Brand storytelling has been a recent obsession, and not just mine, corporates too. As stated by Katie Deighton in the viral WSJ article, the percentage of LinkedIn job postings in the U.S. that include the term ‘storyteller’ doubled last year. Maria LaMagna Morales, a tech marketer, has been ahead of the pack, sharing her two cents on TikTok about the great exodus from traditional marketing to 'story-ville'. In her words, "we've been saying it for years, but for some reason people are ready to do storytelling now."

I was a guest speaker at Build A DAO's Holiday tutelage program, yapping all things marketing. Half the attendees confessed to having AdBlock extensions on their browsers, and ironically, I empathize. A staggering 54.2% of internet users cite 'intrusive ad formats' as a core reason for turning to ad blockers (Source: Increv). An insurance policy ad ten minutes into a juicy YouTube storytime is annoying, and don't get me started on the incessant banner pop-ups in the midst of reading a news article.

How else can marketers create brand awareness and reinforce messaging? Even more vital, how can brand relationships evolve from a transactional to an emotional one? The solution isn't just better ads, it's more stories, particularly those crafted within a filmmaker's purview.

The power of the plot

Now, before we tussle, I believe that not all stories should center a marketing team's KPIs. Comic books, films, artwork, and so on, are expressions of creativity; sparking and expressing emotion, reminding us that we're all in this together. Yet, these channels can also be harnessed to convey a deeper brand philosophy. One that feels more human and less machine.

Remember the "community account-shared password" streaming era? Audiences remain parched for refreshing stories that resonate and feel intentional. Worldwide, 91.7% of internet users watched content via streaming services each month as of Q2 in 2025 (Source: Statista). A founder documentary or company origin series could change the tide for a brand's dwindling perception. Yes, a sizeable budget will be required and measuring ROI won't be as simple as tracking click-through rates. This is a long-term play, one where success looks like cultural impact, brand love, and organic conversations. The risk? Your story might flop. The bigger risk? Staying invisible while your competitors earn a place in people's hearts.

The stories that had me hooked

Enough theorizing, let me show you the receipts. My favourite tales are moving and purposeful. I'll skip a 30-second ad but have a bowl of popcorn ready to watch a 90-minute film, about the same product. Here are four films that didn't just entertain me; they fundamentally shifted how I perceive the brands behind them. I'll do my best to minimize spoilers :)

Vitalik: An Ethereum Story

As someone deep in the Web3 world, this documentary had been on my watchlist for a minute. Filmed in 2022 to 2023, it chronicles the journey of tech visionary and Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin. From his early days exploring an old IBM PC to the decentralization advocate we know today. My favorite scene was the 'Encyclopedia of Bunnies' created by little Vitalik, a true math genius. The independent film was produced by Optimist and Strange Design, in association with Lone Palm Productions, Big Beach, & TIME Studios. Notably, Linda Xie, builder at onchain social app Farcaster, was a co-producer.

The film humanized a complex technology by focusing on the person, not the protocol. I have a newfound respect for the Ethereum Foundation. The highs, lows, shifts, and effort it took to write tech history, grow a global community and keep the foundation running made Ethereum feel less like code and more like a movement.

House of Guinness

This is a 2025 Netflix series that had me abuse the 'next episode' button. House of Guinness is a fictionalized historical drama of Ireland's most iconic and enduring dynasty, the Guinness family. Hard to say what I enjoyed most — the set design, rousing plot, witty dialogue, James Norton ;) Created by accomplished screenwriter Steven Knight, the show is set in the 19th century. It follows the aftermath of the death of brewery patriarch, Sir Benjamin Guinness, and the subsequent impact on the fate of his four adult children.

My entire adulthood, I've come across Guinness billboards, commercials, and even sat opposite a tap of the stout beer, but I have never been curious. Here's the fascinating part: the Guinness brand and Diageo were not involved in the making of this show, yet the story impacted social mindshare. Post-premiere, I noted a surge of TikToks of visits to the St. James's Gate Brewery in Dublin. It's insane that an 8-episode period drama has led to a paradigm shift in my happy hour try-outs. Sometimes the best brand stories aren't the ones brands tell themselves; they're the ones that emerge when storytellers find your history compelling enough to explore.

