Audience Connection

The Story Your Audience Is Already Living with Kristian Aloma

What if the biggest mistake brands make isn't saying the wrong thing, but not understanding the story their audience is already living? Oliver Atkinson sits down with Kristian A. Alomá, PhD, Founder & CEO at Threadline, whose work on narrative economy explores what's really being exchanged between brands and the people they serve: not information, not value propositions, but identity, meaning and belonging. Kristian traces his path from pharmaceutical advertising, where a doctor rejected a concept because he hated the model's shoes, to the insight that changed how he thinks about marketing altogether. He breaks down the difference between story and narrative, explains why the audience has to be the hero (not the brand), and shares his STORY framework for understanding what people are genuinely reaching for when they buy something. Along the way there are memorable examples: RadioShack's "You've Got Questions, We've Got Answers" campaign and why a good promise made to the wrong infrastructure falls apart fast; Southwest Airlines and what happens when you trust frontline people to act like humans; and the simple but powerful idea that you're not selling the cake, you're selling the ingredients people use to make it themselves. In a market flooded with AI-generated content and brittle trust, this episode gives marketers, creatives, leaders and internal comms teams a practical way to build loyalty, sharpen positioning and create work people can genuinely see themselves in. Follow Audience Connection Podcast: * Website: https://www.casualfilms.com/ [https://www.casualfilms.com/] * Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/casualglobal/ [https://www.instagram.com/casualglobal/] * LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/casual-films-international [https://www.linkedin.com/company/casual-films-international] * BlueSky: @casualglobal.bsky.social Subscribe now and join the conversation about creating content that truly resonates and storytelling backed by behaviour science.

How Olly wowed the crowd at Adfest

In this episode, co-hosts Lydia Chan and Olly Atkinson recaps his talk at AdFest 2026 in Thailand titled "Making People Care: Storytelling in the Age of AI,” where he strapped biometric trackers on 50 unsuspecting audience members and measured their brain activity in real time. What happened next revealed something most marketers don't want to admit: the content we think is working, often isn't. From a curiosity gap that spikes immersion in 30 seconds flat, to corporate messaging that tanks it just as fast, Olly unpacks what the neuroscience actually says about why some content sticks and most gets filtered out. Plus, a whiskey brand that ditched their assumptions, rewrote their entire creative strategy, and saw a 56% revenue jump in three months with no extra media spend. If you create content, brief it, approve it, or sit in rooms talking about it, this one will change how you think about all of it.   Follow Audience Connection Podcast: * Website: https://www.casualfilms.com/ * Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/casualglobal/ * LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/casual-films-international * BlueSky: @casualglobal.bsky.social Subscribe now and join the conversation about creating content that truly resonates and storytelling backed by behaviour science.

Are you doing brand storytelling right? Jordan Kelley will know

In this episode of Audience Connection, Lydia Chan sits down with Jordan P. Kelley, Director of Content and Editor-in-Chief at Aivanta, to explore what it truly means to do brand storytelling right and why so many brands are still getting it wrong. With nearly a decade of reviewing brand-funded films and curating the programming for the Brand Storytelling Conference, Jordan shares what separates content that audiences actually choose to watch from content that simply blends into the noise. He explains why brand storytelling is not a long-form ad, how putting humans at the center of a story is the most reliable path to engagement, and why the element of choice is everything in today's on-demand world. The conversation digs into the real tension that exists between artistic vision and brand objectives, and how the most effective players in the space are those who can bridge both. Jordan also unpacks how storytellers can build internal buy-in by reverse-engineering leadership's metrics and grafting those goals directly onto the creative work, making the case for brand storytelling in a language that resonates in the boardroom. If you're interested in how brands can move beyond campaigns and create content that builds genuine audience affinity, or how AI and smarter measurement will reshape the future of brand storytelling, this episode is packed with insights you can take straight back to your team. Follow Audience Connection Podcast: * Website: https://www.casualfilms.com/ * Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/casualglobal/ * LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/casual-films-international * BlueSky: @casualglobal.bsky.social Subscribe now and join the conversation about creating content that truly resonates and storytelling backed by behaviour science.

Sandra Gaudenzi on Intentional Storytelling | Part 2

Oliver Atkinson continues his conversation with Sandra Gaudenzi to ask a tougher question: once a story moves someone, how do you turn that moment into real change without slipping into manipulation? Sandra reframes impact storytelling as intentional storytelling, mapping every layer from who makes the work and how the interface is designed to the conversations, communities, and campaigns that follow release. Her metaphors land hard: a single story is just one fish in an ocean of narrative change, and a brand chasing short-term persuasion is like a parent ending a supermarket tantrum through force, effective now, costly later. She also argues that behavior change needs repetition, belonging, and values that are lived consistently, not just performed in the ad. For marketers, brand leaders, filmmakers, and strategists, this episode is a sharp guide to behavior change, long-term trust, and the kind of storytelling that shapes culture instead of merely chasing attention. Learn more about Sandra: * 🌐 Website: www.what-if.uk [http://www.what-if.uk] * 💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sandragaudenzi/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/sandragaudenzi/] Follow Audience Connection Podcast: * Website: https://www.casualfilms.com/ * Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/casualglobal/ * LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/casual-films-international * BlueSky: @casualglobal.bsky.social Subscribe now and join the conversation about creating content that truly resonates and storytelling backed by behaviour science.

From Storytelling to Storyliving with Sandra Gaudenzi | Part 1

Oliver Atkinson sits down with interactive documentary pioneer Sandra Gaudenzi to explore why stories become more powerful when audiences stop being spectators and start becoming participants. From the childhood moment a speck of dust made her realize perception is constructed, Sandra traces how language, culture, and media shape reality. She breaks down interactivity from branching paths to participatory spaces, then makes it tangible with a locative storytelling project that asks cyclists to record why they love a corner of London and leaves a “cloud of stories” for strangers to discover. She also shows how subtle interaction can deepen empathy, whether that means choosing when to look away in Alma or feeling another life inside Notes on Blindness. In a world of passive scrolling and fractured attention, this episode gives marketers, filmmakers, experience designers, and communication leaders a practical lens on agency, embodiment, and why stories stick when people do more than watch. Learn more about Sandra: * 🌐 Website: www.what-if.uk [http://www.what-if.uk] * 💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sandragaudenzi/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/sandragaudenzi/] Follow Audience Connection Podcast: * Website: https://www.casualfilms.com/ [https://www.casualfilms.com/] * Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/casualglobal/ [https://www.instagram.com/casualglobal/] * LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/casual-films-international [https://www.linkedin.com/company/casual-films-international] * BlueSky: @casualglobal.bsky.social Subscribe now and join the conversation about creating content that truly resonates and storytelling backed by behaviour science.