compounds nothing. Here's what building for the long shelf actually looks like.
When every brand claims to be real in exactly the same way, none of them are. The race toward authenticity has produced a new kind of sameness — and neither lo-fi aesthetics nor celebrity endorsements are the way out. Specificity is.
The lo-fi aesthetic of spontaneity and the Hollywood-scale production budget have something in common: neither is working anymore. Audiences have been burned by both. Here's what that means for your brand content strategy.