Is StoryBrand™ Still Relevant?

Is StoryBrand Still Relevant — or Has Something Replaced It?

Short answer: StoryBrand is still useful, but it’s no longer the center of gravity.

For years, the StoryBrand framework helped companies clarify their message:
The customer is the hero.
The company is the guide.
Clarity wins.

That still matters. But the world StoryBrand emerged in has changed.

Today, most people don’t encounter a brand through a website first. They meet it through short-form video, social feeds, interviews, podcasts, live streams, and shared moments. Story isn’t read as much as it’s experienced.

What’s replacing single-framework storytelling is something broader: narrative systems.

Instead of one polished brand story, leading organizations now tell many true stories:
• Origin stories
• Customer impact moments
• Behind-the-scenes process
• Leadership perspective
• Mission in action

These stories aren’t declared. They’re observed.

And audiences are responding more to authenticity than archetypes—real people, imperfect delivery, and proof over positioning.

Looking ahead to 2026–2028, this accelerates:
• Story becomes ongoing, not campaign-based
• Video becomes the default language of trust
• Documentary-style content outperforms scripted brand copy
• Third-party storytellers play a bigger role in seeing what insiders can’t
• Companies act more like publishers than advertisers

StoryBrand still works as messaging hygiene—a way to stay clear and focused.
But clarity alone won’t differentiate.

The organizations pulling ahead aren’t just telling the right story.
They’re building the ability to tell many honest stories, consistently, in modern media.

And that’s a very different skill set.