Storytelling framework in action

[kara_susvilla]

Regardless of the story you’re trying to tell and how you’re trying to tell it, storytelling has three essential elements:

• Characters
• Conflict
• Resolution

Choose one of your favorite brands, and tell their business's story by answering the below questions.

• Who is the brand?
• Who is their audience?
• What challenge are they helping their audience to overcome? How are they doing it?

*To learn more about this, check out The Power of Storytelling lesson via HubSpot Academy. 

[Ruby_Doan]

Who is the brand?

Duolingo is a global language learning platform offering free, personalized education through gamified technology. With a mission to make education accessible to everyone, Duolingo blends data-driven learning with fun, interactive content.

Who is their audience?

Their audience includes individuals who:

• Seek free or affordable access to quality education.

• Want to improve language skills for study, work, travel, or exams.

• Struggle with traditional learning methods and are looking for a more engaging approach.

What challenges are they helping the audience overcome? How are they doing it?

Duolingo addresses the rising cost and inaccessibility of traditional education, especially in underserved regions. It also tackles the challenge of motivation in self-study by using gamification, streaks, and rewards to make learning fun. The app adapts lessons to each user’s progress using data analytics, ensuring a personalized experience.

A major challenge they face is maintaining engagement. Duolingo's push notifications and the persistent mascot (Duo the owl) have become iconic—but sometimes feel intrusive or aggressive, leading to user frustration. For instance, the owl memes and TikTok reminders, while viral, occasionally backfire by making users feel guilted rather than encouraged.

Storytelling Summary

Duolingo plays the role of a helpful, quirky guide in its users' learning journey. The conflict arises when its well-intended motivation tactics become overwhelming or culturally misaligned. To resolve this, Duolingo could deepen its behavioral and cultural research per region, refining notification tone and content strategy for each market. Testing softer, humor-driven reminders tailored to local preferences could improve retention without sacrificing brand personality.

[RParajuli]

Hi, I am Ritisha, a 22-year-old girl who feels comfortable in Western dress but has tons of love for kurtis, which have classical values and South Asian vibes. Being a woman, i wanted to be casual but not so casual that everyone in the street looks like my wardrobe. I was wondering where i can have such clothes which give both comfort and uniqueness then i pop into a instagram of Astityo ( an imaginary brand). Astityo was one of the famous clothing brand, which provide short kurtis which are easy to carry but have that authentic look with a combination of culture and comfort. The brand not only provide varieties of clothes, but also customized design and size with shipping option across the world. The brand has completely solve my problem, now what about you?

[Julia_Bojanic]

Brand: Awara IT, a system integrator that focuses on ERP implementations that help customers grow and earn quicker. 

Audience: CFOs, CIOs, other C-level 

Challenges: some of our customers' businesses grow really fast. and their IT solutions do not always grow as fast as businesses. 

Resolution: Awara IT helps companies keep up with their pace by providing solutions that best fit their needs. It might be a small add-on to an existing system or a long-term project. It is all about listening to the customer's business need first, understanding it better and only then providing a certain type of IT solution.

[LMcRae]

Who is the brand?
Patagonia is an outdoor apparel company renowned for its commitment to sustainability, environmental activism, and high-quality gear that caters to adventurers and environmentalists alike.

Who is their audience?
Patagonia’s audience includes environmentally conscious consumers, outdoor enthusiasts, climbers, surfers, skiers, and hikers. They tend to be values-driven individuals who prioritize sustainability, ethical business practices, and durable, functional products.

What challenge are they helping their audience to overcome? How are they doing it?
The core challenge Patagonia helps its audience overcome is the tension between enjoying nature and protecting it. Outdoor enthusiasts want to explore the planet’s wild places, but their consumption (clothing, travel, gear) often contributes to environmental degradation.

Patagonia addresses this by:

• Designing durable, repairable gear to reduce overconsumption.

• Launching initiatives like Worn Wear to encourage reuse and recycling.

• Donating a percentage of profits to grassroots environmental groups.

• Using storytelling in campaigns like “Don’t Buy This Jacket” to challenge fast fashion and promote mindful consumption.

