From Fan to Strategist: What Genre Storytelling Taught Me About Building Stronger Brands
Somewhere between battling dragons in cyberpunk realms and navigating trade show floors with various cameras dangling around my neck, I realized something that changed how I approach brand strategy: worldbuilding isn’t just for fantasy novels. It’s a tool. A mindset. And one that the best communicators and organizations already use, even if they don’t always call it that.
I come from a background where creative storytelling and structured communications intersect. I’ve written about city identity, interviewed genre writers about lore and legacy, and helped associations craft policy messages that resonate far beyond Capitol Hill. And in all of that, I’ve noticed how the principles that guide compelling speculative fiction—consistency, immersion, purpose—can apply directly to building authentic, enduring brands.
In short? Your brand is a universe. It needs rules, history, heroes, and a sense of belonging. Whether you’re launching a campaign, managing a member crisis, or refreshing your visual identity, taking a page from genre storytelling can bring your message to life in powerful, sticky ways.
Worldbuilding Isn’t Window Dressing
When I write fiction, I often start not with characters but with setting. What does this world believe? What’s its history? Who writes the rules, and who breaks them? Those same questions apply when I start working with an association or brand question.
Many organizations begin branding exercises by asking, “What do we want to say?” But genre storytelling has taught me to ask instead, “What do we believe?” and “What makes our world coherent?”
A coherent brand is one where your audience instinctively understands the tone, language, and logic of your organization. It’s how a visitor to your website or an attendee at your event intuitively knows they’re in your space. That sense of immersive belonging doesn’t happen by accident. It’s built through intentional, consistent narrative choices.
Just like a fantasy author doesn’t put halflings in a sci-fi dystopia without serious thought (or genre-bending purpose), a brand shouldn’t drop in sleek, corporate messaging if its culture is collaborative and community-driven. Worldbuilding means crafting that internal consistency.
Characters Drive the Plot
Genre fiction lives and dies by its characters. It’s not enough to have a rich world—we care because someone is navigating it. The same holds true for branding.
Every brand has heroes. Your audience, your members, your team leaders. Maybe it’s a motorcoach operator who gets kids to camp safely every year, or a founder who turned a passion into a movement. These aren’t just testimonials. They’re protagonists.
When we think in terms of story, we begin to see communications less as broadcast and more as plot development. What are your heroes striving toward? What’s in their way? How can your organization be the guide, the ally, the source of wisdom or tools?
Brands that act like omniscient narrators miss the point. The best ones cast their audience as the lead character.
Lore Makes it Stick
Fans love lore. We memorize ship names, recite backstories, and debate canonical timelines. Why? Because rich backstory provides meaning. It connects the now to the why.
Organizations have lore, too. Founding stories. Pivotal moments. Changes in leadership, strategy, or purpose. But too often, these get buried in “About Us” pages or left to the institutional memory of long-time staff.
A strong brand makes its lore visible. Not in a nostalgic or self-congratulatory way, but in a way that creates continuity. Lore reminds your audience, “This is who we’ve always been” or “This is how we changed.”
When a brand shares its origin story with clarity and pride, it invites others to join the journey. It becomes less about “messaging” and more about mythos. That doesn’t mean fabrication—it means meaning.
The Map Matters
One thing I learned writing fictional campaigns for my various RPG groups is that readers and players crave orientation. We need maps. Not always literal ones (though those are great, and must-haves if you’re running a detailed Star Wars RPG game. I’m just sayin’…), but frameworks for where we are and where we’re headed.
That’s true for brand strategy too. Your audience wants to understand your structure, values, and goals. They want to know what comes next and how they can participate.
A communications map might look like a strategic plan, a content ecosystem, or a member journey map. It’s your internal compass, and it should be clear enough to share.
In storytelling, you don’t throw readers into a complex world without some signposts. The same goes for your brand.
Stakes Are Everything
Good fiction raises stakes. Why does this matter? What’s at risk if the hero fails?
A brand with no stakes is a brand with no urgency. If your cause, product, or mission doesn’t address real problems or create real transformation, it’s hard to build lasting engagement.
When I work on campaigns or narratives for mission-driven organizations, I always ask: What’s the cost of inaction? What’s the reward of involvement? And can we show it through human stories?
Your audience needs to care. And caring comes from risk, from triumph, from change.
Genre Can Shape Message Delivery
Lastly, genre isn’t just a thematic tool—it’s a delivery system.
Want to energize your audience? Use the epic. Want to make them reflect? Use the parable. Want to build anticipation? Use the thriller.
Different campaigns require different tones. You don’t need a dragon on your homepage to channel fantasy energy—you need a sense of vision, scale, and destiny. You don’t need noir aesthetics to channel mystery—you need discovery, intrigue, and puzzle-solving.
Being aware of genre lets you be intentional with your tone. It gives your team a creative shorthand. It also helps prevent the trap of sounding the same as everyone else.
So What Does This Mean for Communicators?
- Start with the world. Build your internal brand logic before external messaging. Know your rules, values, and storylines.
- Identify your protagonists. Center your messaging around your members, clients, or audience goals. Let them be the hero.
- Mine your lore. Unearth your history and use it to show continuity and evolution. Share the story behind the story.
- Give them a map. Create clear frameworks that orient people to your structure, journey, and purpose.
- Raise the stakes. Make your communications urgent, personal, and impactful. Show the “why now.”
- Choose your genre lens. Use narrative structures and tones that enhance—not distract from—your goals.
There’s a reason so many of us gravitate toward stories of distant galaxies, hidden realms, and magical resistance to evil mango kings. They help us see the stakes in our own world more clearly. They remind us that change is possible, that belonging matters, and that even the smallest voice can shape the arc of history.
If we can bring even a fraction of that energy into how we communicate on behalf of our organizations and causes, we won’t just build better brands. We’ll build better communities.
And that, after all, is the most epic story of all.