How to Tell Your Brand Story in Under 60 Seconds
Every marketer has been told, “You need to tell your brand story.”
But what does that actually mean? How do you tell it? What do you include? And more importantly – why bother doing it in the first place?
Today, I’m walking you through the exact framework we use at Fixon Media Group to help our clients bring their brand stories to life through video.
Specifically, we’re focusing on Brand Story Films, which I believe are the pinnacle of video marketing.
They act as the North Star for brands that create them.
Nike, Apple, Dove, Reebok, Allbirds – some of the world’s most recognised brands rely on them. If they do, then so should you.
But here’s the good news, you don’t need a million-dollar budget to make one.
What you do need is a clear framework.
Introducing The 5-4-1 Method
When we produce a Brand Story Film, we break the process down into 3 core parts – what I call the 5-4-1 method:
- 5 Types of Brand Story Films
- 4 Pillars every Brand Story Film should contain
- 1 Relatable Situation that connects emotionally with your audience
Let’s start with the 5 types.
The 5 Types Of Brand Story Films
1. The Education Brand Story Film
This type of story film dives into the origin of your product or service. It’s more product-focused than the others, but still emotionally engaging.
A great example comes from Allbirds, in their announcement video for the Wool Runner 2.
I love this piece. It leans into Kiwi culture, doesn’t take itself too seriously, and it’s genuinely funny.
Humour is one of the strongest emotional tools in video, and if you can make your audience laugh, you’re doing something right.
2. The Raising Awareness Brand Story Film
Every brand has values. Some of those values are shared with your competitors. Others are uniquely yours.
Leaning into what sets you apart is a game-changer for video marketing, and it’s how you attract customers who believe in what you believe.
Dove is a perfect example.
They’ve built long-term brand loyalty by championing body positivity and self-esteem. Their Raising Awareness Brand Story Films showcase those values beautifully, and consistently.
3 & 4. The Social Proof Brand Story Film
I’m grouping these two together, as they’re closely related, but with a key difference.
- One tells the story from your customer’s perspective (think testimonial, but with cinematic flair).
- The other tells it from your brand’s perspective (think case study, project wrap-up, or success highlight).
Both add enormous credibility. Combined, they’re even more powerful.
We recently created one for SPORTENG, capturing their collaboration with Peninsula Grammar. It’s a great example of merging both perspectives into a single, high-impact film.
5. The Promotional Brand Story Film
This one’s my personal favourite.
The Promotional Brand Story Film is about promoting your product or service, but doing it in a way that doesn’t feel like a commercial.
It’s all about emotion, relatability, and being subtle.
You’re connecting with your audience’s values, fears, and desires. And you’re delivering your message straight to their subconscious, without them even realising.
While all 5 film types draw on the 4 Brand Story Pillars (more on those soon), the Promotional Brand Story Film relies on them more than any other.
Have a watch below of one we produced for the Victorian Athletic League featuring none other than legendary commentator, Bruce McAvaney.
The 4 Pillars Of Brand Story Films
Now that we’ve looked at the five types of Brand Story Films – and you’ve seen some of the best examples from Nike, Dove, Allbirds, SPORTENG and more – let’s dive into the framework that holds them all together:
1. Your True Product or Service
In each of the examples above, notice how the brands don’t stick to the surface level of what they sell.
- Dove don’t show you moisturiser. They show you the freedom to believe in yourself.
- SPORTENG don’t talk about field of play design. They show that they’re building the foundations for future sporting stars.
- The VAL don’t talk about their type of racing. They show you how they shape champions and create legends.
This is the difference between mediocre video content and emotionally resonant storytelling.
Surface-level marketing gets you average results, if you’re lucky. You need to go deeper.
One of my favourite examples is an airline.
They don’t sell tickets from A to B. They sell the ability to get you where you need to be, under any circumstance. They sell dependability, access, and presence.
That’s their true product.
So ask yourself, what is your business really selling? Keep digging until you find the truth.
2. Your Impacts
Once you know your true product or service, the next step is to identify the impacts that come from it.
And again, go deep.
Take SPORTENG, for example. Their true product is laying the foundations for future athletes.