• Becoming a certified B Corp and recently transferring ownership to a trust and nonprofit to ensure all profits go toward fighting climate change.

Storytelling Summary (Putting It All Together):
Patagonia’s character is the conscious adventurer. The conflict is the paradox of loving the outdoors while contributing to its destruction through consumerism. The resolution is a bold business model that prioritizes sustainability over profits, encouraging consumers to think differently about what they buy—and why.

[Sohilkanishkar]

CHARACTER : PARENT

CONFLICT     :  Parent trying to help his daughter, who aspires to be a doctor, is finding it                        difficult to study due to a power cut.

RESOLUTION : Luminous tubular battery [ inverters ]

[JPonti]

Brand: TrustNet
Audience: CISOs, IT Leaders/Managers, Decision-Makers
Challenge: Cybersecurity and Compliance

[NMitchell23]

Who is the brand?

Native

Who is their audience?

People who want a clean alternative for body washes and deodorants.

What challenge are they helping their audience overcome? How are they doing it? Some customers are concerned with what's inside of their body care products, and want a product that lasts while having less environmental impact.

[MAdejoro]

Who is the brand?

Nivea

It is a company for skincare: creams, deodorant, body wash etcetera.

Who is their audience?

Every one who needs a body spray, body cream, body wash, deodorant.

What challenge are they helping their audience overcome? How are they doing it?

Everyone has different body type but not all companies put that into consideration, however, Nivea does. With the realization that people have different body types, Nivea has a body cream designed for each body type, male and female, at affordable prices. 

[AlaricPham0812]

- Who is the brand?
Dac Luyen Fitness is a long - standing brand about fitness in Can Tho City. 
- Who is their audience?
Their audience are the young people who love sport, want to improve their body, reduce stress. They also have the old people who want to take care for their health, looking for joy,... 
- What challenge are they helping their audience to overcome? How are they doing it?
Conflict: 
Dac Luyen Fitness' audience are the people who face to the overweight, skinny, stress after work or even after break up, feeling bad about themselves. All of them always need a reason to begin, a motivation, a faith that they can do it.
Resolution: 

DacLuyen Fitness decide to build an gym where is the place have modern machince to serve customers. They also has training for their staff - personal trainer has much more experience to train for the customers want to change their body, their life. With the goal - Change your body, change your life. its not just talk about training your body to improve your health, its also change your life because when you have goodhealh, you can do everything you want, increased resistance helps you overcome all diseases.
- Characters: DacLuyen Fitness & People want to change
- Conflict: Unhealth, bad figue, lost motivation
- Resolution: Provide modern machine and experienced coach.

[Emmanuella2]

Figma 

Figma is a design tool that allows designers and developers to work on design projects.

They cater to those in the design industry like UIUX designers, product designers and developers.

What makes them unique is their interactive interface which allows for members of the design team to reach out to one another on the site.

Doing this eliminates the need to transfer files of low quality as everything can be accesed on the interface itself.

The best part about figma? They have a good customer care that responds swiftly and it's web based!

[DKumarr]

Brand: Kanha Ki Chhaachh
Audience: Families and health-conscious people who want natural, traditional dairy products
Conflict: Processed food is everywhere, and people are losing touch with real, trustworthy dairy
Resolution: Kanha Ki Chhaachh brings back sweet memories with natural, delicious taste — helping people avoid processed food and feel connected to their roots again.

[Zainabatool]

STORY TELLING FRAMEWORK IN ACTION

The brand is NIVEA

Nivea is a skincare brand  promoting natural beauty .  The brand offers a diverse lineup of creams, lotions, body washes, deodorants, and facial care products . Offering women , men and  teens to enhance their skin native beauty and overcome skin problems , enhance skin natural health , moisturize the skin , help in good body odour boosting confidence . 

• Body lotions: A wide range of lotions for different skin types, including dry skin, sensitive skin, and those needing firming or brightening. 
• Body washes: Cleansing products for the body, often with added moisturizers and scents. 
• Specialized products: After sun care, skin firming lotions, and products with specific ingredients like Aloe Vera. 
• Giving the best appraoch to relish healthy skin!

[NWeising]

Storytelling framework in action

The organization I am using is Cat Shack, Inc. a cat rescue organization.

