Zombies coming for a runner in the woods. A visual metaphor for story-driven marketing.
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Run for your brand. What Zombies, Run! can teach us about motivating action through story

ByJohanna

What if your call-to-action chased your audience into literal motion instead of just inviting clicks? The best stories don’t wait. They run toward you. Welcome to the apocalypse (It’s branded) You’re running. Your legs ache, your breath is uneven. In your ears: Static. Crackle. Panic. “Runner 5, they’re behind you. Faster. NOW.” It’s the Zombies,…

Bloodthirsty female vampire symbolizing the rise of storytelling with teeth.
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Stories with teeth. Why nice content isn’t working

ByJohanna

If your stories don’t leave a mark, your audience won’t remember they were bitten. In 2025, “relatable” content isn’t enough. The digital world is drenched in contradiction, tension, absurdity, grief, and humor. Audiences are savvy to emotional manipulation and numbed by vague vulnerability. People don’t want your pain, exactly, but they do want your pulse….

Netflix promoted Squid Game Season 2 with a real-life scavenger hunt. A textbook example of using mystery marketing.
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Using mystery to build curiosity in your marketing campaigns

ByJohanna

To promote Squid Game Season 2, Netflix turned the streets of Bucharest into a real-life treasure hunt, blending pop culture, puzzle-solving, and storytelling into a single campaign. Netflix hid 454 bloodstained green tracksuits, each marked with clues and details symbolizing a player’s fate from Season 1, across local thrift shops. Fans raced to crack puzzles,…