Black Barbie

I rarely shed a tear when watching a documentary, but this — oh, it had me bawling. It took me back to being a dark-skinned black girl, facing rows of shelves in the toy store and picking out a doll that looked nothing like me. In the words of TV royalty, i.e. Shonda Rhimes, "If you've gone your whole life and you've never seen anything made in your own image, there's damage done."

The Shondaland x Netflix documentary explores the creation of the first black Barbie doll in the '80s and its evolution. It tells the story of pioneer Beulah Mae Mitchell, who dreamed up the idea of a black Barbie and shared it with Mattel, designers like Kitty Black Perkins and Stacey McBride-Irby, who brought the doll to life and everyday black women whose lives were transformed when they held their first black fashion doll as girls. This wasn't a commercial; it was a cultural reckoning. The film was released in 2023, but it will likely have a lasting impact. To heal my inner child, I have clicked the 'add to wishlist' button for a gorgeous melanated Barbie with a fluffed fro and red knit dress. That's the power of storytelling that goes beyond selling.

Air

It's 1984, Sam Fan Thomas owned the African airwaves, payphones dotted NYC streets, and Converse and Adidas were the dons of sports apparel. Nike, a rising firm, only had command over 17% of the sneaker market share. Inspired by true events, the 2023 film documents the birth of the Air Jordan line, spearheaded by Sonny Vaccaro, marketing executive at Nike. Sonny had a relentless conviction that a young, upcoming basketballer, Michael Jordan, was America's next G.O.A.T athlete and pushed for a partnership. Philip Knight, Nike founder and then CEO, needed convincing as running shoes had higher sales than hoopers' sneakers. The movie magnifies the process behind the most successful sports-business collaboration—the boardroom rows, strategy sessions and pure determination. The zoom-ins to the company values board were my favourite scenes, "This is as much about battle as about business." Peak corporate boomer era!

The film portrayed the human side of risk-taking and the moments where belief mattered more than spreadsheets. Beyond the numbers, the film reinforced Nike's brand identity as a company that notices potential others miss and builds legends. Air Jordan sold $162M of merch in its first year and currently represents about $7 billion in annual sales for Nike. The lesson: the biggest deals happen in a room of people who believe in greatness.

The Future Is Narrative

“After nourishment, shelter and companionship, stories are the thing we need most in the world.” - Philip Pullman, Author

Vitalik's documentary is about an intelligent young man who believed in a new world. House of Guiness centers on family, business and belonging. Black Barbie highlights inclusivity and girlhood. And Air reveals the journey to success. The product is a witness on the bench, a supporting character, while the narrative shines in the main arena, and invites us to feel, learn, relate and grow.

The question for marketers isn't whether to tell stories, it's whether they have stories worth telling. Audiences can smell the difference between a narrative that serves the brand and one that awakens the human experience. So while I anticipate my 2026 film 'wrapped' recap, I know what my data would show. I'm not just consuming entertainment. I'm watching brands earn their way into my life, one story at a time. For every brand sitting on decades of history, pivotal moments, or founder journeys collecting dust in the archives, the screen is waiting.

Thank you for reading! Connect with me on X and Farcaster.

What is the Creator Economy?

The creator economy is no longer just about going viral, it's about building real income from online content. It includes a growing wave of creators, such as YouTubers, TikTokers, podcasters, writers, streamers, and freelancers. They earn money by sharing their work online through brand deals, subscriptions, merchandise, affiliate links, fan tips, and more.

Globally, over 207 million people now identify as content creators. The creator space is booming, projected to grow from $191.55 billion in 2025 to $528 billion by 2030 (Coherent Market Insights, 2025). New tools are making it easier for creators to earn directly from their audiences, bypassing traditional gatekeepers. Web3 platforms are driving this shift by offering greater ownership, peer-to-peer payments, content tokenization, and decentralized funding models.

The Rise of User-Generated Content

In the early 2010s, fashion and lifestyle blogs were digital gems. I remember having animated chats with my high school deskmate as we obsessed over the latest blog posts from our favourite blogs—The Fashion Notebook by Nancie Mwai and This is Ess by Sharon Mundia. Their content lived on WordPress blogs, often paired with growing Facebook pages. It felt personal and inspiring, like curated magazines from creators we genuinely connected with. These blogs featured heartfelt texts paired with polished imagery of makeup hauls, travel shots, and fashion lookbooks. Readers left comments, and viral posts could even crash a site—truly the blogger glory days!  This was pre-WiFi so we relied on modems or fiber cables, and in a house of six, getting online felt like a race. First come, first served, lol.

