Your Story, Their Terms: How to keep and build an audience when your brand needs to pivot

Grant Owens, Chief Strategy Officer at Critical Mass, explores the evolving art of brand storytelling in 2025.

When we think of some of the biggest brand and marketing triumphs of this century (so far), certain names immediately come to mind—Apple, LEGO, Patagonia, Barbie, and Burberry, among others.

Each of these brands faced tough markets and had steep hills to climb, but they found success by stepping into new stories with authenticity and courage. They recognized that legacy matters, but they didn’t get stuck in it. They did what great brands find a way to do: change.

• Apple rose to the top of a crowded consumer electronics market by telling a story that made superior product design and the user’s experience all that mattered (from dancing iPod silhouettes to “I’m a Mac, and I’m a PC”).
• LEGO found its footing with blockbuster partnerships (e.g., Star Wars, Batman, Harry Potter, and many more). It catapulted LEGO into film and digital media while giving people new ways to participate in franchises they love.
• Burberry threaded the needle (no pun intended) by reinventing itself without abandoning its heritage, soon knocking off the knockoffs and innumerable imitators. (Remember when everything looked like Burberry but wasn’t?)
• Barbie desperately needed to catch up to the times by proving the Barbie brand could be more inclusive. Despite some naysayers, they released a far more diverse range of dolls for an audience that was increasingly outspoken about diversity and inclusion.
• And by now we all know that Patagonia is a case study in publicly and unflinchingly committing to brand values—who else could say “don’t buy this jacket” and live to tell the tale?

In each case, these brands grew because they didn’t try to deny their heritage or explicitly contradict their audience’s existing assumptions. Good marketers, like good psychologists, know that most people are deeply attached to the narratives they already hold. Contradiction triggers defensiveness, but astute alignment opens new doors.

That’s also why failed brand pivots are so instructive. Think of “New Coke”—a case of misreading a brand audience. Coke wasn’t just a flavor. It was an icon, which Coke seemingly misread as invincible customer loyalty. (They reversed course and “Coca-Cola Classic” was born—so, all’s well that ends well.)

Or think of RadioShack’s attempt to rebrand as “The Shack.” The name change didn’t revive its relevance. If anything, it symbolized the brand’s fateful disappearance. It’s an example that a new story unsupported by authenticity and meaningful business evolution will fall flat.

So, what’s a brand to do?

In 2025, we have tools and abilities that most brands would have done anything to get their hands on decades ago—tools that can open new narrative doors and make brand pivots more successful.

It comes down to this: Your story, their terms. If you bring a narrative about your brand to market, or a new product that can alter its course, use methods that will align with audience truths, and enlist your entire brand ecosystem in the effort.

That’s where digital and media are particularly powerful and essential.

Yes, the big moments matter—TV spots, billboards, PR campaigns. But when introducing a new story, you have the opportunity to meet an audience on their terms through strategic moments informed by insight, real-time data, and dynamic content orchestration at scale. At the same time, you can test and build a new narrative in-market while building on success as you learn.

And there’s one more big piece to this. It’s vitally important to know your audience—who they are, what they believe, and how they behave.

In our own work at Critical Mass, we find that to get an audience to adopt a narrative about a brand, it’s important to dig deeper than demographics. They’re a great place to begin, but not a great place to stop.

One way to do that is by segmenting customers according to underlying values and product attitudes, which can be more effective than traditional demography alone. People who look alike may not think alike, so behavioral and attitudinal segmentation is well worth it.

Having done that, you can start to map these deeper attitudes and craft messaging that better aligns with your audience’s mindset (which, in turn, helps you be persuasive while reducing the chances of miscommunication or missed connections).

If you can then layer on media and behavioral habits, you’re really cooking with gas—and you’ll be a lot closer to reaching each group in their daily lives and bringing them along for a new story with minimum friction and maximum persuasion.

Let’s finish with a thought experiment.

Imagine I’m the CMO of FlairLoom, a clothing brand known for ultra-high-quality products. Leather has long been part of our lineup—and our data shows it’s where we win. Cotton and linen? Not so much. So we’re doubling down on leather.

It’s a bold move in a market where many young consumers associate leather with environmental and animal harm. And recent headlines haven’t helped—news stories about leather sourced from ranches built on deforested areas have added fuel to the fire.

But that’s not who we are.

FlairLoom has spent years investing in sustainability and responsible supply chains. We’ve transitioned to 100% ethically sourced leather. No fast fashion. No synthetic fillers. No sweatshops. Just high-quality goods built to last.

Here’s how we could tell that story—

Follow Curiosity.

With SEO and GEO (AI search) we can meet people where and when their questions begin—offering helpful, non-confrontational info about sustainable leather.

• Example: A blog post titled “How Sustainable Leather Can Save Threatened Ecosystems,” which then allows us to retarget and learn from people who engage.

Show, Don’t Tell.

Oldie but goodie. With visual storytelling, we can build emotional connection through proof, not just persuasion.

• Example: Short video content or side-by-side images contrasting the long-term harm of synthetic materials with a single leather jacket’s multi-decade journey—durable, repairable, and far less likely to end up in a landfill.

Focus on Alignment, Not Persuasion.

Instead of trying to change minds, we’ll spotlight shared values like sustainability, craft, and ethics.

• Example: Partnering with influencers who care about style and introduce ideas about impact (and vice-versa). It’s about building bridges that are established on accepted narrative ground.

Make It Tangible through Craft.

We can bring the audience closer to the material reality of the product through behind-the-scenes stories and hands-on experiences.

• Example: A time-lapse video showing a single artisan crafting a FlairLoom leather bag from start to finish.

Publish in Precise Contexts.

It’s important to make sure our story shows up in the right environment. Context can either reinforce or completely undermine the message.

• Example: A sustainability message placed alongside articles about reforestation, slow fashion, or ecologically responsible design.

One last point—new brand stories don’t take root in a single reveal. They grow through many small truths. In that way, micro-moments can be the strategic twin of emotional courage. You need both. Because if you’re asking the world to see you differently, you’d better be ready to show them why—and keep showing them, moment by moment.