The Marketing We Deserve: Why Strategy Without Story Falls Flat
- Anushka Malhotra
- May 7
- 2 min read
Here’s a leadership lesson that’s not only shaped how I work — but how I think:
Even the smartest marketing strategy won’t move people if it doesn’t have a story to carry it.
As marketers, we spend so much time planning:
📍 How to reach the right audience
📍 What messaging to lead with
📍 Which channels will drive conversion
All of it matters. But plans alone don’t spark movements.
Because people don’t just follow logic.They follow meaning.
6 Storytelling elements that bring strategy to life
Strategy Gets You Seen. Story Makes You Remembered.
You can tick all the boxes:
✅ Great messaging
✅ Strong positioning
✅ Proven value
And still feel like something’s missing.
That’s because humans don’t think in bullet points.
We understand the world through stories.
The Brain Science of Why Story Works
According to Harvard research, 95% of purchase decisions happen in the subconscious mind.That means people are choosing based on feelings, not spreadsheets.
Two systems are at play:
The Neocortex – logical, language-based, processes facts
The Limbic System – emotion-based, drives decisions, but doesn’t understand language
So if your message only speaks to the head, you're missing the part that actually makes the decision: the heart.
How This Came to Life: A Real Campaign Example
As Head of Marketing at TechWM, I led a campaign to reposition the West Midlands as a national tech hub.
We had every stat in our favour:
💷 A £15.8bn startup ecosystem
📈 £2.7bn projected economic value-add by 2025
🌍 The UK’s youngest, most diverse digital talent
🏃♂️ A tech sector growing faster than anywhere outside London
But it still wasn’t landing.People knew the facts — but they didn’t feel connected to them.
There was no shared identity. No story to rally behind.
The Shift: From Data Points to Meaning
Together with rbl Brand Agency, Adam Concar, and Rhiannon Lowe, we changed the narrative:
“Making Tech Succeed in the Most Human of Places.”
We didn’t invent a story — we surfaced the real one.
✨ We listened to the community.
✨ We amplified local voices.
✨ We made it about them, not just the region.
And that shift worked because it had:
🎯 A clear hook
🪞 A message people could see themselves in
📊 A “why” behind the stats
👥 Real characters — the community itself
❤️ Emotion that drove impact
👏 A call to action that brought people together
Final Takeaway: Strategy Needs Story
If you’re building something — a brand, a business, a movement — remember:
Lead with strategy, but don’t forget the story.
Because when people feel something, they remember it.And when they believe in it — they share it.
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