The character are the cats.

The conflict is that these cats need homes.

The resoultion is that the cats can come live with someone in the audience. 

They are not a brand but a non-profit organization.

Their audeince is anyone who is willing to foster or adopt a cat and anyone that has a cat that is in need of placing it in their cat.

Thee challenge they are helping their audience over come is finding a safe place to take a cat if they are unable to take care of it.  And finding homes for cats that are currently at their shelter.

[Julian5]

The brand is a personal brand I am growing on LinkedIn, so I am the character.

In her previous roles, Julian noticed founders struggle to keep up with their daily tasks and also maintain a consistent presence on LinkedIn which is affecting their progress on LinkedIn while they lose potential comnection, collaboration, growth and oppprtunities.

She decided to step in. Dedicating hours constructing strategies and content plans for these founders to implement admist their extra busy schedule. 

She even go as far as handling their LinkedIn accounts, positioning them as an authority in their various fields

The results? They show up consistently, gain visisbility, are known for their works, connect with likeminds and gainfully collaborated on projects. 

[KBrown844]

Brand name- Sun Bum

Back in 2010, Sun Bum started creating sun protection products for the people they care about most—their friends and families. They've grown a lot since then, but the vibe hasn’t changed. They are located at Cocoa Beach which is a classic Florida beach house right off A1A, and are also located at Moonlight Beach which is tucked into the laid-back town of Encinitas, California. Around Sun Bum, they play too much ping pong, spin old records, take surf breaks, and bring their dogs and kids along for the ride. They are all about living with purpose, making products they genuinely love.

The challenge that they are trying to over come is skin cancer. According to the Skin Cancer Foundation, 1 to 5 Americans will get skin cancer in their lifetime. Sun Bum's goal is to change that. They do this by creating healthy sunscreen but also by running a non-profit called Protect the Groms. This is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit working with schools and outdoor-focused organizations to provide shade structures, sun safety education, and sunscreen to kids. 

[MansiChoudhary5]

 Brand Storytelling example

Brand name- Dove

story name - real beauty sketches 

campaign by dove [ a soap and beauty brand]

Dove noticed that many women felt insecure about their apprearance because of unrealistic beauty standards. Dove wanted to show that every women is beautiful, but many women don't believe it. So, dove made a video with a smart idea;

• A sketch artist drew two pictures of each women;

[a]. one pictures was based on how the women described herself.

[b]. the second picture was based on how a stranger described her.

• when they compared both pictures, the one drawn using the stanger's desccription looked more beautiful and happier.

Dove said;

" You are more beautiful than you think.

[SLehmann1]

The Brand is Surly Bikes.  Surly has branded themselves as "bike Nerds" that are unpretentious and of the belief that Steel Bikes are the best in show for their durability and performance that allows for a lower barrier to entry into quality bike ownership because chromoly steel is less expensive than other materials. They are eccentric as a group and cast themselves apart from competitors and aligning themselves with those that consider themselves different from the cookie cutter corporate names we all know. The reward Surly owners get is that Nod of the Head in acknowledgement that we are all different and we get to feel the freedom of a trail/road travelled by many that celebrate individualality while belonging to the human race.

[Faladay]

The brand is Nike — a global sportswear brand that empowers everyday athletes and dreamers to overcome self-doubt and societal limitations. Their audience includes people from all walks of life who see sport as a path to growth and self-belief. By combining high-performance products with powerful storytelling, Nike inspires individuals to push past their limits and take action — even when the world says they can’t.

[Rohit12]

The brand is " amul " . Thsi brand is helping reach the farmers and the consumer a wide range of milk products with purity and assurance of the genuine milk products. The brand is targeting farmers and general publics cater their service and serves their products. The brand is providing fair value to the farmers by directly connecting with them and providing pure milk products to general public without any adulteration .

[YMulla]

The brand is "The Ordinary". This brand focuses on skin care and is known for its minimalist approach and commitment to transparency. They cater to audiences who seak affordable high quality skin care products. By offering component focused solutions, The Ordinary helps people treat a wide range of skin health issues and address concerns with confidence and clarity.