A NARRATIVE THAT
RUNS THROUGH EVERYTHING
Our method
A strong narrative is more than a good story. It is a narrative system that guides choices, behaviour and communication.
With Narrative Design, we design that system step by step. We bring strategy, organisation and market together, so the story is not only sharply formulated, but also used, carried and made visible.
Our method is built around three questions:
- What are we choosing?
- How do we make it work internally?
- How do we take it to market?
That is why Narrative Design consists of three programmes: Choose Direction, Align the Organisation and Move the Market.
1. Choose Direction
Choose Direction is for organisations that sense their story, position or role no longer provides enough direction. For example when the market is changing, customers understand the value too late, sales and marketing lack a shared core, or the strategy has not yet become a powerful narrative system.
In this programme, we define which tension is central, which direction your organisation can credibly claim, and how that direction shapes your brand, language, visual world, behaviour and communication.
'The True Story Canvas workshop literally got us "on the same page" about our values, mission and vision.'
CCO Sensys Gatso Group
The building blocks:
- 1. Direction Scan
- 2. Narrative System Design
- 3. Narrative Principles
- 4. Brand Identity & Rebranding (optional)
We investigate what is changing in the market, for customers and around the organisation. We map the story the organisation tells today, the story the market tells, and where there is room to claim a distinctive guiding position.
Tools:
- Narrative and Category Landscape Audit
- Narrative Elements Session
- Guidance Strategy Canvas
We design the narrative system that provides direction. We define what the organisation chooses, why it matters, how it makes that choice credible, and how the story becomes shareable and tangible.
Tools:
- True Story Canvas®
- Narrative Blueprint
- Message House
- Issue House
- Manifesto and manifesto film
We translate the system into principles for language, imagery and brand expression. This makes the chosen direction recognisable in everything the organisation says, shows and creates.
Tools:
- Tone of voice
- Visual language
- Brand manual update
- Optional: logo refinement
- Optional: visual identity refinement
When refinement is not enough, we develop a new or renewed brand identity that carries the chosen direction with credibility, recognisability and distinction.
Tools:
- Naming
- Brand architecture
- Logo development
- Visual identity
- Corporate identity development
- Brand manual
- Brand launch & activation
2. Align the organisation
We make the system work inside the organisation. Align the Organisation is for organisations that want their direction to take root internally. Often this follows Choose Direction, but it also works when the direction already exists and needs stronger ownership across the organisation. For example, when the strategy is clear in the boardroom but not alive in the organisation. When leaders tell the story in different ways. Or when teams are unsure what the direction means for their day-to-day work.
In this programme, we embed the narrative in leadership, behaviour, collaboration, onboarding, sales and customer contact.
'Truman's personal, down-to-earth and honest perspective makes them a great and dependable partner to work with. What you see is what you get.'
Head of Marketing, Schiphol Cargo and R&D
The building blocks:
We help leaders make the story their own and express it in their own words. Not as a script, but as a direction they can carry with conviction.
Tools:
- Leadership story coaching
- Narrative rollout toolkit
We translate the narrative into behaviour, choices and collaboration. What does the chosen direction mean in practical terms for how teams work, decide and collaborate?
Tools:
- Maxims
- Internal Narrative & Behaviour Activation
We develop trainings, formats and practical tools that help teams use the story consistently. This can include tone-of-voice training, visual-language training, audits and onboarding materials.
Tools:
- Tone-of-voice training and audit after 8-12 weeks
- Visual-language training and audit after 8-12 weeks
- Onboarding kit
When the narrative also needs to guide your role as an employer, we translate it into a strong employer story and a clear Employee Value Proposition.
Tools:
- Employer brand research
- Internal interviews
- Culture analysis
Employer Branding True Story Canvas and EVP development
Employer branding communications
3. Move the Market
We make the system visible and persuasive externally. Move the Market is for organisations that want to translate their narrative into market movement. For example, when customers do not understand the value quickly enough, when sales has to explain too much, when campaigns fail to build preference, or when content does not add up to a recognisable position.
In this programme, we translate the direction into strategy, creative work, content, sales materials and campaigns that help people understand, trust and choose.
'Once we had the script, I worried that our budget would not stretch to a film with international appeal. Truman nailed it!'
Brand Manager Temper
The building blocks:
- 1. Market Activation Strategy
- 2. Creative Platform
- 3. Content Platform
- 4. Campaign and asset production
We determine how the narrative will move the market. Which doubts do we need to reduce? Which audiences need to understand more quickly? Which stories, assets and moments of contact will make that happen?
Tools:
- Customer Journey Mapping
- Contact Strategy
- Behavioural Strategy
- Proposition Development
- Proposition Naming
- Relationship Manager Presentation
- Sales Story Kit
We design the big, carrying idea that makes the narrative recognisable. Not a one-off campaign thought, but a durable creative system that can fuel your work for years.
Tools:
- Creative debrief
- Kitchen review
- Umbrella / Big Idea concepting
We translate the narrative into recurring themes, formats and stories that build trust, proof and preference over time. Especially in the consideration phase, where customers compare, hesitate and look for evidence.
Tools:
- Content Strategy Canvas
- Content creation plan
- Content format development
- Content production
We develop and produce the assets that make the narrative visible in the market: from film, photography and design to social assets, presentations, AI-generated imagery, campaign assets and sales materials.
How we work together
Each programme is made up of building blocks. Within those building blocks, we use our own tools and deliverables: canvases, sessions, audits, toolkits, platforms and assets. This keeps our approach structured, but never standard. Together, we choose the right route for each challenge.