In today’s highly competitive marketplace, a brand must tell meaningful stories that resonate with their target audiences across media channels. People want more than a utilitarian benefit—stories are ultimately what drive us to engage with brands. And we want to align ourselves with brands that are ethical and purpose-driven and that take responsibility for their actions and messaging.

This indispensable book reveals what makes brand stories “shareworthy” and guides readers through creating relevant and resonant advertising. Combining practitioner and academic perspectives, Robin Landa and Greg Braun offer a roadmap for conceiving and developing creative advertising campaigns that are responsible and inclusive—and that audiences enthusiastically share. They demonstrate that shareworthy storytelling embraces diversity, equity, inclusion, purpose, and brand activism and eschews tropes, stereotypes, and negative messaging. The book features candid interviews with expert practitioners spanning diverse global communities who share the hard-earned wisdom of their award-winning campaigns, as well as insightful case studies from major companies such as Amazon, Nike, the New York Times, and Dove. Timely and actionable, Shareworthy shows current and aspiring marketing professionals how to craft a story, connect with the audience, and embrace social responsibility throughout.

Robin Landa is a distinguished professor in the Michael Graves College, Kean University. She is a globally recognized ideation and creativity expert, creative director, and design educator. Landa is the author of twenty-six books and writes articles for periodicals such as Fast Company, Inc., and the Harvard Business Review. The Carnegie Foundation counts her among the “Great Teachers of Our Time.”

Greg Braun is the retired dep. global chief creative officer of Commonwealth/McCann and a lecturer at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. He was previously the executive vice president/national executive creative director of Innocean-USA and president of WPP’s PULSE. Braun led campaigns for brands such as Chevrolet, Toyota, United Airlines, Starbucks, and Hyundai and has created work for the Super Bowl, the Oscars, and the FIFA World Cup.