It pains me to say this, but: That typo in your last campaign may have confused your audience more busy.
That’s because in a world where you don’t always know what’s real and what’s AI – and where trust in general is rapidly declining – a small typo suggests that a real human wrote it (see what I did there?).
“We were taught to think about B2B or B2C,” says the current marketing master, “but I’m actually interested in B2H – there’s a human on the other side.”
Meet the Master
Bryetta Calloway
Claim to Fame: Calloway is by no means anti-AI – her company just produced the MVP of IDAan AI tool that helps people tell their stories in systems that may have been built without them in mind. “AI is a really great tool for scaling your strategy,” she says. “Do not replace.”
Lesson 1: Emotion + Logic = Commitment.
“I always say to start with the emotional resonance,” Calloway says. “When you write a four-sentence story, you literally start with emotion.”
To find that connection point, ask yourself, “What did you feel? What did you see? What did you hear?” And don’t underestimate humor – “If you can make your audience laugh, you’ve already bypassed the part of your brain that says, ‘I don’t trust this.'”
Now you want to back up that emotion with something logical, she says. “It’s a data point, a proof point. It’s something that solidifies the emotion so the brain can hold on to it.”
“We like emotional resonance, but I need something tangible to reinforce my trust,” Calloway explains. And only when you have established an emotional connection and the data or proof points have you earned the right to a product explanation.
The equation of emotion and logic works on every channel, says Calloway: “When you combine emotion and logic in any format, you will get exponentially more engagement with your content.”
So back to this four-sentence story: 1. Emotional resonance. 2. Data or proof point. 3. Product explanation. 4. CTA. boom.
Lesson 2: Follow the 85/15 rule.
Okay, so there is one few small reservation about the first lesson.
Emotion + Logic should always be your guiding principles in storytelling, but the ratio can vary from platform to platform. And this is where Calloway’s 85/15 rule comes into play.
“85% of your work should be templated and refined – checking the boxes of your strategic marketing plan,” she says. “And if you’re a marketing leader, you should give your team 15% of that work.” (Keyword: everyone forwards this to their superiors.)
The idea is to be “a little bit faster – a little more chaotic in the output, a little more stripped down,” says Calloway. “A little less: ‘Did this person unsubscribe?'” A little more fun, more experimental.
This flexibility in gameplay gives you the opportunity to try something out, explore, and then – this part is important – do it Adapt what you learn to your next campaign.
“The insights cannot emerge if we simply mass-produce the same templates that we have been making for the last two years. Let someone experiment in a safe place.”
The best part? It “gives marketers the joy of marketing back,” Calloway says. The reason most of us get into marketing is because “we want to tell people amazing stories about amazing products.”
Lesson 3: Beware of the ambiguity effect.
“When something isn’t clear, my brain fills in the gaps based on what I know, right?” says Calloway.
And when you don’t know much, your brain suddenly becomes a novelist.
For example, if you describe “an AI-powered solution,” your audience will fill in the blanks based on whether they think AI is a net good, a force for evil, or somewhere in between.
And that’s why storytelling is so important. Because the more stories you share, “the more context and nuance you give people, which means they can fill in the gaps with more accurate information” that they didn’t see online or read in that one book 10 years ago.
“When you’re working with a product that feels foreign to you,” says Calloway, “Try to develop a narrative that helps bridge the gaps about who you are, what value you bring, and how that impacts the people who are in the space with you.”
And “that’s really the beauty of storytelling,” she says. “When I tell stories about who I am as a person, I suddenly want to share them with you.”
Your Monday move: Tell great stories. You only need four sentences.
Lingering questions
This week’s question
I think nostalgia is something that is overdone. I would like to know: How can brands better engage with communities or consumers they want to engage with? —Shareese Bembury-Coakley, vice president of business development and partnerships, CultureCon
This week’s answer
Calloway: I agree, nostalgia has become the easy button for connection. But real community is built forward, not backward. The better way for brands is participatory storytelling: inviting people to help shape the narrative rather than simply consuming it. Communities don’t want to be reminded of who they were; They want to be seen for who they are becoming.
This requires marketers to move from campaigns to contexts, spaces where shared curiosity, lived experience, and emerging identity intersect. Whether through localized storytelling, transparency behind the build, or providing authentic user voices on the platform, brands can move from “remember when” to “imagine with us.”
Connection today is no longer about familiarity; it’s about alignment. The question is not, “How do we tap into what people love?” but “How do we stand next to what they create next?” Trust, loyalty and modern belonging live here.
Next week’s remaining question
Calloway asks: As marketers, we often talk about authenticity and alignment, but these words can quickly become buzzwords. How do you ensure your team stays connected to real people and not just the performance of the connection?