Then came WiFi, affordable smartphones, and better PC access. I discovered YouTube and Instagram and knew I wanted to be a creator too.  I began posting on Facebook and Instagram, then moved on to YouTube with beauty tutorials and lengthy reviews. I even bought a WordPress template and launched a blog linking to my channel. It was a full-circle moment for my high school self.

From Posts to Paychecks

By 2016, it became clear that content creation could be a viable career path. Top global creators were earning thousands of dollars from YouTube ad revenue, while Instagram and Twitter followings unlocked brand deals. Subscription platforms like Patreon gave creators more control and income. Many creators even launched their products and services. The influencer era took off! Anyone with an internet connection, not just media insiders, could build an audience and monetize it.

Still, income remains uneven. Goldman Sachs reports that only 4% of global creators earn over $100,000 a year. Monetization tools exist, but with barriers: YouTube requires 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 watch hours; X demands 5 million tweet impressions; and Instagram still leans on brand deals, favoring creators with large, engaged followings. Growing an audience has only gotten harder, thanks to shrinking reach and ever-shifting algorithms.

A New Age of Creativity and Earning Potential

Millions of creators still struggle to monetize their work, and that’s where Web3 aims to change the game. While social media coverage centers on Web2 giants like Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok, Web3 opens up a new, largely untapped space where creators can diversify their income and boost their earnings. Today, nearly 69% of creators rely on brand deals, with just a small slice coming from affiliate links (4.6%) and direct tips (3.5%). So how can creators earn beyond sponsorships? Could decentralized social networks be the key?

With benefits like ownership, transparency and direct fan-to-creator payments, blockchain-based social platforms are gaining traction. In this article, I’ll explore two leading Web3 social networks, Farcaster and Zora, that are reshaping creator monetization.

Farcaster: Where Crypto Meets Conversation

Farcaster is a decentralized social media protocol built on Optimism and Base, giving users more control over their data, content, and audience. Unlike traditional platforms owned by centralized companies, Farcaster runs on Layer 2 blockchains that offer data ownership, greater scalability and faster interactions—while ensuring transparency, security and censorship resistance.

As an open protocol, it allows developers to build interoperable mini-apps, meaning users can engage cross-chain without losing their content or followers. Farcaster, launched in 2020, is part of a broader shift toward user-owned, community-driven digital spaces.

Interface & Features:

• Blends text and visual content with a familiar interface (similar to Twitter/X), including Home and Trending feeds, customizable profiles, and posting action called “Casting.”

• Users sign up via email or crypto wallet and pay a $5 initiation fee to reduce spam and bots.

• Emphasizes user autonomy and privacy—no single entity owns the platform, so users control their data and audience.

• Supports interoperability with other blockchains like Base, Celo, and Monad, enabling developers to build decentralized apps (dApps) on the platform.

• Features customizable “Actions”, these are interactive buttons on posts that enable tipping, minting NFTs, creating meme coins etc, enhancing user engagement.

Creators earn crypto rewards based on post engagement, sharing a weekly pool of $25,000 USDC among top posters. Additional rewards are available for creators who invite new users to join the platform. Farcaster’s vibrant mini-app ecosystem and censorship-resistant design have made it a popular hub for crypto enthusiasts. It now boasts over 350,000 users and around 50,000 daily active users, making it one of the fastest-growing social networks in Web3.

Creator Spotlight: Sarah Akwisombe (@sarahakwisombe)

To understand the real-world creator experience on Farcaster (FC), I spoke to Sarah Akwisombe, a Marketing and Brand Manager with deep roots in Web3, e-learning and social impact spaces.

What made you start using Farcaster as a creator? "I was put onto it by a contact I'd met who was from a creative/fashion background. He suggested it was a good way to meet other people in Web3 (this was a couple of years ago before I was working in the space)."

How has your experience on Farcaster been different from traditional platforms like Instagram or Twitter? "I find it to be more welcoming—I care less about what I post. Early social media vibes! Like, I’ll go on FC and post about funny shit I’ve seen that day or share more of my interests, because more often than not I will get engagement. It actually feels like chatting with mates rather than trying to enter a popularity contest. FC feels like a place that crypto people hang out, but you’re more likely to connect with someone over a workout you did or a meal you ate than posting about work. Also, being able to earn money from just posting the random stuff is great!"

