Symbolic image of joy as a guiding compass in strategy.
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Joy is directional, not decorative. The rise of joy-driven marketing strategy

ByJohanna

This isn’t a trend piece. This is a call to arms. We don’t need another mood board. We don’t need one more carousel of whispery mantras in lowercase serif. We need to stop treating joy as an afterthought and start treating it like what it truly is: a compass. This post isn’t here to sprinkle…

Iron Man costumes at the Tony Stark base at the Avengers experience in Las Vegas.
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You are not the hero. Why brands need to step out of the spotlight

ByJohanna

Most brands write themselves into the story like they’re Iron Man. But no one likes a hero who won’t stop monologuing about their own brilliance. Especially when what your customer actually needs is a J.A.R.V.I.S. Brand storytelling has become a strange kind of theatre. Everyone wants to be the protagonist, the visionary, the world-changer. And…

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….

Content remixing metaphor shown through cheerful female musical artist DJ
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Beyond repurposing. How to remix your content like a storyteller

ByJohanna

Repetition is reputation. Remixing is reinvention. Remixing is not reposting, and it’s not recycling either. Remixing is reinterpretation. It’s storytelling through transformation. Think of it like this: A remix takes the essence of a piece, its mood, its truth, its voice, and reshapes it into something that hits differently. Same story, new spine. Musicians and…

Sewing needle with red thread isolated on white background.
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The Quiet Rebellion. How to tell a brand story without a hero

ByJohanna

I. So who died and made the hero to center of every story? Once upon a brand… the hero rises. The journey begins. The call to action rings out like a polished CTA button. Every workshop promises to put you in the hero’s seat. Every brand strategist draws the same arc across the whiteboard. But…

Two female hands showing a peace sign and a woman's wide open mouth showing tongue.
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Marketing Mad Libs: the unhinged way to break through your brand’s mental fog

ByJohanna

There’s a special kind of brain fog that only shows up for people who are deeply good at what they do, but suddenly can’t find the words for it. The fog is real (and it’s not just you) Maybe you’ve been churning out content like a pro for years. You know your audience. You know…

Penelope Featherington and Eloise Bridgerton symbolizing the use of romance in marketing and branding.
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Lessons from Bridgerton. Using romance and intrigue to captivate your audience

ByJohanna

Dearest Reader, You find yourself here, drawn in not by accident, but by the seductive pull of story – by the whisper of something intriguing just beyond the page. You are not alone in this. For every soul that has ever been ensnared by the promise of a well-crafted tale, there are countless others who…