Some of their impacts might be:
- Supporting an athlete’s journey from grassroots to gold at the Olympics
- Building a facility that transforms a struggling team into long-term contenders
- Creating a space that helps a community of inactive kids rediscover movement and health
There are dozens of possibilities. The key is: Pick one impact per Brand Story Film. This keeps the message clear, focused, and emotionally powerful.
3. Associated Emotions
Every impact brings with it a set of emotions – both before and after.
The before emotions are what your customer is feeling now.
- Guilt
- Frustration
- Insecurity
- Sadness
- Boredom
- Shame
The after emotions are what they feel after engaging with your brand.
- Pride
- Confidence
- Gratitude
- Joy
- Relief
- Freedom
The goal of a great Brand Story Film is to take the viewer on this emotional shift, from where they are now to where they want to be.
When you show both sides of that emotional equation, your viewer can clearly see the gap, and they’ll feel a subtle sense of FOMO if they don’t take action.
4. Core Values & Beliefs
The final pillar is one of the most powerful, but it should remain subtle.
Every Brand Story Film should communicate your brand’s values and beliefs.
Not by saying them. Not by writing them on screen. But by showing them, through story, through visuals, and through tone.
Yes, Raising Awareness films lean heavily into this pillar. But every type of Brand Story Film should include it in some form.
What do you stand for? What do you believe in? What do you fight for?
The answers to these questions should shape the DNA of your storyline.
Because your audience wants to buy from brands who believe what they believe.
If you can show that alignment, without saying a word, you’ve done your job.
A Relatable Storyline
So far, you’ve explored the 5 types of Brand Story Films and the 4 core pillars that shape each one. But how do you actually bring them together in a film that lasts less than 60 seconds?
That’s where a relatable storyline comes in.
We need a plot. A narrative arc. Something to take the viewer on a journey – particularly in Promotional and Social Proof Brand Story Films.
Fortunately, this is the fun part – the creative (everyone’s favourite). But there’s one rule: it has to be relatable.
Why Relatability Matters
Relatable storylines hook people in.
A man on a skateboard who misses his bus and then smugly rides past while eating KFC? Not relatable. Not human. (Sorry, KFC.)
But a mother and son separated by distance on her birthday? Even if I’m not in that situation, I can understand the feeling of missing someone I love. That’s human. That’s connection.
Relatable doesn’t mean identical. It just needs to reflect a shared human experience, something your audience can emotionally plug into.
An Example From SPORTENG
Let’s say we’re crafting a Promotional Brand Story Film for SPORTENG. Here’s one quick idea:
A young sprinter with incredible potential is training on a gravel track in a developing nation. An opportunity arises, they move to Australia, where they train on a new SPORTENG synthetic track.
Over the years, we see the progression. From grit and hunger on rough terrain, to high-performance training on world-class surfaces. Eventually, we watch them win Olympic gold.
In under 60 seconds, we’ve touched on all 4 pillars:
- True product or service: Providing the foundation for future sporting stars
- Impact: Creating the environment for athletes to perform at their peak
- Emotions: From frustration to joy, doubt to confidence
- Core values: Opportunity, progress, belief in human potential
This is a single creative expression, but when you build from the pillars first, you can generate dozens of storylines like this.
The Trap Marketers Fall Into
Too often, marketing teams start with the creative. They brainstorm storylines first, then try to force a message into that concept.
This approach is backwards.
It limits your options. It weakens your message. Because your story ends up determining what you say, not the other way around.
When you start with the message, using the 4 Pillars framework, you unlock creative freedom without compromising clarity. And every story you tell is underpinned by strategy.
Final Thoughts
Telling your brand story in under 60 seconds is absolutely achievable, if you approach it with purpose.
The brands getting real traction with video aren’t the ones with the biggest budgets. They’re the ones who understand what they’re truly selling, who know how they change lives, who connect to shared human experiences, and who lead with emotions, not just features.
If you’re a marketer or decision-maker in sport, tourism or education, and you’re ready to start telling your brand’s story more clearly, more consistently, and with more impact, then you already know what to do.
Don’t just tell people what you do. Show them who you are.
And do it in under 60 seconds.
Want Some Help In 2025?
At Fixon Media Group, our team specialise in capturing the emotions that resonate with your customers and transforming them into powerful, captivating brand films designed to connect with your audience.
If you’re looking to create impactful brand films and short-form video content in 2025, feel free to get in touch with our Melbourne based video production team.