Would you recommend Farcaster to other creators? Why or why not? "Yes, I would, mainly for being able to earn on content. Though I do wonder/worry that it may lose the tight-knit 'real friends' feel if loads more people join."

ZORA: Turning Posts into Collectible Digital Assets

Zora is a visual-first Web3 social platform where creators mint (creating a token and adding it to a blockchain network) their content as on-chain digital assets. Anyone can view posts for free, but only collectors receive tokens—offering a new way for fans to support creators. Creators earn tokens from every mint and continue earning royalties (in crypto) through secondary trades, turning posts into ongoing income streams. Launched as an NFT platform in 2021, Zora evolved to a social network run on its own Layer 2 chain, with Uniswap powering its on-chain secondary market.

Interface & Features:

• Users sign up via crypto wallets, enabling easy minting, trading and rewards.

• Layout includes a home feed, creator profile and a visually arranged content grid (similar to Instagram).

• Creators receive 10 million Zora Coins upon launching and a total supply of 1 billion coins per post.

• Zora coins are tradable tokens, and each post essentially becomes a micro-financial market.

Zora’s standout feature is the intersection of creative content with financial market mechanics, turning every post into a tradable digital asset. For every minted post, there's:

1. A Market Cap - calculated by multiplying the coin’s current price by its total supply.

2. Total Volume - reflecting the sum of all trading activity associated with it.

3. Creator Earnings - creators earn royalties indefinitely receiving 1% of every trade involving their post. This ensures that creators continue to benefit financially long after their content is first published.

On Zora, social interaction is tied directly to financial support. Instead of likes, each post features a “Buy” button, allowing fans to purchase tokens. While users can still comment, the platform prioritizes monetary engagement over traditional social signals. This unique model has gained traction, and by May 2025, Zora had broken into the top 100 social apps on the U.S. App Store, reflecting its growing popularity.

Creator Spotlight: Felista Njeri (@njeri)

Felista Njeri is a Computer Science student and emerging blockchain developer passionate about blending creativity and technology in the Web3 space. She's an active creator on Zora and shared her thoughts on the platform.

What made you start using Zora as a creator? "Honestly, I was just curious at first. As someone who builds in Web3, both frontend and smart contracts, I thought it was super cool that Zora lets you actually post on-chain. It felt like a fun way to share what I’m working on, plus little personal things like sunset photos, and still stay in the world I’m building for."

How has your experience on Zora been different from traditional platforms like Instagram or Twitter? "It’s been way better, honestly. On Instagram or Twitter, you’re just giving away your content for free and hoping it does well in the algorithm. On Zora, you actually own your posts, and even better, you can get paid for them. I’ve had a great experience just sharing whatever I feel like, and the community is more aligned with the kind of stuff I care about: building, experimenting, and just being creative."

Would you recommend Zora to other creators? Why or why not? "Yeah, 100%. If you’re into Web3 or just want a fresh place to post stuff and maybe earn from it, Zora’s worth checking out. It’s super easy to use, fun to play around with, and feels like the future of content sharing."

The Future Is Creator-Owned

Over the past few months, I’ve been exploring both Farcaster and Zora, and it’s been fascinating to witness how the social network experience is evolving, especially with onchain innovation at the core. You can find me on both platforms @cryptochic56. I highly recommend following Felista (@njeri) on Zora and Sarah (@sarahakwisombe) on Farcaster, two inspiring creators who are actively shaping what’s possible in this space!

From Twitter to Farcaster and Instagram to Zora, one thing is clear: social media is entering a new chapter. This shift isn’t just about new tech—it’s about better systems for creator ownership, compensation, and community. If you're a creator looking to experiment with ownership and fairer monetization, now’s the time to explore. The onchain era is here, jump in and start minting!

References:

1. Global Creator Economy Market Analysis - Coherent Market Insights

2. 'The creator economy could approach half-a-trillion dollars by 2027' - Goldman Sachs

3. Creator Economy Statistics 2025 (Market Size & Growth Trends) - SimpleBeen

4. 'Zora Takes Off, Up 30% In 3 Days: Will Their Pivot To Creator Coins Pay Off?' - 99 Bitcoins

5. Farcaster Explained: The Blockchain-Powered Decentralized Social Media Protocol - Decrypt