Brand storytellers wanted. 📚 Full-time. ☕ Full-heart. 💛
The shift from content creation to culture carriers: how brands are building on their brand narrative from within.
What are culture carriers?
Starbucks just raised the game: they’re hiring two full-time coffee creators, not through an agency, not for a campaign, but as employees. One barista and one external creator will spend a year traveling the world (think Costa Rica, Milan, Tokyo) documenting the stories, rituals, and craftsmanship behind every cup. This move is about the long game of authentic storytelling.
Why does it matter?
Brands often treat creators like external contractors: you’re either the muscle behind campaign rollouts or a temporary face for a launch. Starbucks is flipping that by integrating creators into the brand’s DNA. They’re creating the story from the inside out. It’s an investment in ongoing cultural relevance, not just short-term engagement.
Who else is joining in?
Marks & Spencer has minted mini-celebs from staff across generations, turning them into relatable brand insiders.
Adobe trains employees to share work insights and culture via LinkedIn and Twitter, building trust and expertise.
Dunkin’ Donuts’ Crew Ambassador program empowers staff to post genuine TikToks, resulting in big engagement and even uplifts in app downloads and cold brew sales.
Design-culture shift
For us, this shift has major implications. Brands integrated with creators need flexible visual systems. Ones that can adapt to spontaneous video, global stories, on-the-ground creativity. We need design frameworks that support stories evolving in real time, not rigid templates. And ideation sessions need creators at the table, not on the sidelines, so they can help shape brand culture.
The days when brand designers were solely in charge of creating brand stories are over. Brands are realising that their stories are build every day, one small step at a time, and are joining the long game of brand relevance. This shifts means that the systems we build need to evolve and grow along with the brand. Branding is no longer a simple hand-over-guidelines game.
It’s a fresh chapter in brand storytelling, one where the narrative is built from within.
